Tuesday, August 07, 2007

When Unable to Go to the Loveless...

...attempt fried chicken at home. Some of the best homestyle fried chicken I've ever had is at The Loveless Café, right near the Nashville terminus of the Natchez Trace. Not only is the chicken great, but the ham with redeye gravy & the biscuits are superb. Since Nashville is a bit of a fur piece for us these days, I decided to make real fried chicken for the first time in my life. It's one of those foods I've always been intimidated by the idea of cooking, for some reason. It turned out just great, though. The gravy, not so much, but the chicken had a gorgeous golden crust and a fabulously juicy interior. I served it with skin-on mashed potatoes and organic sweet corn.

Real Fried Chicken
8 pieces bone-in chicken (whatever your family likes...I made 3 breasts & 5 drumsticks)
Cold salt water (about 1 tbsp salt)
1 c. flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 &1/2 tsp. salt
A good shake of cayenne
Oil for frying (you'll need enough for about 1 & 1/2 inches of oil in each of 2 12" skillets. To be
honest, I ran out of oil and tossed in lard to make up for the rest. Never said it was
heart-healthy!)

In large bowl, cover chicken with salt water and soak overnight. If you forget to soak it overnight, though, you can do what I did and start soaking it in the morning for cooking around 7. Drain. Mix flour and seasonings in a pie plate. Coat the chicken thoroughly in the flour. Pour about 1 & 1/2 inches oil into each of 2 12" cast iron skillets. If you haven't got cast iron, go get a couple! Seriously, you should have at least one cast iron skillet in your kitchen. But, if you have very good non-stick skillets, they will work, too. Heat on medium-high until very hot. Add chicken (tongs are helpful here), being very careful not to spatter yourself! Make sure the chicken isn't crowded in the pan. Cover and turn heat to medium. Make sure the chicken keeps sizzling. If you can't hear it sizzling, you'll want to turn up the heat a bit. Check after 15 or 20 minutes to see if the chicken has browned. If so, turn it over and continue cooking with the lid on until all of it is nicely browned, probably another 15-20 minutes but perhaps not as long for the breasts. After checking carefully to make sure the chicken is cooked through, drain on paper towels and then serve.

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