Paisano: Pan-Fried Chicken
Pan-Fried Goodness
Mummo, my mother's mother and the only grandmother I ever knew, made the best fried chicken in the world. The last time I saw Mummo was 30 years ago in her basement apartment in my uncle's house in Birmingham, Alabama. I had recently transferred to Tuscaloosa to manage a Pier 1 and came up for a visit and lunch. She asked what I wanted her to fix and I said fried chicken. She did and it was as wonderful as I remembered.
My mother's fried chicken was good, but uneven in execution and I have searched long and hard for a match for her mother's chicken. I came close on occasion, but could never replicate the results. In fact, I still can't for a whole chicken. But I have mastered frying chicken breasts or thighs.
Another key is cooking the same pieces. Legs, thighs, breasts, and wings all cook at different rates. Getting each piece of a whole chicken to the same degree of doneness for the same meal is an exercise in magic - doable as Mummo proved, but magic. So I choose pieces rather than whole chickens. In this case I chose breasts.
I should note, smaller pieces work better than big ones. The breasts you see pictured were almost a pound each and it's hard to not over-cook the crust while getting the meat done. Six to eight ounce breasts or five to six ounce thighs work best.
Note: Although cast iron is widely lauded as the skillet of choice for pan-fried chicken, I find stainless steel or aluminum work better. Cast iron is slow to heat and slow to cool and you really want a quicker response when you turn the burner down and up.
Mummo, my mother's mother and the only grandmother I ever knew, made the best fried chicken in the world. The last time I saw Mummo was 30 years ago in her basement apartment in my uncle's house in Birmingham, Alabama. I had recently transferred to Tuscaloosa to manage a Pier 1 and came up for a visit and lunch. She asked what I wanted her to fix and I said fried chicken. She did and it was as wonderful as I remembered.
My mother's fried chicken was good, but uneven in execution and I have searched long and hard for a match for her mother's chicken. I came close on occasion, but could never replicate the results. In fact, I still can't for a whole chicken. But I have mastered frying chicken breasts or thighs.
Getting each piece of a whole chicken to the same degree of doneness for the same meal is an exercise in magic.
First, I should note that in my world chicken should be pan-fried. The best that can be said of deep-fried chicken is that sometimes it's edible. With pan-fried chicken the crust is a key element, but the chicken comes first and the wonderfully crackling crust when fresh from the pan morphs into an equally delicious, albeit slightly soggy element, on a picnic the next day. The key in both versions is restraint - not too much crust.Another key is cooking the same pieces. Legs, thighs, breasts, and wings all cook at different rates. Getting each piece of a whole chicken to the same degree of doneness for the same meal is an exercise in magic - doable as Mummo proved, but magic. So I choose pieces rather than whole chickens. In this case I chose breasts.
I should note, smaller pieces work better than big ones. The breasts you see pictured were almost a pound each and it's hard to not over-cook the crust while getting the meat done. Six to eight ounce breasts or five to six ounce thighs work best.
Southern Pan-Fried Chicken
Serves 6.
3 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs
oil for frying
Marinade:
1 qt. cultured buttermilk
1 tbsp hot paprika
2 tbsp salt
Coating:
1 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Thoroughly mix marinade ingredients in a zippered plastic bag, add chicken, and refrigerate 12 - 24 hours, turning occasionally to ensure coverage.
Thoroughly mix coating ingredients in a zippered plastic bag. Remove two pieces of chicken from marinade, shake off excess marinade, then dredge in coating. Set chicken aside on a piece of foil and repeat for remaining chicken. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 200F.
Heat 1/2-inch oil in a large, straight-sided, lidded skillet over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, re-dredge 2 or 3 pieces of chicken in coating, shake off excess, and add to skillet (skin-side down if cooking breasts or thighs). Cook for four minutes or until a light golden brown.
Turn chicken over, reduce temperature to low, cover, and cook 15 - 20 minutes. (Ideally, cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 150F for breasts or 155F for thighs.)
Remove cover, increase heat to medium-high, and turn over again. Cook another 5 minutes until coating is crisp and mahogany brown. Drain on a plate on paper towels and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat for remaining chicken.
Note: Although cast iron is widely lauded as the skillet of choice for pan-fried chicken, I find stainless steel or aluminum work better. Cast iron is slow to heat and slow to cool and you really want a quicker response when you turn the burner down and up.
13 Comments:
wondering if you had seen this, and what your thoughts were. The first part with the celeb chef part to me doesn't seem to "focused on the food" when you look at the food network now (I haven't tried anything by either of them so maybe it is good), but I thought the part about Chipotle was really interesting.
Courtney,
Seen what?
I like that you gave detailed instructions. I had stopped pan frying chicken as I had the experience you did with your moms' uneven cooking. We rarely fry anything, which is why my hubby got a Fagor pressure fryer for fried chicken and other stuff, but I miss the days of my youth and the pan fry stuff.
I haven't actually had fried chicken for years, but there is something about it that just seems to say "summer picnic". With slices of watermelon, and corn on the cob. Yum.
Bobbosox,
As I'm sure you know, however detatiled the instructions, judgment is called for in timing and heating. Sotves, skilletes and the meat itself vary.
Lydia,
Give it another shot. Enjoyed once every three or four years it's extraordinary,
For quite a while in the mid 60's, every Sunday night my mother would make southern-fried chicken in a cast iron skillet, bisquits served with butter and honey, and home-made french fries. Her crust was fairly thick, but airy and beautifully crunchy. I used to claim the backs so I could peel off the crust to eat by itself. (Funny how none of my family was overweight then, we ate fried food frequently and dessert every night. My mom did make almost everything from scratch, maybe that accounts for some of it.)
She's 81 now, and I waited too long to get her technique down pat; she can't remember the details anymore. We're pretty sure, though, that she used a flour - egg - flour coating. The flour seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika in a paper bag - shaking all the chicken in the bag and setting them aside; then a few pieces at a time according to cooking time dipped in beaten egg, shaken in the flour again, and added to the skillet of hot Crisco.
I think the next time I'm on vacation when I can stand to clean up all the grease, I'm going to see if I can duplicate that meal.
Carol,
I've had the egg-dipped chicken, but prefer buttermilk - or nothing other than seasoned flour.
The grease really isn't that bad when pan frying.
ooh hot paprika, i need to find some of that. this sounds delicious like read satisfying good food mmmm!
Aria,
It is.
After the first dredging when you let the chicken rest for 30 min, is it inside or outside the fridge? Thank you!
The secret to good fried chicken is to brine it the night before. Soak it in water with kosher salt added all night.
After I severely overcooked chicken by deep frying it and had a nervous breakdown over my first failed meal as a newlywed the other week, I made this tonight and it was so delicious. Thank you for redeeming me.
Nicole,
I'm glad you could redeem yourself.
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