Andrew,
How do I love thee? Let me post the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My blog can reach...*
Apparently, loving thee "to the level of everyday's most quiet need" includes fried chicken, creamy salad dressing and butterscotch pudding in a pie crust.
In honour of my husband's upcoming birthday, it's Andrew Week here at Christie's Corner. And to give him the laud he so fully deserves, I'll be cooking the kind of dishes that make my beloved drool and his doctor foam at the mouth.
What does that mean? Let's just say Andrew's a frequent visitor to This Is Why You're Fat. Their tag line? "Where dreams become heart attacks." They feature such culinary delights as the Bacon and Fudge Danish Breakfast Sandwich or the towering burger nicknamed Lankford's Gluttoneer. To me, it's the S&M of food porn. To Andrew, it's culinary titillation.
So, to get the week of additive-free junk food off to a roaring start, here is a recipe for Spicy Southern Fried Chicken. It's pan fried and then baked. This is my compromise for the deep fried dinners Andrew yearns for. Not only is it lower in fat, it's less likely to cause a house fire. And with our track record, I didn't want to tempt fate -- or in this case, hot fat.
I made two versions. One with plain panko breadcrumbs (panko is an extra crispy Japanese breadcrumb that's similar to ground up cornflakes), the other with a mix of panko and Parmesan. The cheesy version was tastier but the plain panko version was crisper.
This is the plain panko version.
This is the Parmesan and panko version.
Both are finger lickin' good and as close to the Colonel's spicy recipe as I'm going ever to get. If you're a deep fried chicken fan, you'll be disappointed. If you like real chicken with a little bit of heat, you won't be.
And the birthday boy's verdict? "It's not KFC, but it'll do." I note for the record, he had seconds. High praise indeed from a reluctantly reformed junk food junkie.
Spicy Southern Fried Chicken
Printable Recipe
Serves 4
Chicken and Marinade
- 2 whole chicken breasts, deboned, skinless and cut into strips
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1 lime, rind and juice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Coating
- 2 T butter
- 1 package Panko bread crumbs OR 1/2 package Panko bread crumbs and equal amount of Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cut chicken breast into strips.
- Mix garlic, chipotle, lime salt and buttermilk together.
- Pour buttermilk marinade over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to overnight. (I marinated the chicken the night before and no one died.)
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Put panko or panko and Parmesan mixture in a ziplock bag. Drop in one strip of chicken at a time and shake well to coat. Coat all pieces this way and discard any unused crumbs.
- Heat skillet over medium heat and melt butter until foaming.
- Gently saute chicken a few minutes on one side or until golden brown. Turn to cook second side until golden.
- Place sauteed chicken on a baking sheet and bake in oven 15 to 20 minutes to finish cooking.
- Serve immediately.
*With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browing.
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16 comments:
This sounds delish!
Oops, Anonymous is me!
Yum! Now I need your help. Both you and Bonnie Stern use Panko -- but I don't know where to buy...? Suggestions? I'm in the GTA.
Jill
Christie, nice to hear from you. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it turns out.
Jill, panko crumbs come in a box and should be in the bread section next to the bread crumbs. I got mine at Zehrs. Apparently they've stocked them for ages but I never noticed. If you can't find them, try crushing cornflakes or rice crispies.
Thanks! I'll post my results tomorrow.
Jill
"It'll do..."
Did he really say, "it'll do"?
If so, tell him you're withholding the birthday cake until he ponies up a more enthusiastic response.
It looks DELICIOUS. I wish someone would make ME fried chicken on my birthday. With the parmesan, please.
Cheryl, what I actually said was "this is good". According to Ms. Christie this is the faint praise that damns. Also, I added "Can I get fries with this?" which may have complicated the exchange. There was also salad, which dropped the ranking. In all seriousness I am among the most fortunate in the land to have my lovely wife experiment on me with food. Don't tell her I said that!
Cheryl, I have trained Andrew NOT to say things like "It's okay" or "It's fine" when asked what he thinks of a dish. When I asked if this chicken was a suitable substitute for KFC and he said, "It'll do" and then went on to explain how without a deep fryer and 11 herbs and spices I just couldn't compete.
In his defense, he does give helpful feedback on my experiments and is usually very encouraging -- except when it comes to KFC. I knew this when I married him. I can't actually complain.
Andrew, you know I can read the comments, right?
Yum- I love all of the things you listed (I only like creamy salad dressing once in a while to be honest) so I think that Andrew and I could eat together very easily.
Can't wait for the rest of the week!
Happy Birthday Andrew!
I think this week might just make you the best wife EVER! This chicken looks amazing! I can't wait to see what else Andrew is treated with. Happy Birthday!
Yay for Andrew week!! What an excellent idea. And way to start off the week with a bang. Both versions of your fried chicken sound super fabulous!
Dana, you'll have to drop by for butterscotch pie!
Joy, I might be the best wife EVER this week, but when the healthy eating starts again? He'll be grumbling.
Elyse, glad you like the idea of Andrew week. It started because of my being sarcastic. Must learn to keep my mouth shut. FYI, Andrew likes the parmesan version best. It's not crispy but it is rather tasty.
I want to make this for my boyfriend's birthday but we are in the middle of nowhere so our grocery store doesn't carry the highest quality of food. You suggest crushing up corn flakes... how does that work exactly? Would other brands of bread crumbs not work? It sounds delicious, though! I can't wait to try it out!!!
~Claudia~
Claudia, you can use other bread crumbs, it just won't be as crispy -- which is fine if you go for the Parmesan version, since the cheese prevents the crumbs from getting as crisp as they can be.
As for crushing cornflakes, put them in a plastic ziplock bag and rolling over the flakes with a rolling pin. Be sure the plastic is fairly heavy, otherwise the cornflakes will tear the bag. Trust me on this one. I learned the hard way.
Hope your boyfriend likes the chicken.
Hi, looks great! For the parmesan do you use shredded or grated?
Emeraldus, I used grated Parmesan to get a finer distribution, but feel free to try shredded. It could give a crunchy texture. Dang! Now I want to try the recipe again with shredded Parmesan.
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