Chicken Fried Chicken

Many things taste great breaded and fried, but I've never seen the allure of chicken-fried steak. Fried chicken, OTOH, is one of my favorite things to make. Thigh meat is my preference, but its shape requires longer frying which can ruin a delicate breading. So I debone and pound it to a uniform flatness. Then I sprinkle with salt, soak in buttermilk, coat with seasoned flour, and fry until just cooked through. Great hot or cold, on a sandwich with some slaw, in a torta, or as I did yesterday, covered with a rib-sticking gravy.

Here is a fun little video I made yesterday (high-speed connection required):

http://www.vimeo.com/3430858

Bill/SFNM

Very fun video, Bill. Great music too. What is the sauce you put on the cooked chicken?

Evy

Nicely done!

EvA wrote:Very fun video, Bill. Great music too. What is the sauce you put on the cooked chicken?

Evy

Thanks, Evy.

For the sauce:

Make a concentrated broth from the thigh bones and set aside. Sweat some diced onion in some chicken fat. Add some garlic and cook until fragrant. Add some chopped fresh thyme leaves. Add a few T of flour and cook until golden. Stir in the broth (about 1/2 cup) and 2 cups milk. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper. Cook to desired consistency.

Bill/SFNM wrote:

EvA wrote:Very fun video, Bill. Great music too. What is the sauce you put on the cooked chicken?

Evy

Thanks, Evy.

For the sauce:

Make a concentrated broth from the thigh bones and set aside. Sweat some diced onion in some chicken fat. Add some garlic and cook until fragrant. Add some chopped fresh thyme leaves. Add a few T of flour and cook until golden. Stir in the broth (about 1/2 cup) and 2 cups milk. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper. Cook to desired consistency.

Sounds terrific. Hmmm, I've got some chicken thighs in the freezer....

Rock Bottom at State and Grand does an outstanding job with CFC. Mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans tough to beat.

Nice
Fried chicken becomes more tasty if you put fried chicken in the fried rice with fried pron in it.

Bill,

Terrific video, CFC looks delicious, love the music.

Enjoy,
Gary

Great idea/reminder, expert realization, HD video, music, the list goes on.

I love everything about this, Bill! Many thanks.

(Everything except that it seriously raises the standard for what makes a cooking post these days...)

Bill/SFNM wrote:Many things taste great breaded and fried, but I've never seen the allure of chicken-fried steak.

I myself have nothing to offer in defense of chicken-fried steak. However, I trust you've seen Dallasfood's borderline* obsessive rundown of practically every chicken-fried steak available in Dallas (and many other places)? It's one of my favorite series from one of my favorite websites and managed to give me a fierce hankerin' for some chicken fried steak. Since reading his reports, I simply cannot read the compound adjective "chicken-fried" without thinking of this labor of love.

*O.K., I only write "borderline" to show Dallasfood some well-earned respect. Between you and me, his obsession seems pretty well full-blown...

That gravy almost looked too good.

After lots of experimentation, I've decided on my favorite way to coat chicken.

For "adhesive" I tried eggs, egg whites, milk, buttermilk, etc. For the coating I tried fresh bread crumbs, toasted bread crumbs, ground Fritos, ground corn flakes, panko, corn starch, etc.

The winning combo: buttermilk and water chestnut flour. Sounds odd, but the resulting coating is light, not too hard or soft, with a flavor that accentuates that of the chicken.





Bill/SFNM

I almost bought water chestnut flour the other day....I haven't tried it yet, and being gluten-free, you'd think I would have. Now I have a reason to try it next time I'm at an Asian store.

That looks terrific, Bill!