Adding seasoning, herbs and salt to the buttermilk and letting it sit overnight will do a couple of things. First, the buttermilk tenderizes the chicken (and keeps it moist). Secondly, the seasonings will penetrate the chicken meat throughout, instead of just sitting on the surface of the meat.
While 2 tablespoons of kosher salt may seem like a lot, remember you're adding it to buttermilk to season all of the chicken pieces. (Think of a brine - which normally for a whole chicken would use 1/4 cup of kosher salt.) Some of the salt will enter into the chicken to flavor the chicken throughout the meat, but the majority of the salt will stay in the buttermilk, which gets discarded after the overnight marinade. If you're using regular, fine table salt, then 1 tablespoon is fine. Once you've soaked the chicken, there's no need to add salt in the breading - the chicken will already be perfectly salted.
Fried Chicken
serves 4
1 cut up fryer chicken
4 cups plus 1/4 cup buttermilk
5 whole garlic cloves, smashed
fresh thyme springs (about 2-3)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon (or more) hot chili sauce like Tabasco or Sriracha
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup milk
canola or vegetable oil for frying
In a gallon-sized freezer bags, add the chicken with the 4 cups buttermilk, garlic cloves, thyme, salt, pepper and chili sauce. Refrigerate overnight. When ready to fry, let chicken sit on counter for 30 minutes to take chill off. Do not pat the chicken dry, the buttermilk will help breading adhere. Discard the marinade.
Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together the flour, seasoned garlic powder, paprika in a very large bowl. In a small bowl combine the remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk and the milk. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and use a fork to mix until little lumps throughout.
Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat to 165F. Working in batches, thoroughly coat each buttermilk-soaked chicken piece with the breading, pressing to adhere the breading. Add the chicken to the oil 3-4 pieces at a time. Cover pan and fry 5-7 minutes, checking to make sure chicken isn't getting too brown. Turn, cover and cook additional 3-5 minutes more. Monitor temperature of oil to make sure chicken doesn't burn. Keep in mind chicken will finish cooking in oven.
Place chicken on baking sheet and continue frying rest of chicken. When done, bake the chicken for 10-15 minutes, until chicken cooked through.
Showing the Latest of 0 Comment
Post new comment