Thomas Keller's Fried Chicken

The Mister works in Beverly Hills, right next to Bouchon. One day he was walking though the courtyard near Bouchon and saw Thomas Keller having a lunch meeting. They locked eyes and gave each other the gentleman's nod, but if I could go back in time I would make Adam go over there and tell Thomas Keller that we own a blow torch because of him. We'll talk about Blow Torch Prime Rib another time, I promise.

Point is, Thomas Keller rules, and I love that Adam catches glimpses of him every so often. I have two of his cookbooks (French Laundry and Ad Hoc at Home) and they are the most gorgeous cookbooks that I own. The very first recipe in Ad Hoc at Home is for buttermilk fried chicken and it's outstanding. Truly a SND, lots of steps but a big payoff!

The first trick is to brine the chicken. You brine that Thanksgiving turkey, don't you? So why not brine all poultry? It makes such a difference! The brine seasons the chicken and helps it stay incredibly moist. Thomas recommends you brine this chicken for 12 hours (but no more, or the chicken will be too salty). If you're like me and are too lazy to make the brine the night before, get up early in the morning so that the brine has time to chill before you use it. My chicken brined for about seven hours and was delicious - so tender and juicy and lemony.

In a large stockpot, combine 5 halved lemons, 12 bay leaves, 1 bunch of fresh parsley, 1 bunch of fresh thyme, 1/2 cup of honey, 1 head of garlic (halved lengthwise), 1/4 cup black peppercorns, 2 cups of Diamond Crystal kosher salt (the preferred salt of Thomas and myself, if you have a different kind use exactly 10 ounces - Diamond Crystal is considerably lighter than most kosher salts like Morton's), and 2 gallons of water. Give everything a big stir, and bring to a boil. Take the pot of off the heat and cool completely, then chill before you use it.  Now get yourself two 2 1/2 pound chickens and have the butcher (go to Whole Foods!) cut it up for you. Add your chicken to the chilled brine and refrigerate for up to 12 hours. After that time, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse under cold water, then dry with paper towels. Do this an hour and a half before you start the rest of the recipe, you want the chicken to come up to room temp.

Time to make the coating! In a mixing bowl, combine 6 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 cup of garlic powder, 1/4 cup of onion powder, 1 heaping tablespoon of paprika, 1 heaping tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 1 heaping tablespoon of kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Pour one quart of buttermilk into a separate bowl and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Okay, now set up your dredging/frying station. You want to dredge your chicken next to the stove so it can go in this order: flour, buttermilk, flour, oil. In a large stockpot, heat some canola oil to 320 degrees (use a candy thermometer to monitor your temp). No matter the size of your pot, the oil should not come more than 1/3 of the way up the sides. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set a cooling rack on top. If you don't have a rack, line your sheet with paper towels so that the chicken can drain.

Start with the thighs and legs - dredge as I mentioned above, first in the flour, dunk into the buttermilk, then back into the flour one more time. Lightly shake off any excess and set aside on your cooling rack until all the dark meat is coated. Once your oil comes up to temp, carefully lower the thighs/legs into the pot (don't crowd! If there isn't enough room for everything, do it in batches). Adjust your flame as necessary to maintain the temperature and turn your pieces gently to evenly brown. The chicken will turn a deep golden brown in around 11 to 12 minutes - they will be crazy crispy and cooked through. Set the dark meat aside to drain (skin side up) and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Coat your white meat with the flour and buttermilk, then turn your oil up to 340 degrees. Carefully lower the breasts into the oil, monitor the temp, and cook similar to the thighs for 7 to 8 minutes (golden brown, crisp, and cooked through), set aside to drain (sprinkle with salt) and cook the wings for 6 minutes (then drain and salt). Add a handful of fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs to the hot oil and fry for a few minutes until crisp, then scatter over your beautiful fried chicken on its platter.

Serve immediately with your favorite sides - mac 'n cheese, beet salad, collard greens - have at it, kids! It's time consuming, but fairly simple and totally worth it. Go try it and make Thomas and I proud!

xo,
d