Best Fried Chicken French Laundry Style

Thomas Keller of the French Laundry  fame serves this chicken at Ad Hoc every Tuesday. This is quite simply the best fried chicken ever. I have tweaked it a bit from the original recipe after making it a few times. Less bay leaves, added peppers, fresh turmeric, honey in the buttermilk and some other changes. The brine maintains texture and flavors the chicken. It is delicious hot or cold. The buttermilk and honey impart a tang and sweetness. The coating fries perfectly if you maintain the temperature of the oil. 

You need to start this ahead of time, it takes two days to make. The first 24 hours is brining in the refrigerator, but the active time for frying the chicken is no longer than any other recipe of fried chicken.    

In my house it is for special occasions, as each piece is about 500-700 calories depending on if you eat the skin (and WHY wouldn't you?). 

For the Brine: 

1 gallon water
1c kosher salt
1/2cup of honey
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 bay leaves
2 heads of garlic cut in half
¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
1 finger of fresh turmeric grated (2 Tablespoons of ground turmeric if you cannot find fresh)
1 small hand full of whole black peppercorns
2 large stalks of lemon grass bruised
5 large rosemary sprigs
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch parsley
Zest, juice and rind of 3 Meyer lemons 
5 habanero chiles cut in half
4-6 # of chicken parts (Split breasts are quite large these days, so if you find yours extra large, use a cleaver and cut each breast in half)

For Frying:
6c flour
3T garlic salt
5T onion powder
2 T paprika
4t cayenne
1T fresh black pepper
2t kosher salt (I use smoked Hawaiian salt)
6c buttermilk
12c peanut oil (or freshly rendered lard)

Method:

Place all of the brine ingredients in a large pot and heat till the sugar and honey melt. Remove from stove and allow to cool. To speed this process up, you can use ¾ gallon of water and then add 4 cups of ice cubes after cooking.

When completely cool add chicken parts. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

Mix together the honey and buttermilk.

Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels

Add to the honey and buttermilk and allow to soak for at least one hour and up to 12 hours.

Heat the oil/lard in a very large deep pot to 300˚, try to maintain this heat during cooking, do not let the oil get too hot.

Mix together the flour and seasonings in a large pan.

One piece at a time, take each chicken piece out of the buttermilk mixture, coat with flour, shake off excess and then dunk again in the buttermilk and coat again in flour. 

Set the chicken pieces on a large baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to one hour. 

Start frying, two to three pieces at a time, do not crowd the chicken. It would be even better to do it one piece at a time so the oil maintains the 300˚ temperature, but that is time consuming. Use a candy thermometer to maintain the temperature as close to 300˚ as possible. When the chicken is golden brown (about 12 minutes for legs and thighs, 7 minutes for ½ breasts) use an instant read thermometer to check doneness. It should read 160 ˚. Remove and place on a sheet pan in a warming oven no warmer than 120 degrees.

Serve while warm. 

Scuba Sunday

From my friends at Puna Web, I learned about a really great opportunity to get out and have some fun at the beach. Sunday, March 1st was my first opportunity to go to Scuba Sunday, sponsored by DiveHilo.com.

Every month a post goes out from Andrew that looks like this:

All welcome including SCUBA divers, snorkellers, kayakers, swimmers, surfers, sun-bathers, chair sitters, talk storyers, bbq cookers and eaters. Come one come all. Look for our Dive Hilo Dive Club banner to find us.

Bring a dish and a smile to share.
Bring your water toys and an attitude of fun.
Bring tales to talk story with.
Above all just be there!!

Sunday April 5th (that is our upcoming event, it is the first Sunday of each month)
Richardson's Beach Park, Hilo Hawaii
For directions to Richardson's: http://www.divehilo.com/announcements.html#directions

The invitation is appropriate. While there are divers in the group, it is not just for divers. I am an avid snorkeler and learning new areas to snorkel is really wonderful for me. However, this Sunday the surf was extremely high and conditions were not ideal. Two of our divers Wes (not my Wes, another one!) and David braved the surf and gave us all a fright as we saw lifeguards paddling out for a rescue and then a helicopter came too. In the end they were fine, just a little off course. Here they are with their "rescuer" whom we nicknamed David Hasslehoff.

We had a great potluck with many delightful dishes. There was a grill going and there was more than enough food for twice as many people. It was a mostly sunny day, but a bit over cast and with just a sprinkle late in the day. Even though rain was predicted (it is predicted almost every day in Hilo!) we had pretty nice weather even if the sea was a bit on the rough side. We sat up our chairs and had a nice visit.

Pam Lamont who had just had knee replacement surgery came for a visit and it was good to see her, though it was obviously rough on her to get out and about so soon after her surgery. Bob drove her down to the picnic area, which is a good thing because it is on some fairly unstable territory for someone who is using a walker. She made it like the trouper she is.

Noel and I went for a walk and met a very friendly Auntie with two Tanimbar Corellas on her shoulders. One was the most beautiful pink color. She said they sit on her shoulders all day like that and never leave her. I had to wonder if maybe she had some sore spots on her shoulders after a day like that, as their claws looked sharp to me. They were really beautiful birds and she was a sweet lady that liked to talk story and share aloha.

The auntie was watching her grandchildren play in the water, there for a birthday celebration with a very large family. She chatted with us and told us a little history about Richardson's Beach. She had grown up in Hilo and had been to the park when it was a private residence, owned of course by the Richardsons! Their home was eventually turned into an ocean interpretive center, but it is now a police station.

We walked out on the lava and saw lots of honu (sea turtles) swimming around. This was an opportunity to see them up close. We did see some at Shipman Beach a few weeks ago but they were in deeper water. Here they were in a tide pool and it was fun taking some pictures of them.

As the tide came in the monster surf conditions made the water rise quickly. It was a bit deceptive because the water was breaking over a 15' high wall of lava. Suddenly, we were surrounded by water. My friend Bonnie (the baker-goddess) had come to the beach directly from church and was still in her church clothes while walking on the rocks with us. When a particularly large wave broke over the rocks, suddenly to her surprise the rock she was standing on was instantly submerged in knee high water. You can see the video here :

as she was rescued by a nice guy and then her husband Joey. It is easy to laugh about it now, but at the moment it was a bit frightening. We called this little film, Bonnie's Tsunami. And then I found out that her middle name is "Sue" making it Bonnie Sue "nami", even more appropriate.

All in all, we had a great time and I am looking forward to April 4th for another fun Sunday at the beach. For more information about the next Scuba Sunday, send me an e-mail.

Next Post... St. Patty's Party