11/4 cups kosher salt OR
1/2 cup table salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 medium garlic heads, cloves peeled and smacked
2-3 sprigs of thyme or rosemary, or both, crushed in your palms
5 cups buttermilk
1 whole chicken (about 3½ pounds), giblets discarded, cut into 12 pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
3 cups peanut oil or shortening – however much it takes to fill your pan with oil a couple inches deep
1. In the bowl of a food processor combine salt and sugar, and process to combine. Add garlic cloves, and process just a moment, until the garlic, salt and sugar form a paste, but you still have large chunks of garlic. Put this mixture into a large container – large enough to hold all the chicken. Add the herbs and buttermilk. Stir well to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the chicken pieces, turning to make sure all are immersed. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours, which is ideal. Don’t allow it to go longer than overnight.
2. Set a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Remove the chicken from the brine and discard the brine. Set the chicken pieces in a single layer on the wire rack, and refrigerate. Don’t cover the chicken at this point – you want it to air dry somewhat for a couple of hours. If need be, after two hours, you can cover it and refrigerate for up to eight hours before proceeding.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Taste the flour mixture. Yes, I mean it. You should be able to taste lots of flavor – not just the ‘nothing’ of raw flour. If this mixture doesn’t taste good, re-season until it does. This is important – this is a prime component of the crust.
4. In a second bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Note* - a major magazine a few years ago published a recipe for “Ultimate Crispy Fried Chicken” using baking soda in the buttermilk dip. They said that the mixture would bubble from the combination of lactic acid and the baking soda. I’ve never had that happen. But it might. If it doesn’t, so what? Besides – my recipe is better. J
5. One at a time, dredge (that just means cover in flour) each piece of chicken in the flour and shake off the extra. Return the chicken to the rack in between stages of the dip. After the flour, coat chicken in the buttermilk mixture, then one more time into the flour. After the last dip in flour, make sure the chicken sits on the rack for about ten minutes. This sets the coating so it won’t float off the chicken when it hits the hot oil.
6. While the chicken is setting, preheat your oven as low as it will go – mine goes to abut 150F. Make sure your oil has reached 350F. Have a platter or rack ready for the oven, and several layers of paper towels on the counter. Working a couple pieces at a time, place chicken in hot oil. Make sure you don’t crowd the pan – if you do, the chicken will steam on the outside instead of fry and the crust won’t be crispy. Allow each piece to get golden on one side before turning.
7. If the brine is a magic potion, then a good meat thermometer is your magic wand. The two pieces that always seem to have doneness issues are the breast and the thigh. You want an interior temperature of 160F. I promise, the few dollars you’ll spend will pay you back a thousand fold in flavor dollars. Get one. Once the crust has gotten to that perfect dark golden brown, insert the probe of the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. You want to hit a minimum of 155F – there will be a little carry over cooking once you remove the meat from the pan.
8. If by chance you have a problem getting the temperature up without burning the outside – no problem. Simply increase your oven temperature to 350F, and finish the chicken off in the oven. If there is an underdone piece, it will probably be the breast or thigh. I do these pieces first, so if I need a little time to finish them, the other pieces will still be frying. Once the temperature on the breast and thigh are right, turn the oven back down to its lowest setting and proceed.
9. As each piece is finished, drain it on the paper towels for a couple of minutes to get rid of any excess oil. Then pop it on the rack in the slow oven. The chicken can rest there, while staying warm as the remainder of the pieces cook.
10. That’s it – once they are all done, let them sit for about five minutes out of the heat, then dig in.
No comments:
Post a Comment