Honey, Habanero and Buttermilk
The stereotype out there is, that above all else, guys love steak. Well, I don't, and when my inner-carnivore comes out, I crave some bangin' fried chicken. So folks, put on some Marvin Gaye and let's getting cooking! The first ingredient in fried chicken is soul, and yes, I do have a special playlist for when I make this! :)
I've spent a lot time trying to crack this dish, one month, even making fried chicken every weekend. I learned a lot, and each variation gave me more and more valuable information. So leave your millennial-self at the door, and actually pay attention.
Tips
Skin It: Skin prevents the breading from sticking to the chicken, and even if you get it to stay, the breading can easily flop off while frying. Buy a whole bird, cut into pieces by the butcher, and skin the pieces before submerging in the buttermilk brine. I don't bother with the wings, FYI.
Brest off-the-bone: Take the breast off the bone! The ribs make it impossible to properly cook and fry.
The Bird: Whenever I cook, I use heritage breed chickens. Heritage just refers to animals that have bloodlines dating back centuries, rooted deeply in traditional farming. Associated with a specific breed name—sometimes displayed on the package—the meat is noticeably more delicious than the generic commercial breeds one finds on a typical supermarket self. Even organic chickens are genetically engineered to be larger, but this thickness comes at a price. Taste, sustainability, and in this case, ease of cooking.
You fry at around 330°. Six minutes a side, no more. Depending on the size of the chicken piece, it might not actually be cooked through. If that's the case, you can't simply throw it back in the oil. You'll burn the fry, and to quote Octavia Spencer, "Minny don't burn chicken". So what do you do? Put it in the oven until it's done and if it's a big piece, that can take quite a while. Waiting for your fried chicken to cool down already sucks, adding extra oven time is just cruel.
Chicken and Waffles: When I make chicken and waffles, I only use breasts. Personal preference. Or, if I'm cooking for a large group, I'll buy just breasts, which means, I get stuck with those ungainly behemoths that the factory farming industry calls "chicken". I deal with the thickness by slicing them in half–length wise. One inch thick. No more, or things get complicated.
Kitchen Accessories you will need:
- Cast iron pan, if you don't have one, get one! Great for cooking meat.
- Digital thermometer, capable of reading the oil and meat temperature, non-negotiable.
- Cooling rack, placed over a cooking sheet
- 1-gallon zip lock
- Wax paper
The Batter:
- Flour, 3 Cups
- Cornmeal, 4 tablespoons
- Baking powder, 3 teaspoons
- Garlic powder, 2 tablespoons
- Nutmeg, 1 teaspoon
- Black pepper, a few cranks for taste
- Salt, at least 2 tablespoon, likely more. To taste.
the brine:
- Buttermilk, 1 quart
Combine on stove top:
- Water, 1 Cup
- Honey, 1/4 cup
- Salt, 1/8 cup
- Nutmeg, teaspoon
- Thyme, 5 springs
- Creole Seasoning, tablespoon, I make my own.
- Tabasco Habanero Hot Sauce, 3 tablespoons
Other needs:
- Buttermilk, 2 cups
- Tabasco Habanero, 1 tablespoon
- Vegetable or Canola Oil, 3/4 of an inch off the bottom of the pan.
OK, here we go... READ EVERYTHING!
1) Make the brine. Put a small pot on the stove, put everything in EXECPT the hot sauce, and turn on low heat. The idea here is to dissolve the honey, hence the heat; at the same time, not fill your kitchen with pepper spray, not adding the hot sauce. Stir the contents, and once the honey is dissolved, remove from heat. If you have a pot with a lid, get ready, if not maybe wait for it to cool a little. Put in the hot sauce, give a quick but good stir, and cover the pot. This prevents you from pepper spraying your kitchen. Let it cool.
2) De-skin your chicken! Today, I used a heritage chicken. It's a little smaller than a regular "broiler", FYI. I had the butcher cut it up–6-pieces, since it's real chicken sized–and take the breast off the bone; two breasts, two thighs/legs, and two wings. I took the skin off every piece but the wings. It's just a pain, and I never have problems with frying the wings.
3) Combine the brine and 1 quart of buttermilk in a gallon freezer bag. Mix it up, then add your chicken.
4) Chill. You, and the bird. I like waiting for 8 hours, but don't go more than 12. The lactic acid in the buttermilk is breaking down the protein in the chicken, aka tenderizing, but, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Eventually things start to fall apart. So, no more than 12 hours. Place on a bowl to keep the bag upright and toss in the fridge. This is just to make sure it doesn't spill all over the place. No bueno.
