by Edward Lee
3Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.
4Place the chicken on your work surface with the legs facing you. Starting at the tail end of each breast, use your fingers to gently loosen the skin from the flesh. Slide one finger in between the breast meat and the skin and move it from side to side to release the skin from the meat. Yes, this will feel funny, but carry on. Be careful not to tear the skin, but if it does rip a little, don’t worry; it’s not the end of the world. Rotate the bird so the breasts are now facing you and do the same thing starting at the neck end of the breasts, so that all of the breast skin is released from the meat.
5Gently stuff the cooled potatoes into the space between the skin and breasts (see photographs): Stuff half of them from the top and the remaining potatoes from the bottom. Now even out the potato layer: Place both your hands over the skin of the breasts and massage it to smooth and flatten the potatoes into an even layer. Rub the chicken with the olive oil and season with the remaining 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
6Wipe out the cast-iron skillet with a paper towel and heat it over medium heat. Place the chicken breast side down in the hot skillet, press it gently against the bottom of the pan, and hold it there for a bit while it browns lightly, about 3 minutes. Gently flip the chicken onto its back; the skin on top should be lightly browned. Slide the skillet into the oven and cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour. To check for doneness, insert an instant-read thermometer into the upper part of a thigh. I like my chicken when the thigh meat is at 155°F, but you may want yours at 160°F if you don’t like any pink at all. Allow the chicken to rest in the pan for 10 minutes.
7Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Cut each breast away from the bones, being careful not to disturb the potatoes under the crispy skin. Slice each breast into 3 chunks and arrange on a platter. Carve the legs and add them to the platter, along with the wings.
Once you’ve tried this recipe, you’ll make it again and again. I promise. To vary the recipe, add about a teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary or thyme to the potatoes while cooking them.
Grate the potatoes on a box cutter.
Without tearing the skin, stuff the potatoes in the space between the skin and the breast.
Squeeze out excess water from the grated potatoes.
Sear the chicken breast side down in a hot cast-iron pan.
Adobo-Fried Chicken and Waffles
I’m not sure who first thought of serving fried chicken and waffles together, but if adding waffles helps you to feel better about eating fried chicken for breakfast, I’m all for it. This is a Filipino adobo, not the Spanish version. The vinegar brightens the richness of the fried chicken and helps with digestion. Add more or fewer chiles, depending on how much heat you like.
This is my kind of soul food. Serve with Kabocha Squash Mac ’n’ Cheese (page 202) and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard Brewing Company. And invite me over if I happen to be in your town. / Feeds 6
Waffles
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Dipping Sauce
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 fresh Thai bird or habanero peppers, thinly sliced
Adobo Broth
2½ cups distilled white vinegar
1½ cups water
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
4 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup soy sauce
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
Fried Chicken
2 pounds chicken, thighs and/or drumsticks, plus wings if desired (do not use breasts)
Salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
About 8 cups peanut oil for deep-frying
1To make the waffles: Preheat your waffle maker and lightly oil it. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, paprika, and black pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, and buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients a little at a time, whisking constantly.
2Cook the waffles according to your waffle maker’s instructions. Cut the waffles into 2-inch-wide wedges and reserve on a plate at room temperature or keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.
3To make the dipping sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
4To make the adobo broth: In a large pot, combine all the ingredients, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, then turn the heat down as low as it will go.
5Arrange the chicken pieces on a work surface and season them with salt. Add the chicken pieces to the gently simmering broth, cover, and poach for 15 minutes, turning once halfway through. You want the chicken to poach gently and stay moist while picking up the flavor of the broth, so make sure the liquid does not get hotter than a gentle simmer. Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to cool in the liquid, covered, about 20 minutes.
6Remove the chicken pieces from the adobo broth (discard the broth) and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Pat dry.
7To fry the chicken: Pour the buttermilk into a large shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, the paprika, and the pepper. Dip each chicken piece in the buttermilk, shake off any excess liquid, dredge in the flour mixture, turning to coat, and transfer to a large plate. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. The flour coating will turn a little soft—that’s a good thing.
