Sunday, 20 July 2014

"Holy Crap He Ate It!" Fried Chicken Recipe

Since buying a small deep-fryer from a local second-hand shop - I've made mini eggrolls and wonton chips, tried ginger beef but the beef strips got stuck to the metal basket...and today decided to make crispy fried chicken!
I ended up not using my mini deep-fryer but a pot filled with a couple inches of oil instead.

I had to do some research online first to see what was typical of fried chicken recipes - as this was my first time!
This is what I discovered:
  • Chicken pieces - sometimes with skin on or off - up to you.
  • Thin them out a bit by trimming fat and hammering or rolling meat cuts (like chicken breasts) as thin as possible to aid in speeding up the cooking time.
  • Coated in flour, eggs then breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes cereal.
  • Marinated in a buttermilk mixture.
  • Fry until golden brown and crispy.
 Alright - sounds simple enough.
I recently bought some panko crumbs and decided I would do a mix up of the above basics.

I had a kilo of chicken breasts - about eight of them - ready to be cooked up.
I don't have a meat mallet - so I slipped a breast between two sheets of parchment paper (I hate plastic wrap THAT much!) and rolled/smashed them as thin as I could with my marble rolling pin.  They weren't super thin like most recipes' photos but anyway.

I then beat 3 eggs (and found this later to be too much!) with black pepper sprinkled in and coated each chicken breast.
I mixed up equal parts (don't ask me how much because I honestly shook the bag and what came out is what I used) bread crumbs and panko into a large flat dish.  I also added my favourite spices and added a generous shake or two of Parmesan cheese!

While coating the chicken in both egg and then crumbs (both sides of course!)  - I heated up oil in the pot on the stove.

Then I cooked a breast at a time - flipping only once. 
After every piece was cooked - I drained them on a paper towel covered plate and served it with herbed rice (just tossed in a herb bouillon blob into the rice cooker while it was going in the microwave...and no it's not an actual cube - it's a jelly blob) and fresh peas.

I sliced a cooked chicken breast up into strips and waited for V-Man to approve.
At first he touched them, fiddled them between his fingers and sniffed it a few times.
Then he pushed it away with 0 interest in actually eating the meat - which reminded me of this morning - where he wanted oatmeal but didn't actually want to eat it.

After I offered a second tomato sliced then he touched the chicken and pressed it to his lips.
THEN he finally ate it - the whole breast.  Perhaps it was too hot still for him to taste...who knows.
I'm one very happy and proud mama.
Had he not eaten it - well, then I would've been proud for him to put it to his lips...then sad as f*ck he didn't eat it.
BIMU

PS Just finished watching Homeland Season 2- INSANE!!!!!!!!!



No comments:

Post a Comment