Fried Chicken for The Soul

One of the best things in life is Fried Chicken.  Thomas Keller believes that you can judge a chef by how well he or she ROASTS a chicken, and I totally agree.  But fried chicken means a lot more to me because of its relevance in southern culture and for the simple fact that it’s just so damn good.

If I ever wind up on Death Row, this is my final meal.  Hopefully I never find myself in that predicament, but IF SO – I hope the warden will let me cook it myself.

I wanted to have fried chicken on the menu, but knew that a kid telling everyone that he was from the deep south better not have anything but the best in town.  So here’s my attempt at deep fried fame.

We feature fried chicken on our Sunday brunch menu and it seems to be a popular choice.  We like to marinate the breasts and thighs in buttermilk, hot sauce, dried oregano, and Old Bay Seasoning for 2 to 3 days before giving it a simple coating in seasoned all-purpose flour before frying up.  The buttermilk contains a little lactic acid, which acts as a natural tenderizer for the meat.  The spices season and penetrate the meat with the help of the aforementioned buttermilk.  The hot sauce gives it that KFC heat that we all want though we can’t muster the shame of actually eating at KFC.

The best fried chicken is cooked in peanut oil, as that was a prevalent farm byproduct in the early south.  We stay away from nut oils at Chaise Lounge due to allergy restrictions, and our canola oil makes for a good substitute.

At brunch, we team the bone-in chicken (necessary to keep more moisture locked in) with house made waffles, maple syrup and butter infused with cinnamon and honey.  A good alternative would be to douse the bird in our house made tasso ham and rosemary gravy.

This is the chicken brining in our buttermilk mix

Here is the finished product.