My Second Favorite Food in the World
Let me introduce you to my favorite meal in the world. Blog friends, meet fried chicken, rice and gravy. Fried chicken, rice and gravy, meet my blog friends.
I’m almost speechless. I mean, this has been my favorite meal, probably since I could chew, and for the first time, just last week…I made it myself…successfully! Usually I only get it on special occasions when my mom’s cooking for me, but not anymore. Thanks to one absolutely amazing fried chicken recipe from Cooks’ Illustrated, if I’m craving it I can have it. Amen.
This recipe is so awesome, and so easy. And my favorite part is just how much crunchy goodness you get in each and every bite of this chicken. Their secret: mixing just a little buttermilk in with the seasoned flour coating to make big crumbles that stick to the chicken. Oh man, you have to give this one a try. The Phoenix and I couldn’t get enough of it, and he even thought the leftovers were even better the next day. Yum, yum, yum!
Now I wish I could give you a recipe for the chicken gravy, but it’s more of an eyeball it kind of thing so I really can’t say how much of anything I put in. I just don’t know and probably never will. Here’s what I do though: First, dump all the excess oil out of your skillet that you fried the chicken in, but DO NOT dump out any of the crispy bits from the bottom of the pan. You will be sorry. Then put the skillet back on the stove over medium heat or so and add some flour and milk, whisking constantly to get the bits from the bottom of the pan. It’ll thicken up fairly quickly, then add a lot more milk so you’ll have a good amount of gravy. You’ll want to keep stirring quite a bit so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the skillet. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let it cook, still stirring constantly, until you get a good consistency. Serve over chicken and rice.
Crispy Fried Chicken
recipe from Cooks' Illustrated magazine, September and October 2010 edition
- Details
- Ready in 0 Minute.
- Makes: 4 Servings
- Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, divided
- kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- 1 teaspoon paprika, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (can also make this with bone-in, skin-on chicken as well)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups canola oil
- Directions
- Whisk 1 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper together in a large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon paprika and remaining cayenne pepper together in a large bowl. Add remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk to flour mixture and mix with fingers until combined and small clumps form.
- Working with one piece at a time, dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture, pressing mixture onto pieces to form thick, even coating. Place dredged chicken on a large plate.
- Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully place chicken pieces in pan and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip and continue to cook until golden brown on second side, 2 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to wire rack (already sprayed with cooking spray, for easier cleanup) set on a rimmed baking sheet (lined with foil for easier cleanup). Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the chicken registers 160 degrees, approximately 20 minutes. Let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.
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3 Responses to “My Second Favorite Food in the World”
About
I'm Vanessa and I have quite the soft spot for great food. I am a little bit addicted to trying new recipes and will share all the best ones with you.
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I’m actually embarrassed to admit that I’ve never had this meal before. I know it’s a totally American meal (except maybe substituting the rice for potatoes) but, yeah, no one has ever made it for me. It looks tasty in this picture. Even the gravy, and I’m not really a gravy person. Soooo, what I’m saying is I think if I were served this, I’d actually really enjoy it!
I’m not really a gravy person either, in fact, this is probably one of only two ways I like it…the other being from my pot roast recipe! If we lived by each other, I’d totally make this for you.
[…] on September 5, 2010 by colorwheelinteriordesign Over at the Red Bird Life she shared an awesome Fried Chicken Recipe that is awesome. This was some good food. You should try it […]