8Meanwhile, fill a large, deep cast-iron skillet about half-full with peanut oil. Heat the oil to 365°F. Cook the chicken pieces 2 or 3 at a time for 8 to 10 minutes, turning every minute or so, depending on how thick the pieces of chicken are; wings will cook faster and drumsticks will take the longest. Be sure to keep the oil temperature at around 350 to 365°F. The chicken is cooked when the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F. Using tongs, lift the chicken out of the oil and drain on paper towels. Season again with a little salt, and transfer to a platter.
9Serve the fried chicken with the waffle pieces and the dipping sauce. Eat it hot!
Fried chicken is good cold too. Eat the cold leftovers the next day with a dash of Tabasco and a squeeze of lime juice.
Frying at Home, with the Quarter Rule
Frying in a pot of hot oil is one of the more frightening undertakings in a home kitchen. We’ve all heard those stories of people trying to fry a turkey in a vat of oil, only to have the house burn down. There are two rules to remember when frying. The first concerns volume displacement. All that means is that you need to make sure you are using a pot or pan big enough to hold the oil and whatever you are going to fry in it. Rule number two relates to heat transference: simply make sure your oil is hot. Frying only works when the oil is hot enough to create a violent steam around the food being fried. That layer of steam around its surface is what keeps the food being fried from absorbing too much oil.
Restaurants use large deep fryers because they fry vast amounts at a time and in quick succession. At home, a heavy pot or deep skillet filled with about 2 inches of oil will give you a perfectly crisp result. The key is to make sure that the oil n
ever drops far below the appropriate frying temperature, which is usually a minimum of 325°F and a maximum of 400°F. The best way to ensure this is to fry in small batches. I have a rule that’ll help you when frying: If the amount of food you are frying at one time would cover more than a quarter of the bottom of the pot or pan, you are probably going to drop the temperature of the oil so much that it will not recover in time to achieve a crispy exterior, no matter how long you leave the food in the oil. So if you are frying more than that, fry in batches—and wait at least 2 minutes between sessions to give the oil enough time to get hot again.
Here are a few other rules to remember when deep-frying:
Always keep a lid that fits the pot handy. If the oil catches on fire, turn off the heat, immediately cover the pot with the lid, and let it stand for a few minutes to extinguish the flame. Never put water on a grease fire—it will only make it worse.
Different oils smoke at different temperatures. Use an oil that has a high smoking temperature—peanut oil is best, but corn, canola, safflower, or grapeseed oils will work well too. Frying in animal fats like lard is also highly recommended.
Watch the oil carefully: If it smokes, it’s too hot. If your thermometer says it’s not too hot, you’re using the wrong oil.
Salt foods right out of the fryer—they’ll absorb the salt better. If you wait too long, the salt will simply bounce off the crispy skin and wind up on your cutting board.
Always drain fried foods on paper towels or wire racks immediately out of the fryer. Even better, toss them gently a few times to allow cool air to circulate around the fried surfaces.
When you’ve finished frying, try to skim off any bits still floating in the oil. It’s this stuff that will denature your oil. If you keep the oil clean, you can reuse it a few times. Denatured oil will turn dark and smell rancid; don’t ever fry in this oil. Store the cooled oil in the container it came in, in a cool, dark place.
Fried foods taste better when you eat them with your hands.
Kentucky Fried Quail
The technique of double-cooking poultry gives it that extra crispiness. Just as in the Adobo Fried Chicken and Waffles (page 82), here you poach the bird first before frying it. This allows some of the fat to render out, and it also shrinks the skin. Then your frying time will be less, so the meat won’t be overcooked. It’s a nifty trick—try it. Quail is often treated as a luxury item, adorably trussed and served on pretty porcelain plates. I love taking quail out of that context and serving it on newspaper with a dipping sauce and a mound of seasoned salt, letting people eat with their hands.
The Fragrant Salt used here is popular in Chinese cuisine; it can be used to flavor anything from scallops to popcorn. The quail is extra tasty paired with Pickled Garlic in Molasses Soy Sauce (page 181). / Feeds 4 as an appetizer
Fragrant Salt
¼ cup sea salt
4 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns
1 tablespoon five-spice powder
Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1 lime
4 semi-boneless quail (see note)
2 to 3 cups peanut oil for deep-frying
1To make the fragrant salt: Combine all the ingredients in a spice grinder or a blender and grind until fine. Transfer to a small bowl.
2To make the dipping sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside at room temperature.
3Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a wide pot and add 1 tablespoon of the fragrant salt. Add the quail to the water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels and pat thoroughly dry; transfer to a plate.
