Southern Fried Chicken

Southern Fried Chicken

It was Brian's turn to choose a recipe for our biweekly cooking dates, and he suggested that we make southern fried chicken, an homage of sorts to our love for deep fried chicken like Popeye's and Santiago Centro's Crispy. He chose a recipe from Serious Eats that was not only appetizing but also straightforward. It was comprised of four key steps: preparing the buttermilk brine, mixing the dry coating, and cooking the chicken through a combination of frying and baking.

Step 1: Preparing the buttermilk brine 

Eat you tomorrow!

First things first, we sliced up our chickens. Brian stayed true to the recipe and bought a whole one; I cheated and bought quarters. This ended up saving me a lot of time and also ensured that I only got the parts I liked (ie, legs and thighs).

Once they were ready to go, we set them aside and worked on the buttermilk brine: We measured out and mixed the spices, poured out the wet ingredients, and whisked them together. We then transferred the brine into a heavy-duty freezer bag, dropped our chicken pieces in, and placed the bag in the fridge overnight.

Step 2: Mixing the dry coating 

Doesn't look impressive, but it sure smelled the delicious

Getting in there

Fry me now!

The following Monday, Brian and I raced home from work to finish the rest of the recipe. We whisked the dry ingredients together first, and per the recipe, dropped a few spoonfuls of the buttermilk brine, which for the record, smelled garlicky (read: heavenly), into the mix. Then we combined the two together by hand and proceeded to coat the chicken one by one. At the same time, we heated up some cooking oil and preheated the oven.

It got a little messy, but I think we can all agree that that comes with the territory. There was no avoiding it. 😂

Step 3: Cooking the chicken

YUMS

Neither Brian nor I own a thermometer, so we just put our stoves on "high" and carefully dropped the chicken pieces into the oil. After six minutes, we turned them over and fried them for another four minutes. At this point, the chicken had a nice Mary Brownesque look to them. Aroma-wise, it was still hard to say. But the garlicky waft I got from the brine stayed, and the kitchen smelled like fried chicken heaven.

Once the first batch of chicken was cooked and transferred onto wire racks, we dropped in our second batch and timed them like we did the first. Unfortunately, the oil in my wok was quite hot by then, and my chicken legs and thighs turned out darker than they were supposed to. I ended up with two-toned chicken, which I popped into the oven to bake for fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I cooked a handful of brussel sprouts with some butter, rosemary, thyme, and a little bit of the peanut oil grease for added flavour.

Chicken galore

When the time was up, we took our fried chickens out of the oven and took a bite...

For first-timers, I think Brian and I did pretty well. Brian's chicken was crispy, golden brown, and fully cooked. Although he thinks they were missing a little something spice-wise, he finished them in under two days! 

Colour aside, my chicken was moist, crispy, and most importantly, tasty. A few of the thicker pieces were slightly undercooked, though I image a few more minutes in the oven would fix that easily. My dad paid me the biggest compliment by eating three pieces in one seating -- and that was after a full dinner! I ate a piece and saved one for lunch the day after.