Fried Chicken Fridays
Just when you thought Fridays couldn’t get any better, we introduce fried chicken Fridays! Sure, it’s an indulgence, so I’m not saying make this every Friday, but there’s no reason you can’t enjoy it every now and then. It may sound crazy but I truly believe there’s something a little healthier about making and frying your own chicken vs. buying it somewhere else. (Who knows if this is a totally sound theory, but go with it!)
I honestly don’t know when my obsession with fried chicken really started (I don’t ever remember eating it as a kid), but once I’d discovered it in my adulthood, I was hooked. There is a great butcher in town who makes awesome fried chicken and we used to buy it from him all the time, but then we set out on a mission to create our own recipe and now there’s no looking back. There’s something so fun and cozy about homemade fried chicken. It actually brings me back to one of the coziest winter meals -and hands down best fried chicken- we’ve ever had, at one of our favorite old restaurants in Chicago, Table 52 (now Blue Door Kitchen). But now that we invested in our amazing home fryer (seriously, you won’t regret it, we use it at least once a week!), we can bring the flavors of Table 52 right to our very own wholesome table!
So this Friday we went all out and served our Crispy Fried Chicken with these incredible Cranberry Jalapeño Buttermilk Waffles, a side of Homestyle Crispy Fries and chili honey. The funny part about the waffles is that we’ve been working on perfecting a waffle recipe for some time now (with not much luck) and these waffles hit jackpot! So if you’re looking to serve them at breakfast, just omit the jalapeño and you’re good to go. I love when we create recipes that serve a multi-meal purpose!
When we tackled the chicken, Marc was feeling a little extra ambitious and he actually decided to cut up a whole chicken. We learned this technical skill from watching hours upon hours of MasterChef over the years, but we don’t do it often so it was a little more challenging that we recalled. We still somehow managed to pull it off (although we couldn’t find the chicken oyster…oops!) and the butchering job didn’t turn out so terrible (see below), but by all means, buy a cut up chicken yourself and skip this step if you want to! Also, the brine is essential in my opinion. It makes the chicken sooo moist you won’t know what to do with yourself!
The fries are a Marc specialty. He often makes them to accompany steak or pork chops, or almost any time we BBQ in the summer. He used to cut up the potatoes by hand (somewhat labor intensive and a challenge to get them all equally sized) until he discovered this handy dandy fry cutter – and never looked back! It simplifies the fry cutting into three fast easy steps. Just cut the potato in half, place in the cutter and then pull down the handle. And voila, perfectly sliced fries pop out the other side! The trick is to ideally look for long thing Yukons in the grocery store, but you can really use almost any potato if you want to. We also made a pretty cool discovery about this cutter was when my Dad was visiting. My grandparents (and now my uncle) own a McDonald’s franchise in the midwest, so my Dad grew up working in one of the local stores. Back in the day, before they were machine-cut, they used a nearly identical fry cutter to cut all of their fries by hand. Makes you appreciate how much elbow grease that must have required, but still pretty cool that this fry cutter has a bit of history to it too!
So next time you’re looking for a fun & cozy Friday night dinner, roll up your sleeves and don’t be chicken! Serve up this homestyle meal for the whole fam. And then serve up the leftovers the next day and make fried chicken sandwiches! (A toasted bun, mayo, pickles and coleslaw is all you need!) Before you know it, you’ll be as addicted as I am!
Crispy Fried Chicken
Fried chicken gets taken to the next level with a buttermilk brine. Super crispy on the outside, moist and delicious on the inside.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chickens (~3 lbs) cut into 8 pieces (2 wings, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 breasts)
- 1 carton of buttermilk (about a quart)
- A few dashes of Louisiana hot sauce
- Kosher salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
- A quart of vegetable oil for frying
- Chili Honey for serving: 1/4 cup honey + 1 TBSP red chili flakes
Directions
- Step 1 If you’re ambitious enough, buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself. It’s slightly cheaper too! Start at least a few hours ahead (if you can!) by marinating the cut-up chicken in the buttermilk, drizzled with hot sauce and a few pinches of salt. Toss the chicken fully in the buttermilk, making sure it is coasted, then refrigerate.
- Step 2 Make your batter by whisking the flour with all of the spices. A half hour before you’re ready to fry, remove the chicken from the fridge and bring to room temperature.
- Step 3 Preheat your fryer to 350 (the max temperature). **If you plan to fry on the stove instead, use a cast iron skillet. Pour vegetable oil into the skillet until it is about an inch deep (1/3rd of the way up the pan). Heat the oil over high heat and begin checking the temperature with a thermometer, it’s ready when it hits 350 degrees.
- Step 4 To dredge the chicken: Lift the chicken out of the buttermilk using tongues, shaking off the excess and then sprinkle generously with more Kosher salt. Dip into the flour and roll until the chicken is fully coated. Using your tongues makes this step so much easier! Repeat with each piece of chicken, one at a time.
- Step 5 Place chicken pieces in the fryer basket (do not crowd) and carefully lower the basket into the hot oil. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the basket, shaking off any excess oil as you lift it out. Drain the basket over a paper towel and then carefully lift out the chicken with tongues and place on a plate.
- Step 6 **If you’re frying on the stove, carefully drop chicken pieces into the skillet without touching each other, until the oil comes halfway up the side of the skillet. Any more, and things could get dangerous. You will probably need to cook the chicken in a few rounds. Fry the chicken for a few minutes, then flip to the other side. Continue watching and flipping every so often, until the chicken is a beautiful golden brown all over and a thermometer inserted into the chicken reads 165 degrees. Remove the chicken to a cooling rack with clean tongs and season with salt.
- Step 7 Serve chicken with chili honey and waffles!
Cranberry Jalapeño Buttermilk Waffles
The most incredible buttermilk waffles, with an extra special twist of jalapeño and cranberry to compliment our crispy fried chicken!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 TBSP sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 stick (8 TBSP) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
Directions
- Step 1 Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, jalapeño, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- Step 2 In a second bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth, then stir in the buttermilk and melted butter, until fully combined.
- Step 3 Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly, stirring as you go. Stir in the dried cranberries. Mix just until the batter comes together- there will be lumps. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
- Step 4 Heat your waffle iron. Spray the iron with cooking spray before each use. For each waffle, pour about 1/3 cup of the batter onto the iron. Cover and cook until golden brown and crispy ~3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the waffle iron and keep warm under tinfoil while the other waffles cook.
Homestyle Crispy Fries
The ultimate side to make in your home-fryer. These fries come out perfectly crispy every time!
Ingredients
- 1 russet potato, cut to size for the fry cutter
- 1 TBSP sugar (dissolved in a bowl of water)
- Plenty of kosher salt for seasoning
Directions
- Step 1 Slice each half of the potato in the fry cutter, on the larger setting. Or slice by hand into fry slices about 3-4 inches in length and 1/2 inch wide.
- Step 2 Brine the potato slices in the sugar water for about 15-20 minutes. Heat your fryer to max heat (350 degrees).
- Step 3 Once the fryer is heated, transfer the fries to the fryer basket and gently place into the hot oil. Cover the fry machine and fry for 12 minutes.
- Step 4 Lift the basket out slowly, shaking off any extra oil. Drain in a paper-towel lined bowl to soak up the rest of the oil. Transfer to a serving dish and season generously with kosher salt.
