When I requested directives as to what I should cook for this blog, skd wrote:
Hmm. What a hardship, given that fried chicken is pretty much MY FAVORITE FOOD OF ALL TIME. But I'd never made it the real way, that is, the way my mom makes it, with the soaking and the buttermilk and all that. This seemed as good a time as ever.
Once I got the idea in my head, I decided -- since I am the Queen of Getting in Over My Head -- to turn this fried chicken affair into a full-fledged Sunday brunch.
And now, how to make it? This recipe for fried chicken from the late, legendary Southern chef Edna Lewis had long ago caught my eye; and though the prep work and shopping was going to prove a little dicey given that I was going to the Mets game Saturday, the recipe itself didn't seem that hard.
I made a couple of minor modifications. Borrowing from Thomas Keller's buttermilk fried chicken recipe (my mom mentioned it to me; it's apparently in this month's Bon Appetit, so presumably it'll hit Epicurious soon), I added some honey, garlic and peppercorns to the brine, though I didn't want to mess with all those herbs.
Also, like all good Southern recipes for fried chicken, Edna Lewis's called for cooking the chicken in lard, butter and the fat from a slice of country ham. And though I knew in my foodie heart that this was the way you were supposed to do it, I just couldn't. Because if you're going to cook with lard, you have to commit. You just can't blink! And I blinked. Forgive me, Edna Lewis. I went with Keller's peanut oil instead.
Enough with the talky. Here's how it went down.
First, the brine, which I started Saturday morning before the game. I was doubling the recipe and didn't have any bowls big enough to hold all that chicken, so I used my Le Creuset. (Those grill marks are the reflection of my refrigerator shelf.)
Twelve hours later, I removed the chicken from the brine and soaked it in buttermilk overnight. Both the brine and the buttermilk are meant to keep the chicken moist. (Apologies to all those who think the word "moist" is weird. It sort of is.)
This morning, I dredged the pieces in flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Things got a little gummy. Buttermilk + flour = a big mess.
The frying commences! I came close to burning a few pieces, partly because I'd never cooked with peanut oil before and wasn't used to how hot it gets, and partly because I suddenly freaked out that I was going to undercook the chicken and horrify my brunch guests.
But it all turned out all right in the end.
I served it with coleslaw, which was quite possibly a bigger hit than the chicken. I made it from this recipe, and added celery seeds, as recommended by others. I had looked for a recipe that didn't use mayonnaise and couldn't find one, but this version ended up being nice and light. Nothing at all like the KFC kind, which I find vaguely repulsive. I'm surprised, as a matter of fact, that so many people seem to love it.
Also muffins. These, I didn't make. For some reason it didn't even occur to me to do so (maybe because I don't own a muffin tin), though in retrospect I might have been better off giving it a go, from a mix.
Annah made bloody Marys. Yum. (Side note: Early this morning I realized I'd forgotten to make ice cubes, so I hastily poured some water in the ice trays. Then I headed to my computer to Google "how long does it take for water to freeze into ice cubes?" When you type something into the Google search field now, it shows you all the popular searches that might be related to your query. So among the top ten searches starting with "how long does" are: "how long does marijuana stay in your system," "how long does cocaine stay in your system," "how long does thc stay in your system" and "how long does it take to get pregnant." I'm not sure whether to be amused or concerned.)
And it all got capped off with a fruit salad.
And how was the chicken, you ask? Well, I thought it was really good -- tender, moist (sorry), crispy, flavorful. The extra effort involved in brining and soaking in buttermilk was totally worth it. But don't take my word for it:
Thanks so much for the suggestion, skd! I thought of leaving some at your work for you, but ... um ... I kind of want that last piece for myself.
Got more ideas for me? Let 'em fly. Still TK: miso cod, mac 'n' cheese, polenta with vegetables, and fritto misto.