5) Remove the bird from the fridge an hour before frying. Rinse off the chicken pieces and dry with paper towel. Remember, you are still dealing with raw chicken, so be vigilant about washing what it touches, including your hands. Place to the side, at room temperature. We want to bring the meat's internal temperature up so it cooks right.
6) Assemble your batter station! You need three bowls, and a place to put the chicken when you are down. I use a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Combine dry batter ingredients. Most important here, TASTE YOUR FLOUR! If it doesn't taste like anything, neither will your chicken. The main flavors you want to make sure you have are that of salt and garlic. If you can't taste the salt, add more until you do, mixing along the way. Once your flour tastes right, divide it evenly into two of the bowls. In the third bowl, combine the two cups of buttermilk and another tablespoon of hot sauce. The spice in the brine will be mellow at best, so this will help us kick it up! Place the buttermilk bowl in between the two flour bowls.
7) Heat the oil, bread that bird. Cover in flour, douse in buttermilk, then cover it in flour again. Don't shake any off! Let the chicken sit for at least five minutes. This will allow the batter get all goopy. If you want a little extra goop, add a dash buttermilk to the second flour bowl. Fill the pan so there's 3/4 of an inch of oil in the bottom, and flip on the heat. The oil is ready when it reaches 350°. Medium heat is good, here. It may take a few minutes. Be patient. If you're not careful, you'll fly right by, and the oil could start smoking; that means you screwed up and have to start over with new oil.
8) Preheat the oven to 350°. You might need it.
Minny Don't Burn Chicken!
If you've been skimming up until now, you're forgiven, but no more.
Now, pay attention. Frying can be a bit of an art. It took me a few times to get a feel for it. Don't be discouraged, keep at it. I have some tips to make the learning curve less painful.
Make a plan. Figure out how you want to arrange the chicken pieces before you start moving. Cast iron is great, but it produces hotspots. Meat over the burner will cook faster than meat to the sides. I put the thighs in the middle (directly over the heat), drumsticks and breasts on the outside. Sometimes that setup doesn't work. In this case, the legs and thighs were attached, so I improvised, but planned ahead of the drop. Any time you move the chicken around you risk the fry coming off, especially early on, say, right after you put in your first two pieces and realize you can't fit the others. So, you move things around. Tisk, tisk.
DON'T BURN IT. You can only fry for six minutes a side, max. If you're cooking at the right heat, and maybe less. My second batch, the breasts, were cooking so fast I had them on for, maybe at most, five minutes a side.
Oil temperature. This will drop when you put the chicken in the pan. I turn up the heat a little bit to make up for it. After a few minutes, adjust back down.
Juicy chicken. Meat gets juicy is because it's cooked to the right temperature. It has nothing to do with baking versus braising in liquid. This is why a meat thermometer is key. You'll also notice that just because the skin is perfect, that doesn't mean the meat is too. And trust me, prefect chicken with a small hole in the the crust is way batter than dry, or even undercooked chicken. Salmonella, yikes! At the thickest part, dark meat should read 160°, and white meat, 165°. I don't bother to check wings. Those are small enough that should be an issue. If it's not cooked after frying, stick it in your waiting oven and get the meat to the desired heat.
You're ready, grasshopper. let's do this thing.
9) Fry em' baby. Remember, six minutes a side and check the oil heat if you are unsure. I typically get readings around 320° when the pieces are in, anything higher and I notice my breading can't last the whole six minutes. Be mindful of hotspots. As you get better, you can start to tell if you're cooking the outside too much. Call me crazy, but I think its the bubbles and the sound that tips me off.
10) If needed, finish in the oven. Remember, 160° for dark, 165° for white. The meat will continue cooking for a few minutes after it's out of the oven. I wait until I see at least those numbers before I pull it. The bigger the chicken, the more time it needs. Test for the temperature in the middle of the thickest part of the piece. One last thing, once the chicken is out of the oil, it should be sitting on a wire rack until ready to serve, during both cooling and baking. This will make sure it stays crispy. Uncrispy fried chicken is just plain awful, so don't put it in a bowl until it's cool and ready to serve.
11) Let sit for 10 minutes to cool. Place chicken on a wire cooling rack with baking sheet underneath to catch the excess oil. Air flow around the chicken is what you want. This is the hardest part, but way better than burning your mouth. I've let chicken sit for longer than this and it's still hot. Don't worry!
12) Get your sweet tea and sides ready, and stuff yourself silly!
