| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 15 hr 50 min |
| Prep: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Inactive: | 13 hr 10 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 9 cups brown chicken stock
- 1 cup pickle brine (can be store-bought pickles and use that brine)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons salt
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 orange, quartered
- 1/2 head garlic, split
- 1/2 bunch fresh thyme
- 2 whole chickens, cut into 10 even pieces
- 1 quart all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons chicken spice, recipe follows
- Canola oil, for frying
- Hot Sauce, for serving, recipe follows
- Buttermilk Biscuits, for serving, recipe follows
- Bread and Butter Pickles, for serving, recipe follows
- 2 tablespoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
- 4 teaspoons paprika
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground celery seeds
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Grind the seafood seasoning, paprika, salt, celery seeds, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Mix together.
- 4 pounds red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 pound jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
- 5 fish peppers, stemmed and seeded
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 ounces fresh thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 grams xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
- 4 limes, zested and juiced
- Salt
- 10 ounces cold butter, diced
- 3 pounds all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 ounces sugar
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 34 fluid ounces buttermilk, cold
- 1 cup fresh chopped chives
- 6 egg yolks
- Egg wash, for brushing
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tablespoon celery seeds
- Bread and Butter Pickles:
- 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 2 1/2 pounds Kirby cucumbers, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch rounds (about 4 cups)
- 1/2 quart thinly sliced Spanish onions
- 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
- 2 1/2 cloves garlic
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 jalapeno, stems removed and split in half
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1/2 quart apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 quart white distilled vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon allspice
Instructions
- For the brine: Combine the stock, brine, salt, seeds, bay leaf, oranges, garlic and thyme in a large pot and bring up to a high simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and cool the liquid to 40 degrees F and reserve until time to brine the chicken.
- Add the chicken to the brine, place in the fridge and brine for 12 hours.
- For the dredge: Combine the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch and Chicken Spice evenly in a large mixing bowl.
- Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour mixture and allow a minimum of 30 minutes for the flour to adhere. Re-dredge just before frying.
- Heat 3 inches canola oil in a deep pot or a deep-fryer over high heat to 350 degrees F. A rule of thumb: If you drop a pinch of flour into the oil and it fries up immediately, you’re good to go. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and get ready a baking sheet with a rack.
- Take the chicken out of the dredge, shake off excess flour and fry in batches until golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer to the rack and sprinkle some of the chicken spice over the fried chicken pieces. Hold in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Serve the fried chicken on a platter with Hot Sauce, Buttermilk Biscuits and Bread and Butter Pickles on the side.
- Juice half of the red bell peppers. Pass through a fine mesh strainer and reserve.
- In a large pot, sweat out the remaining red bell peppers, the jalapenos, fish peppers, garlic and thyme. Add the vinegar, sugar, xanthan gum, white pepper, lime zest and juice. Simmer for 15 minutes. Puree with the juice from the bell peppers and pass through a fine mesh strainer. Season with salt.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut the cold butter into the flour and combine with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the buttermilk, chives and yolks separately. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, fold in gently and chill.
- Roll out the dough to a 1/2-inch-thick sheet. Fold into thirds, turn a quarter of the way around and fold into thirds again. Rest for 10 minutes. Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness again and cut into 1 1/2-inch squares.
- Brush with egg wash and bake for 8 minutes.
- Toss the cucumbers, onions, garlic and jalapenos with the salt and macerate overnight in the fridge.
- Combine the vinegars, sugar, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, allspice, celery seeds, red pepper flakes, turmeric, cloves and bay leaf in a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Strain over the cucumbers. Cover and allow to cool to room temperature.
Reviews
Caveat! I only used the brine portion of this recipe. It was fantastic!
Brining chicken is a good idea. Makes for really moist meat. I have to agree with others that the spice combination, especially the celery seed detracted from the overall flavor. I prefer savory herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano, paprika, garlic) to the coriander/fennel combination. I did like the mix of corn starch/flour and corn meal as a dredge coating, made for a real crispy skin. And definitely raise temp to 325 minimum for about 20 mins.
I did convection for 15 min. and it still needed more time.
Overall, I will continue to make fried chicken, but not with this spice recipe.
I did convection for 15 min. and it still needed more time.
Overall, I will continue to make fried chicken, but not with this spice recipe.
Very good recipe by the Chef. Only recommendation I have would be to lower your frying temp to 250 and increase your cooking time to 16-20 minutes. “Fried Chicken” should be just that, fried and batch fried at that. I really enjoyed he flavor profiles in the brine.
I have to agree with the reviewer below…it was ok. I wouldn’t fry chicken this was again…
Great recipe. Taste awsome
So disappointing! I was expecting great savory flavors with a little heat…but this fell really short. The expense of buying the extra seasonings that I don’t normally have on hand, using chicken stock & pickle juice (instead of water and salt, using oranges, and all the extra time to cook the brine, let it cool, etc., just isn’t worth the mediocre flavor and texture. We made this for four adults, and none of us thought it lived up to the hype…at all. After watching the brothers on Top Chef, I thought this would turn out awesome…but it didn’t happen. The flavor I tasted above everything, was the coriander…it didn’t go well with the chicken. All the other things the recipe calls for didn’t help the flavor profile. All the chicken stock, spices/herbs, orange, and pickle juice…not distinguishable. FYI….8 minutes is not long enough @ 350…perfect time for completely cooked and golden is 17 minutes.
First attempt at making fried chicken and it was a hit. I used chicken thighs and legs instead of two butchered chickens. The brine was well worth the effort. I did notice the chicken did not cook all the way through in the oil, so I wound up cooking the chicken in the oven at temperature of 400 degrees to ensure the chicken internal temperature got up to 165 degrees. Chicken had great flavor and was super juicy. No more trips to Popeyes or KFC to get my chicken fix. Thanks Bryan.
This was the first time I’ve made Fried Chicken and my wife and neighbor said it was the best Fried Chicken they ever had, and I have to agree. I didn’t have chicken stock so I substituted 2 cans of chicken broth. I also had only one chicken cut up by the butcher, so I halved this recipe. I used pickle juice from a jar of pickles. I’m nervous about brining as I’ve overdone it in the past. But I brined this chicken 18 hours and it was fine. I’d also go easy on sprinkling the spices at the end as it can easily make this too salty if you’re not careful. But it was juicy and delicious. Thanks Bryan!
Stop. You found your fried chicken recipe. The brine adds a lot to this. Don’t forget to cut the breast in half when butchering; they’ll cook more evenly. After my chicken was broken down, I poked some holes in each of the pieces to let the marinade really penetrate. I also had the chicken in there for 24 hrs. The end product was worth the effort. If your looking for an experiment, take a few pieces, add a generous pinch of powder sugar to the chicken spice then sprinkled it over the chicken before letting it set up in the oven. Try it, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
This is DELISH! The brine is worth the time in my opinion! We are lovers of fried chicken in my family and this is one of the best recipes we have ever tried! Thanks! And I don’t get why people rate a recipe before actually trying it…especially giving it 3 or 4 stars, bringing down the rating! lol :s