Wednesday, January 9, 2008

WFMW Backwards Edition

If you read my last post, you will know that I am afraid of making fried chicken. I have never made it, my mother never made it, and as far as I know, my grandmothers never made it. I'm sure we can go back for generations of my Swedish heritage and not find one fried chicken maker in the bunch. They did, however, make lutefisk. Not that I ever ate it.

Anywho, please help me! My husband and children want me to make fried chicken and I don't know what I am doing. So if you have any recipes, tips, warnings, etc. about fried chicken, please help a girl out. Thanks!

For more backward WFMW, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer!

11 comments:

Lauren said...

Fried chicken tips:
Chicken tenderloins make great chicken strips- my hubby and son prefer them. Plus they are pre-cut so you take them out of the container and you are ready. No trimming or anything.

In a deep skillet on the stove, heat oil about an inch deep. Make sure the oil doesn't burn and smoke.

You'll need 3 bowls.
Fill the first with flour (maybe two cups- add more as needed)

Fill the second with one beaten egg and cup of milk (if you like a little spice you can add a splash of tabasco)

Fill the third with 2 cups of flour and seasonings such as: seasoning salt, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. (You need to use more seasoning than you think.)

Coat each tenderloin in the following order:
Bowl one, Bowl two (coat well so the flour mixture sticks to each piece), Bowl 3 (coat well)

Place your coated chicken in the hot oil. Make sure to give each piece room in the pan so they don't fry together.
Fry on one side until botton is golden brown, flip and do the same for the other side.

A first time tip: fry fewer pieces at a time. It make the turning easier.

You can also substitute buttermillk for the egg and milk mixture.

Hope this will help!

Misty said...

ok... you can be my fried chicken hook up!!! I made it once, as a new bride 13 years ago and it was horrible (and incredibly bloody). I vowed to never make it again but my husband wishes I would... when you find advice that works for you, would pass it on to me???

The Fritz Facts said...

You can do it!! I just learned how, and it was quite easy. Easier than I thought it would be. I got a few different ideas from bettycrocker.com and went from their. There are many different kinds of fried chicken, you can even use ranch or BBQ sauce in stead of eggs. I used corn flakes last night since I was out of bread crumbs.
Good luck!!

SAHMmy Says said...

I used to be scared to make fried chicken too! It's really easy though! 1. Use your deepest pot, not a shallow skillet. This cuts down on grease popping everywhere. 2. Place thawed chicken (wash and dry it if you want, I don't bother with this and have lived to tell the tale) in a gallon size ziploc bag with one cup of flour and one and a half tablespoons each of salt and pepper and shake to coat.
3. Heat three quarters to one inch of oil (I use canola) until it's hot enough to bubble around the handle of a wooden spoon when you dip it in.
4. Place a few chicken pieces in the hot oil (with plenty of room; you'll work in batches) and set your timer for 4 minutes. Flip chicken over with tongs. Brown enough for you? Flip and brown other side for four minutes. If you want your chicken darker, check back every minute or so.
5. After you've browned your chicken put it onto a baking sheet (I line mine with foil then parchment for easy cleanup.)
6. Once you've browned all your chicken, finish cooking uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. You won't have to worry about burning the chicken in the oil, or serving perfectly browned but raw chicken to your family!
PS I did not leave out a step by failing to mention an egg or buttermilk dip--I know many swear by that method but my chicken always immediately burned up in the oil when I did it that way! I've also tried soaking the chicken in buttermilk or sourcream overnight--makes no difference in the tenderness!

Robin hill farm said...

First of all, invest in a deep fryer if you don't have one already. Secondly, the chicken tenders idea is a good one. I have never used them before for fried chicken, but we had always used regular chicken breasts, but they were too thick and took forever to cook. Thirdly, use this recipe. It is the best fried chicken recipe ever. Instead of plain flour, you use Bisquick, so the coating puffs up a little bit. Really good.

Anyhow, here is the recipe: Heat up deep fryer full of oil. Combine 1 cup Bisquick, and 1 cup flour in a shallow bowl. Season to taste.
Put 3/4 cup buttermilk in another shallow bowl.
Dredge chicken pieces, as many as your family will eat, in the flour mixture. Then dip them in buttermilk, coat them well and dip them back in the flour mixture.
Cook the chicken in the oil until coating is golden brown. About 15 or 20 minutes.
Drain on paper towels.
Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

We love fried chicken at my house...so much that it is a staple at least once a month. My favorite thing to do it make a spicy fried chicken. However, if you don't like it spicy you can substitute the spice blend with Lawry's. Here is what we do:

Heat a skillet with your favorite oil (ours is vegetable oil). Make sure it is about as deep as half of the nail on your finger. I heat mine to about medium heat all while I am preparing the chicken.
Take an empty spice jar and mix equal parts of the following spices: garlic powder, ground black pepper, salt and ground red pepper. Shake well to mix the spices.
Next - take a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (your choice on the amount) and shake the season mixture on the chicken. You might need to play with the amounts for a little. Make sure it is visible or else you will have no flavor.
Then take an egg and put it in a bowl and whisk it up. If you have more than 2 or 3 breasts, you might need another egg. Add about an 1/8 cup of milk and mix. Dredge the chicken in the egg/milk and then in flour. I normally just have an extra bowl with flour in it.
Then place in the oil. The oil most likely will not cover all the chicken. Cook for about 15 minutes on one side and then flip to the other side for another 15 minutes or so. Hope this helps!

Darcy said...

I was afraid to make fried chicken too until I found a recipe for Oven Fried Chicken. I have the recipe posted at my blog. My family loves it and it turns out perfect every time!

