Tuesday, February 24, 2009

crunchy and flavorful fried chicken


I don't make fried chicken very often for several reasons: The meal takes a fair bit of time and makes a large mess. The results are rather underwhelming with a less than crispy skin and a lot of chew in the bite. And after eating the fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy and fluffy buttermilk biscuits, I almost feel like a brick! However, I tried a new recipe last night that knocked the socks off of any fried chicken I've ever had before. The recipe is from Thomas Keller, (American chef and restaurateur, owner of The French Laundry and Per Se.) I found the recipe on epicurious. I, unfortunately, skipped the brining process which would have surely made my chicken even better. I also used canola oil rather than peanut oil as I am trying to fix meals on somewhat of a budget and peanut oil is quite expensive. And lastly, of course I didn't make a full batch for Stephen, Pear and myself. The results were exquisite! Crispy buttermilk battered chicken skin with a little kick on the tail end of the bite and moist meat inside. On top of the great flavor, I found this to make little mess and decided to forgo the biscuits and replace them with a delectable salad. I left the meal feeling satisfied after only 1 chicken leg. So, I will be making this again. It will not be on my weekly meal plan as it is still FRIED chicken but it will be a treat every now and then!
Note: I didn't have time to take pictures, between juggling the girls and cooking! Stephen, however, managed to snap a couple before the chicken was devoured.

6 comments:

Wyatt said...

Sounds delish! I am making fries chicken next week, maybe I will give this recipe a try. I love it when you write foodie posts, I really enjoy reading them.

Claire said...

Whoops! It is me Claire not Wyatt! :)

The Gardner Family said...

Yummy.. thanks for passing it along!

Emily P. said...

It's so funny that you posted this today. My girlfriends and I had a huge fried chicken making marathon last night. We noticed all that you mentioned, it does take forever, makes a mess and isn't super moist or crispy. After living in Japan for so long we started to miss good home style American food.

I'm excited to use your new found recipe and see how it goes. Us girls here in Japan say thanks a bunch!

Unknown said...

That looks really great! I'll have to try it sometime soon!

Denise said...

Looking at that scrumptious chicken I am resenting, not allowing you to fix it for us on Sunday,We would be so delighted for you to fix it for us sometime. ;p