Although Popeyes has breathed new life into me with that beautiful, beautiful sandwich, what if I don't want to drive 30 minutes to get it? What if I don't want to hop on a plane and go south? Why can't I have a perfectly good piece of golden fried chicken in my pj's at home?! Oh I can? And I did. This... is that story.
But to get it out of the way, the great debate- is it true "fried chicken" without the bones? Of course! Because I'm a fan of the sandwich, I obviously prefer boneless. Just a heads up, that's what's happening here.
To set the scene, it had just snowed the night before. It was one of those perfect situations where it was so cold that the snow was light and fluffy, it stopped snowing early in the morning, and it's Sunday. So I waited until an acceptable hour to get out and start shoveling. Judging by the sweat I worked up, I figured I deserved something real bad for me. That bad for me item was fried chicken. This isn't a normal occurrence in my house so I had to be committed to deal with frying and the mess it makes. My mind was made up, I want that mess.
Lastly, I don't want to toot my own horn but, toot toot.
-4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
-2 cups buttermilk
-1 egg, beaten
-2 Tbs garlic powder, divided
-2 Tbs onion powder, divided
-2 Tsp kosher salt, divided
-2 Tsp black pepper, divided
-1/2 Tsp cayenne pepper
-2 Tsp lemon pepper, divided
-2 cups all purpose flour
-1/4 cup corn starch
-enough vegetable oil to fill the pot a couple inches (I used about 2 cups of oil, amount can differ depending on your vessel.)
1. (At least a couple hours before frying) In a large bowl, toss the chicken with one tablespoon each of garlic powder, onion powder and one teaspoon each of the salt, pepper, and lemon pepper.
2. Into the tossed chicken, pour the buttermilk and beaten egg.
3. Incorporate the chicken in the buttermilk and egg mixture, cover, and place in the fridge.
4. (When it comes time to fry) In a heavy bottomed dutch oven warm the oil to just over 350F. (The chicken will lower the temperature once in the oil- just make sure you're frying at a steady 350F and you'll be all set.)
5. While the oil is coming to temperature, in a large bowl combine the flour, the rest of the spices: one tablespoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, one teaspoon each of the salt, pepper, lemon pepper and half teaspoon cayenne pepper, and the corn starch.
6. Take the chicken from the buttermilk and cover with the flour mixture very well. I even do a double dip- back into the buttermilk and then into the flour again. Shake off the excess and set aside.
7. Repeat step 6 with the rest of the chicken.
8. Now that your oil is to temperature, time to fry! You may have to do this in batches, that's ok. Don't crowd the pan! fry for 6-7 minutes each side. **Remember to keep an eye on your oil temp, don't let it get too hot or too cold. I have made this mistake before, not cute.**
9. When your chicken is done, place onto a rack or some paper towels to drain the extra oil and you're golden, literally. DONE.
I don't have an issue with eating the chicken as is in all it's beautiful boneless glory, but of course I had to make a sandwich. All I needed was a toasted bun, mayo, and a ton of pickles. So that's what I did.
Wowwww. This does not disappoint. The chicken is completely cooked, but still beautiful and juicy, that dark meat has never done me dirty. The spices really come through and the crust from the double dip really makes a difference.
When you're done with this beast of a chicken I'm confident you'll be saying "who's your colonel?". I'm just glad I had done some shoveling earlier because this was definitely a treat yo self moment, but it's worth it. For sure.
Meaghan
No comments:
Post a Comment