Well, well, well. I wanted fried chicken. It's Super Bowl day and I didn't want to be standing frying batches of bird, even with my dutch oven/lid on/8 minutes, flip, 8 minutes/eat method. It was still going to entail me standing there, paying attention. There are other things I want to do today other than make chicken today. Although I love fried chicken, sometimes I feel it's a little needy. I mean I don't mind paying attention but sometimes it's just draining to make that sort of commitment to a bird.
I stared at the chicken and wondered if I should just roast it whole then it dawned on me... why not fry it in the oven? I was delighted at my brilliance. I am sure there are a million other people who do this but I haven't and I am delighted that my brain went there today.
I chopped up the bird, threw it in an egg/milk wash then into seasoned flour/corn starch then back in the egg then back into the flour and tossed it into a roasting pan that had about 1/4 inch of melted, hot, fat in it. Threw it into the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes, flipped and baked it for about another 40 minutes and lookie lookie... fried chicken!
TRACYS (OVEN) FRIED CHICKEN
1 cup (or more depending on your pan) of lard or Crisco or unflavored oil
1 cut up chicken... do NOT buy pre-cut up chicken. Seriously, bring it here and I'll cut it up for you, they charge DOUBLE for cutting it into pieces and most times it's not even the right pieces with the right bird... no one wants that so grab a sharp knife or a pair of scissors and cut your own bird into 10 pieces.
1 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
whatever dry seasonings you like, garlic, onion, cayenne, paprika, herbs
salt and pepper (lots and lots of pepper)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Quickie instructions:
Cut up the chicken, dry it, season it (or buy one already cut up, I won't look...or all of your favorite part)
Combine eggs and milk in one bowl (with some salt and pepper).
Combine dry ingredients and your favorite dry herbs in another bowl.
Dip chicken in eggs then flour then eggs then flour and leave to rest for about 5 minutes.
Heat 1 cup of shortening in a large roasting pan (enough to hold the chicken in a single layer not touching) in a 400 oven for about 10 minutes.
Put coated chicken in hot fat in roasting tin.
Bake 30 minutes
FLIP
Bake 30-40 minutes, or until done.
EAT!!!!!
Long winded, with commentary and pictures, instructions:
Throw your chicken parts in the eggs/milk. Mix flour, cornstarch and spices in a wide bowl. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg, into the flour, back into the egg and back into the flour, put aside to dry for a few minutes while you wait for the fat to heat.
Oh look at this... this has got to be good. Fat is hot! Time to put the chicken in the hot pan
There's no rhyme or reason, just put the chicken in the hot pan. It should sizzle madly right away! I scooped a little hot fat and drizzled the top of the pieces then put it quickly back into the oven. Set the timer for 30 minutes and this is how it looked. Brown on the bottom and slightly golden on top! YAY! It's working!
After another 30, ok, it LOOKS awful but I LIKE the crispy bits. You can remove yours earlier but even though it LOOKS burned, it most certainly is NOT burned. LOOK at this, tell me you don't want to dig into it.
Crispy wings, my favorite. Ok, without telling my family, I did, in fact, dive into the chicken while it was fresh out of the oven. It is crispy, delicious, crunchy, tender, moist and satisfies all the fried chicken need I had without me having to babysit or do anything other than bread and shove it in the oven.
I ate this piece. It made me incredibly happy. We are eating the rest later, at room temperature, while we watch football with friends and family. I almost wish I had more chicken to oven fry!!
Try it when you want fried chicken but don't want the mess, the splatter or the commitment of having to stand there babysitting it.
I'll be doing this again, soon...and often!
/tracy
After another 30, ok, it LOOKS awful but I LIKE the crispy bits. You can remove yours earlier but even though it LOOKS burned, it most certainly is NOT burned. LOOK at this, tell me you don't want to dig into it.
Crispy wings, my favorite. Ok, without telling my family, I did, in fact, dive into the chicken while it was fresh out of the oven. It is crispy, delicious, crunchy, tender, moist and satisfies all the fried chicken need I had without me having to babysit or do anything other than bread and shove it in the oven.
I ate this piece. It made me incredibly happy. We are eating the rest later, at room temperature, while we watch football with friends and family. I almost wish I had more chicken to oven fry!!
Try it when you want fried chicken but don't want the mess, the splatter or the commitment of having to stand there babysitting it.
I'll be doing this again, soon...and often!
/tracy
No comments:
Post a Comment