Flori's Favorite Fried Chicken!

Hidden somewhere in the strands of my families DNA is the genetic code that instructs us to love fried chicken! really, what other explanation can there be? My mother has adored it since childhood, my grandmother having made the best fried chicken ever tasted, and I myself am extremely partial to it when in a 'meat' mood....... and now my daughter, who is convinced that there can be no greater food on this planet than fried chicken, is addicted to the stuff and will even pass over a delicious confit of duck in favor of fried chicken.....I'm almost ashamed to admit that!

It would be impossible to re-create the fried chickens of my childhood as each recipe is unique to each cook who will have their own 'secret' recipe, and these days, chickens don't seem to taste like they used to. I find it increasingly difficult to get a quality chicken that actually tastes of 'chicken' and isn't pumped full of brine! What is brine you may rightly ask? well brine is a salty liquid mixture which has either been injected into the chicken or which the chicken has been soaked in, that claims to keep the chicken moist during cooking and give a soft texture when you chew it, but believe me there's more in that brine than just salt! read the packaging and you will see for yourself, numerous unnecessary ingredients!

I sometimes wonder if we are becoming so lazy that we don't even want to make the effort to chew our food anymore. Chicken is a firm meat and the natural texture of it is stringy, especially the breast, but people seem to want soft chicken only, hence the demand for brined chicken. We are getting far too used to spongy textured chicken and really there's no excuse for it.

Any chicken will be moist and flavorful when a quality bird is cooked correctly, and if you think she's a tough old bird there are other ways to help soften her up and keep her flavour........and none of them involve chemical enhancements!

I make fried chicken regularly, and as I've said before my daughter loves the stuff and would eat it daily if she could get away with it! So I have came up with my own recipe for fried chicken done in the classic southern fried American way but with my own seasoning mixture. This takes a little time to make but believe me it is well worth it.
There are 2 stages to making this, firstly we will sit the chicken in the seasoned buttermilk for at least an hour or preferably overnight......the acid in buttermilk will make the chicken deliciously tender when cooked!...... before we dredge it in our seasoned flour and fry it. It's completely possible to make this in a large batch for the freezer and then oven cook straight from frozen.

You will need............feeds 4-6 people

1.2-1.4 kg chicken.....you can buy a whole oven ready bird and portion it yourself or you can buy the breasts, thighs, wings and drumsticks already jointed for you by a friendly butcher, just make sure you have a bit of breast and a leg or a thigh for each person....and maybe some for seconds!

ground cumin
smoked paprika
cayenne pepper
chilli powder
6 cloves garlic
sea salt
fresh black pepper
800 mls - 1 litre of buttermilk......or just enough to cover your chicken pieces
plain flour
olive oil....not extra virgin

stage 1

make your chicken spice seasoning by mixing in a bowl.....          

2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper

• crush and add the garlic cloves then add 500 mls of the buttermilk and whisk well
• fill your sink with hot soapy water as you will need to clean your hands very well after this!
• remove all skin from the chicken breasts and joints and place the skinless joints in a deep bowl
• take each chicken breast and place in a plastic lunch bag or between 2 pieces of cling film......now wash your hands before you touch anything else!
• using the flat bottom of a saucepan or one of those fancy meat mallets, tap each breast firmly to flatten it then add to the rest of the chicken...........scrub your hands!....if any item has come in contact with the raw chicken it will need scrubbed too!
• pour your seasoned buttermilk over the chicken pieces, if you need more buttermilk then add more
  
• now we get a bit messy here, use one hand and rotate all the chicken pieces in the buttermilk mixture, make sure everything is coated really well and all the spices etc. are distributed, clean your hands again!
• cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm and store in the refrigerator for at least one hour or preferably overnight

cooking the chicken........traditionally fried chicken is cooked in a shallow sauteuse pan, in American it's known as a skillet, but as we need to make sure the chicken is cooked safely and fully, we will seal it in the pan or a deep fat fryer and then finish the cooking in a hot oven

make your flour dredge by mixing.....
300 g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chilli flakes if you like a little spice in your crust

• turn the oven on to 180 oC
• heat about 1 inch deep of olive oil in a heavy frying or sauteuse pan or if using a deep fat fryer then heat it to 170 oC
• remove all the chicken from its buttermilk bath, shake off any excess and lay on a tray
• dip the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour one at a time making sure they are well coated all over
• dip each chicken piece in the buttermilk once more then straigh back into the flour
• place the chicken on a sheet of greaseproof paper or other suitable tray
• to cook.....lay the chicken pieces in the hot oil briefly to give them a quick seal on all sides....what we want is for them to absorb the oil and help seal the floury coating but to not get too brown
• when the pieces are browned all over place them on a baking sheet.......the centres will still be cold but if you want to freeze these then cool them now as quickly as you can, don't leave them hanging around......but if cooking them now, put the chicken breasts on a separate tray as they will take less time to cook than the joints
• place the thighs and legs in the oven and cook for 15 minutes before putting in the breasts
• cook for approx another 20 minutes or until done, poking a meat thermometer in the centre of one of the thighs or cutting it open a little is a good idea just to make sure they are fully cooked

Serve the chicken as soon as they come out of the oven to enjoy that delicious crunch.....or you can let them cool and enjoy cold fried chicken for a picnic lunch....YUM!

Chicken fried steak and mashed potato is an American classic and staying true to both sides of my families roots I pay hommage to the Irish side by eating my fried chicken with creamy mashed potato packed with spring onions, otherwise known as champ.......and to top it all off, I serve corn on the cob on the side....true down home cookin!