Fried Chicken PLEASE! (..and Breakfast Burritos, and Fudge...recipe links provided)

Saturday I managed to make a trip to the grocer. This allowed me to prepare and freeze 22 Breakfast Burritos (I added 1/3 each: green, yellow, and red bell peppers along with an onion; all diced and sauteed with the meat). I also made the Chocolate Pecan Fudge my husband has been begging for (this is a quick fudge, I will be making a different recipe on Sunday for a taste-test determination of the best recipe…stay tuned!). Now that I am writing this down, I realize that Saturday quickly turned into ‘All Things Brian LOVES to Eat’. J I say this with love, as was the cooking that went along with today done with love. For dinner, I created the meal requested by my lover the evening before; he even pulled the meat out of the freezer in preparation/anticipation of this meal!

You see, my husband believes that I have perfected fried chicken. That is correct- PERFECTED it; or at least as far as my husband/family is concerned and that is who I aim to please. J I do not make it often, even though I bake it off, it is first bathed/fried in oil so the health factor is a little low. Aside from that, the sides with fried chicken (as far as my husband is concerned anyway) need to be starchy and creamy (i.e. mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese…one evening he wanted BoTH, oh my!).

How have I perfected fried chicken? The first trick is to brine the chicken for several hours, preferably overnight. I came across the trick of brining turkey what seems a lifetime ago and it SERIOuSLY changed my view on all things fowl. J That Thanksgiving we stood over the stove top picking the turkey apart, we did not even carve it…it was not making it to the table whole! EVERYTHING about that turkey was delicious; NO MORE bland turkey meat! Heaven was smiling upon me the day I discovered brining and my family has been thankful ever sense. J

OK, I am back in the present, what a nice memory…food does that you know, the smells and tastes can instantly take you back in time; our own individual olfactory time machines! Now that I am back in the present, I should get to the business of sharing my chicken recipe. OH, don’t let the length scare you, I wrote the recipe with the beginner in mind. J

Fried Chicken (for Beginners and Seasoned Cooking Vets Alike)

Brine Ingredients:

6- Legs of Chicken (I use only legs because as a child I always had to fight my 4 other siblings for the TWO legs…I lost a lot.  You can use any part of the chicken you want…BUT IT MUST HAVE ITS SKIN INTACT.)

1- Tbsp Dried Rosemary

1- Tbsp Salt

1- Tbsp Pepper

1- Tbsp Garlic Powder

3- tsp Paprika

Water (to cover 1” over the chicken; I use a plastic zippered bag large enough for the chicken [usually the one I had them frozen in])

The chicken is soaking in all of that goodness!

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You can use frozen or fresh chicken when using this brine.  If you chose to use frozen then allow the chicken to thaw before taking it out of the brine (usually 4 hours up to overnight, depending on amount of chicken).  Place your chicken in the container you will use for the brine.  The secret to brine is to ensure that the ENTIRE surface area of the meat is fully covered by the brine; preferably 1” above the meat surface.  With cut chicken, I have found that it is easiest to ensure this occurs by using a plastic zippered bag large enough to easily hold the chicken and water (6 legs will fit easily inside of a Gallon bag with room to spare).   

Once chicken is inside of your container, add the spices above.  THEN add the water.  It sounds like it could happen either way, and technically you can add water then spices but I have found that plastic bags, once filled with water and chicken, become a slippery mess and my spices miss the target…not to mention my meat sometimes shoots into my sink while doing this.  EEK!

Place your container full of the chicken-brine goodness inside of your refrigerator until you are ready to prepare.  Allow your meat to enjoy the bath you created.  If the meat is thawed, 30 minutes is the minimum amount of time to brine; the longer the brine, the tastier and moister the meat.  TRUST ME! 

Quadruple Threat Coating Ingredients

2-3 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

1 ½ tsp pepper

1 ½ tsp paprika

1 ½ tsp seasoned salt (or table salt…I prefer the added flavor of seasoned)

1 ½ tsp garlic powder (important to use POWDER, you do not want your meat TOO salty)

1+ dashes of Tabasco sauce (I omit this when frying for my kiddos)

2 c flour

I was over-zealous with the egg...should have used only 2.  Oh well!