4In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil (enough to barely cover the quail) to 390°F over medium-high heat. Cook the quail one at a time, and keep a lid handy; if the oil splatters too much, simply cover the pot with the lid. Add 1 quail to the pot and fry for 1 minute, then flip the bird and fry for another 30 seconds. It should crisp up very fast and turn a dark, shiny amber. Drain on paper towels, pat dry with more paper towels, and immediately sprinkle some of the fragrant salt over the quail. Repeat this process with the rest of the quail.
5Serve the quail with the dipping sauce and the remaining fragrant salt on the side.
Semi-boneless quail have been partially boned, leaving the wing and leg bones intact. If you are using wild-caught quail, simply remove the back bones and leave the breast meat on the breastbone.
Pheasant and Dumplings
Birds in the wild will be tougher and leaner than farm-raised varieties. Although it takes longer to cook them, they will always have more flavor. But this recipe was tested with farm-raised pheasant because, in all likelihood, that’s what you’ll be using. If you can get wild-caught game, increase the cooking time by about 20 minutes.
The dumplings here get a burst of flavor from fresh horseradish. Fresh horseradish can be found at most specialty shops. Prepared horseradish has too much added sugar and vinegar to use in this dish. If you can’t find fresh horseradish, just omit it. Sometimes it’s better to just leave an ingredient out rather than to substitute an inferior version. This stew is good with mugs of Winter White Ale from Bell’s Brewery. / Feeds 4 as a main course
Pheasant
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped onions
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup small-diced carrots
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups dry white wine
1 pheasant (about 2½ pounds), cut in half
6 ounces oyster mushrooms
2 cups diced butternut squash
A small handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped
A small handful of fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dumplings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grated fresh horseradish
⅓ cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Small sprigs of celery leaves for garnish
Red pepper flakes
Crusty bread for serving
1To make the pheasant: In a large pot, heat the butter over medium heat until frothy. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook until just softened, about 4 minutes.
2Add the flour to the pot and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to make a roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the chicken stock and white wine, stirring constantly, and bring to a simmer. Add the pheasant halves and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes, skimming occasionally, until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
3Gently remove the pheasant from the pot and let cool for 5 minutes on a cutting board, then pull the meat from the bones and shred it with your hands. Return the shredded meat to the pot, and discard the bones.
4Add the mushrooms, squash, sage, and thyme to the pot and simmer for another 15 minutes.
5Meanwhile, make the dumplings: Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the horseradish, milk, and butter and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. It should only take a few swift, strong strokes. The dough will be a little lumpy—that’s okay. Resist the temptation to keep mixing, or you will have flat, rubbery dumplings.
6Using a teaspoon, scoop up small balls of dough and drop them into the simmering broth. Add the peas and continue to simmer for another 12 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked all the way through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7Ladle the stew into warm bowls. Garnish with celery leaves, sprinkle with red pepper flakes, and serve with crusty bread.
The last step of
any slow-simmered stew like this is to taste and give it a final seasoning of salt and pepper. Slow-cooked dishes, which happen to be my favorite kind, change so dramatically every few minutes that it’s important to season the food right before the dish is served. Sometimes the difference between a good dish and a great one is just a pinch of salt.
Braised Turkey Leg, Hot Brown–Style
The first thing people ask you when you move to Louisville is, “Have you tried a hot brown yet?” It’s as if eating a hot brown is an initiation that solidifies your identity as a true Louisvillian. The story goes that the hot brown was invented in the Brown Hotel in the 1920s, and it’s been expanding belt sizes ever since. It truly is a monster of a sandwich: Texas toast, turkey, bacon, cheese, and gravy. Finishing one is a monumental feat, and something you probably only need to do once or twice a year.
This is my take on the hot brown, still rich but a little less daunting, and just as tasty. Because the dish is so devilishly filling, it needs a spicy bourbon with a few cubes of ice in a large rocks glass. / Feeds 4
4 slices thick-cut bacon, finely diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 bone-in turkey drumsticks (about 2 pounds)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
2 leeks, white part only, finely chopped
3 tablespoons sorghum
2 cups apple cider
1 cup chicken stock
2 fresh sage sprigs
2 slices Texas toast (regular white bread works fine too), cut into rectangular ½-inch-thick croutons
