Fried chicken is a uniquely American food. Its origins date back to Medieval times, but since it came to the New World, we have made it our own. The recipe may have been been introduced by Martha Washington, but, like many iconic Southern dishes, it was improved and perfected by the African American slaves in the kitchen.
There are as many versions of fried chicken in this country as there are regions and ethnicities. Some add more spice, some brine, some top with gravy and side dishes vary wildly. This is a solid, basic, simple recipe based on a buttermilk marinade and a herby flour coating. The buttermilk soak tenderizes the meat, helps keep it moist and juicy and adds a nice flavor. I like to eat fried chicken with a wedge of lemon squeezed over. Some prefer gravy, but that is another post. However, I think the best thing about fried chicken are the cold leftovers for lunch the next day.
Crispy Herbed Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1
chicken, cut into 10 pieces - 1 cup
non fat yogurt or buttermilk - 1 cup
AP Flour - 1 tsp.
salt - 1/2 tsp.
pepper - 1 tsp.
paprika - 2 tsp.
sage, dried and crumbled - 1 cup
vegetable oil (prefer grapeseed) - 1 TBLS
butter, unsalted - extra
salt and pepper, for sprinkling
Cooking Directions
- Pour the yogurt or buttermilk over the chicken pieces. Refrigerate at lest 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Mix together the flour, salt, pepper, paprika and sage.
- Take the chicken pieces and shake off the excess yogurt or buttermilk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge well in the flour.
- Put oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan. You might need slightly more or less oil depending on your pan. I like about a 1/4″ layer in the bottom of the pan. Get it nice and hot, not smoking but sizzling, over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces a couple at a time. Do not crowd the pan. Brown well on both sides.
- Transfer the brown chicken pieces to a sheet pan with a rack on top of it. Continue to brown all of the chicken pieces.
- Bake at 400 for 25 minutes, until juices run clear.
- Let rest for 5 minutes and serve.
I have never been able to perfect fried chicken. I always run into problems with the pieces being too big to brown well or all the yummy coating getting yuckified by the fatty skin and then being inedible. Does finishing it in the oven help cook off the fat from the skin?
The key is to brown it in oil that is not too hot (prematurely burning it) or too cool (makes the coating an oil sponge). It is a bit of trial and error, but on my stove a medium flame works well. Just get as nice and brown as you can in the pan–the hot roast on the rack in the oven will finish it and smooth over any places you missed. And yes, the oven time does help to render more fat off of the chicken.
This chicken recipe looks really good! (it’s making me hungry for chicken and it’s only 9:00 am here….)
Looks delicious! Way better than fast food.
gonna try this tomorrow to make some honeychicken.should be good, thanks for sharing