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In a bowl large enough to lay your largest piece of meat in you will mix: 2-3 eggs (3 eggs if you are doing more than 6 legs/pieces of chicken; 2 eggs 6 or fewer pieces), milk, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp seasoned salt, ½ tsp garlic powder, Tabasco (optional).

In a separate, larger, bowl, place the flour and remaining 1 tsp each of the spices listed above (NOT the Tabasco, this is only put with the wet ingredients).  Mix well. 

{NOTE: Typically, you use the same spices in the egg and flour mixture as in the brine.  I did not want an overpowering flavor of rosemary, hence taking it out of the egg and flour mixtures and putting seasoned salt in its place.}

Ingredients and Tools to FRY MEAT!

Oil of choice (I use vegetable oil due to cost and taste.  I would NOT recommend olive oil for this recipe)

Large 12” skillet (if you want to do it in one fell swoop, otherwise whatever pan you have)

Tongs

Non-stick cooking spray (do NOT use kind that has flour)

Grill/Griddle pan (use the Grill side…or if you do not have this use a large, sided sheet with a cooling rack fitted inside.  The key is to allow the oil/fat to drip off the meat)

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Pre-heat oven to 375-degree Fahrenheit.  Spray your grill with non-stick cooking spray and place grill inside of the oven.  Place the large skillet on your largest burner (even heating will occur this way) and pour your oil until you have covered the entire bottom of the pan and it is about ¼”- ½” deep (give or take, you want plenty of oil…flour coated meat has a tendency to soak it up).  Turn the burner to medium-low heat (my stove has a 1-10 mode, I use 3.5-4.0 for frying chicken).  I canNOT stress enough that you do NOT want too high of a heat for this process.  You want HOT oil, hence heating the oil before conducting the Quadruple Threat Coating process. You do NOT want to have oil so hot that it splatters your face/arms/neck every time you look at it (experience talking here, PLEASE take heed). 

Your chicken has rested long enough, time to bring it out to play!  You need to have PLENTY of paper towels.  I am talking quadrupled on a metal (easy to sanitize later) tray, then several more to dry the chicken.  Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse well, placing the pieces onto your bed of paper towels.  Once your chicken is on its new bed of paper towels, you need to pat it dry.  The chicken should be pretty darn dry at this point. J 

Chicken will have some seasoning still on it from the brine, this is OK. 

{NOTE: dry meat allows the egg and flour to stick during the coating and frying process.}

I typically create an assembly line of raw meat, egg mixture, flour mixture, and metal platter/cookie sheet.  Now the messy, fun part begins!  Dip one piece into the egg mixture, then completely coat with flour.  This piece goes back into the egg mixture and then again into the flour.  Finally place it on the platter and repeat the process with all of your meat. 

{TIP: Use one hand for egg mixture and one hand for flour mixture.  This will help cut down on the goopiness on your fingers.}

My assembly line typically is from left-to-right but for picture taking it would not fit :-)

Place the coated meat gently (leaving some space between pieces) into the hot oil.  Take care not to drop the meat, the oil burns like a…well it hurts really badly. L  Once the meat hits the oil, let the oil work for you.  This means do not touch the meat for at least 5 minutes, the longer the meat remains untouched, the better your crispy crunchiness will be!  I do not know if it is me, but the first side always takes the longest.  DO NOT COVER THE MEAT, you will lose the crunch we are going for!  Once your chicken reaches the desired golden color, flip and repeat the process. 

Yes, I am OCD when it comes to chicken placement!  You can get more in if you place it this way.  :-)

Beautiful golden yumminess!

Can you SMELL it?!?  Mmmmm

When all of the pieces are brown (the meat will not be cooked, but the crust will be done), place them onto the grill inside of your oven and forget about it for 20 or so minutes (until the juices run clear).  Not kidding, the longer you bake it the more grease will come off the chicken and you should be able to eat the chicken with very little need of napkins between bites. J 

The grill I use.  The wooden spoon was supposed to show the amount of grease that came off of the chicken.  FAIL on getting that in the picture.  *sigh*

During the baking of the chicken you are now free to make any side dish you wish (assuming it will take 20 or so minutes to make). 

Enjoy and let me know how if you enjoyed your chicken as much as my family enjoyed theirs!  (Suggestions and comments are welcome as well, this is my first recipe that I have written out completely on my own so if I missed steps or over-wrote let me know [remember I did have the beginner cook in mind]).