Fried Chicken

First of all, thank you for all your comments on Edith, we really appriciate it so much. She's still in the hospital, and things are not looking good. She's being sedated right now, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. To keep myself occupied, I might as well blog. 

Fried chicken might seem like a lot of work - especially compared to driving to KFC -but believe me, it's worth it. And besides, it's really easy. You need to prepare some of things in advance, sure, and plan ahead. But that's it. Anyone can do this. Really.

We made this last night for our 4th of July celebration, and it was absolutely delicious! I used a recipe that I found over at Deglazed, and just made a few minor changes. Also, buttermilk isn't really available in Sweden unless you make your own butter, so I use what's usually recommended as a substitute, filmjolk. (Which is sort of like a yogurt, but soured with other types of culture.) It works very, very well. 

Adding baking powder to the final flour mixture was actually a mistake - but I think it contributed to the super-crispyness of the chicken, so I won't leave it out next time. Oh, and we opted for thigh fillets rather than cutting up a whole chicken. They're my favorite part anyway. 

Fried Chicken

Serves 6

900 g thigh fillets of chicken 

Brine:

750 ml (3 cups) buttermilk or filmjolk

4 tbsp coarse salt

2 tbsp sugar

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 tbsp chilli powder

1-2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

Mix all ingredients for the brine. Add the chicken, and let it rest in the fridge for about 3 hours. Remove the chicken pieces and put them on a rack to drain a bit. Don't wipe off any brine though, but try to shake off any large pieces of garlic that might stick. Let the chicken drain for about two hours. 

Batter:

1 egg

250 ml (1 cup) buttermilk or filmjolk

1 tsk baking powder

Flour mixture:

750 ml (3 cups) flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp fresh thyme

Beat the egg and the buttermilk/filmjolk together. Add the baking powder. Mix the flour with baking powder, cayenne pepper, chiilli powder and thyme in a large, shallow bowl. Dip the chicken pieces in the batter and dredge them with the flour mixture. 

Finally, fry in a deep fryer at about 175°C, for 6-7 minutes or until your chicken is golden and crispy, and well cooked through.