Karen said...

It looks like you've got plenty of recipes and ideas. I will add that I have not been a particularly adventurous cook but I have been expanding my horizons lately. I recently attempted a Paula Deen chicken recipe (I'm not real thrilled about the frying in hot oil on the stove thing either) and my family loved it so much that I had to fix it again the next week. The kids invited friends over and I ended up frying five pounds of chicken. Which kind of cured me of the "I'm afraid I'll set the house on fire" thing. And they ate it all and wanted more. So, who knows? You may be a closet "fryer" as well.

I have to agree about the lutefisk, though. I can't see me eating it either.

Well, we're having chicken enchiladas tonight so I better get busy. (company is coming for this one too. Of course, teenagers will eat anything so I don't think this is an indication of my cooking skills!)

Anonymous said...

I make "old fashioned" fried chicken, just like my granny taught me to. I like an old pressure cooker pot to fry in, but any pot you have that is deep (8")and made with thick metal will do. Cast iron is great, but so heavy. My pressure cooker pot is cast aluminum, and I lost the lid to it years ago. I keep that pot just to fry chicken in.

Put enough oil in the pot so that it is 3 or 4 inches deep. You can use solid crisco, lard, or peanut oil for very good results. (If you use a different liquid oil, you need to reduce the temp a little and it will take a little longer.)

Take your chicken pieces and rinse them in cold water. Set them onto a cutting board and let them drain a bit. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides lightly. (Skip the pepper if you have little children.) The best tasting chicken, in my opinion, has the bone and skin still attached. After the pieces have air dried for a couple of minutes, put them into a brown paper bag that has flour in it, and shake it up real good. Take the pieces out and lay on a dry plate or another paper bag. Let sit for a few minutes, and the flour will get a little sticky and tacky on the pieces. That is exactly what you want them to do. Heat the oil on a medium flame. When the oil is good and hot, put your thickest pieces of chicken back into the bag with the dry flour and shake them up again. Start frying the breasts first, putting them skin side up, into the hot oil. After about 5 minutes, do the thighs the same way. Put them into the pot with the breasts, as long as it is roomy enough for everything to not be crowded. The chicken will be bubbling away, and if you listen, the sound will change as the moisture is cooked out of the meat. After 10 or 15 minutes, turn the pieces over and continue to cook. The sound will change again, and the pieces will kinda float to the top when they are getting close to being done. You want the chicken to get a deep,golden brown. Use tongs or pinchers to remove it when it floats on the surface for about 5 minutes. (It takes between 20 to 30 minutes for chicken breasts.) Remove them to a wire rack that is set over a cookie sheet, and put them in a 150* oven. Next cook the drum sticks, wings, back, wishbone, and tail section (if you cut up your own chicken, you will get all those pieces, if not just use whatever you have left from the package) You need to turn the drum sticks about three times. Wings will cook quickest. Let the back and tail section get well done. When they float for 5 minutes, remove them with tongs and put on the wire rack. (If you cook livers, they cook really fast. Gizzards and hearts take a little time.)

Since you're going to all the trouble to make fried chicken...you should go ahead and make good "old fashioned" gravy too. After all the chicken has cooked, turn off the heat and let the oil settle for 5 minutes. Drain off as much clear oil as you possibly can, leaving the residue of browned flour you will find. You really don't want more than a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of stuff left in the pot. Heat it back up and when it's hot, slowly add some chicken stock or boulion to it. Watch out...cause it will sputter and you can get burned. It will form a thick paste like substance, and you need to thin it out with either more broth or milk. When you get a thinner consistincy, let it simmer a few minutes, taste, and season with more salt or pepper as needed. (Serve it over fresh, hot mashed potatoes or rice)

If you ever want something "smothered", you add the cooked fried pieces of what ever you have back to the gravy and cook for a few minutes to soften the crispy crust. We do this for rabbit, squirrel, quail, or tough cuts of beef. (Let them simmer a little longer if they are tough cuts.) If you like, you can add very thinly sliced onion to the gravy before you add the meat back.

You said that you are afraid of making fried chicken, and you are right to be cautious. Make sure you don't fill your pot more than half way with oil, cause sometimes it will bubble up and if it runs over, you could have a fire fast. Be careful to put your chicken in gently. Don't throw it in or drop it from far away. Use the tongs if you are afraid. Make sure you don't drop any water or liquid into hot oil. It will cause it to spatter and you will get popped with hot oil. Make sure you don't get sleeves or hair too close to the fire. I always keep a lid close by, that I can put on the pot if I need. Turn off the burner if a spill does occur. I have a fire extinguirs (sp...?) in my kitchen at all times too. Don't let kids or pets come close to you when you fry. Make sure you turn the pot handles out of your way so you don't accidently snag them or cause a pot to spill.

Don't be afraid....just be smart when you cook with hot oil.

(If you do get a burn, put the coldest water you can on it and keep it on it for 15 to 30 minutes.)

Sorry I went on so long....but I hope you'll have good luck and make some wonderful chicken for your husband and kids!

Debbie J

Momala said...

Thank you all for your wonderful recipes and tips. I'm going to print them all out and will be trying to fry me up some chicken soon. Thanks again, you guys are awesome!

Liz Nicks said...

Thanks for commenting on my blog about needing some blogtention! I do not have the gratest frying skills so this is what I like. It's a no fry, fried chicken. I coat the chicken in instant mashed potatoe flakes and then bake it for about 30 minutes. My husband loves it and I don't have a huge greasey mess to clean up after!