What's for Dinner?: Fried Chicken Sandwiches
So my crazy week has begun and I can't catch a breath to save my life. i've worked the part-time job the last two days and go in again tonight, in addition to my full-time job, in addition to my trip for business to NYC tomorrow morning at 6:30 am (thank you, boss for booking that) -- it's insane.
But, I did do some fabulous cooking this weekend! My one treat to myself before all hell broke loose!
Saturday I made homemade fried chicken sandwiches. But not just any fried chicken sandwich, I make Bon Appetit's Best Fried Chicken sandwich. Let me tell you, the recipe was intimidating, but the results were sooooo good and really gave me confidence that I can fry with the best of them.
The outside? Crispy and golden brown. The inside? Juicy and tender. Using chicken thighs, no less, not the normal breasts that you would think of. Sign me up, because I'm always down with thighs and most of the other ingredients I had on hand. So prepare yourself for an all-day event, this is ... (and I apologize in advance, but no pictures, I got so wrapped up in the preparation)
Bon Appetit's Best Fried Chicken Sandwich, from Bon Appetit magazine
Ingredients:
Chicken:
1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal or 2 tablespoons Morton Kosher Salt (I used the Morton's)
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 boneless chicken thighs (my package came with 5, plenty of coating)
Seasoned Mayo:
1 garlic clove, finely grated (I minced the crap out of mine)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Kosher salt
Assembly:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur's because I love it!)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 large egg beaten
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Frank's)
Vegetable oil
Buns with seeds
3 tablespoons melted butter
Bread & butter pickles plus 1 tablespoon brine
4 cups thinly sliced lettuce
Directions:
For the Chicken:
Mix salt, sugar and baking powder in a small bowl.
Season chicken all over with salt mixture.
Chill, uncovered on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours
Mayo:
Combine garlic and lemon juice in a medium bowl.
Whisk mayo, chives and celery seed into the garlic and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Chill.
Back to the Chicken:
From the assembly, combine the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne and salt in a pie plate or round cake pan.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, coating well.
Shake off excess flour and return to the wire rack.
Combine egg, buttermilk and hot sauce in a pie pan or round cake pan, mixing well.
Pour 3 tablespoons of the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and work in with your fingers.
Dip chicken in remaining buttermilk mixture,allowing the excess to drip off.
Pack moistened flour mixture firmly onto both sides of chicken, getting all the nooks and crannies.
Gently shake off the excess flour mixture and return to wire rack.
Chill for 30 minutes to 12 hours.
After it's chilled...
Pour oil into a large heavy pot fitted with a thermometer so that the oil comes halfway up the sides.
Heat over medium high heat until the oil is 350F.
Fry chicken turning often and adjusting the heat to maintain the temperature, 5-8 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack set over paper towels.
And just when you think you're done ...
Toast the buns
Mix 1 tablespoon of pickle brine into 2 tablespoons of the mayo mixture and toss with the lettuce to create slaw.
Assemble sandwich with pickles, mayo, slaw and chicken.
Tah-dah! Perfect fried chicken sandwiches!
Notes:
Do not dredge the chicken in the original salt mixture. Bad idea. I realized this halfway through coating them and had to brush some of the salt stuff off.
Make sure when you are measuring the cayenne that you are not thinking that you are measuring the paprika. Big difference between 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons.
I forgot to do the initial flour dredge of the chicken, I wrote down the direction half-assed and missed that part. I don't think it hurt anything though.
Invest in a really good thermometer if you don't have one, mine kept falling off the pan.
Don't have too much wine during your chicken resting times, it'll come back and bite you in the ass when you're frying (trust me on this one).
All in all and hours later, this is a great recipe. The husband and the boy both agreed that the sandwiches were restaurant-worthy, I'm adding it to my list for when I go to cook for someone who wants to open a farm to table restaurant.
