the best

southern style buttermilk fried chicken…

and it’s kosher!

How can I call this Buttermilk Fried Chicken if it has no buttermilk?

It’s because the end result is the same, only better.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so they say…

(A long time ago), I was making buttermilk fried chicken and forgot to get the buttermilk. You know how it is. You go to the store for one thing and come out with ten things, but not the thing you went for.

There was no way I was getting back in the car and going back to the market. I had a container of full fat yogurt in the house and decided to use that instead. I added a squeeze of lemon to increase the acid a bit and I soldiered on.

And it was better. In fact, it was the best fried chicken I’d ever made.

What’s the difference between fabulous fried chicken and lack-luster fried chicken?

• We want our chicken to be tasty all the way to the bone, not just on the outside.

• We want a golden, crispy, crunchy crust and a tender interior.

• We want meat that’s perfectly done; not undercooked and not dried out.

  It’s not hard to achieve all of these objectives…if you know a few tricks.

• A nice long soak in a flavorful marinade will give you meat that’s tasty all the way through.

• Mixing cornstarch and baking powder in with your flour gives the crust a crispy, light, and fluffy crunch.

• Double dipping, and adding some of the marinade to the flour for the second dip, will give you the thick, craggy crust that you’d expect to get in a good restaurant.

• Letting the coated chicken rest for a bit before frying it up will help to keep the coating from falling off.

• Frying your chicken until the crust is perfectly golden, and then finishing it in the oven, means you don’t have to overcook the outside to make sure that it’s cooked all the way through on the inside.

• Perhaps the most important trick is to brine your chicken in a cultured dairy product. (Don’t use low fat or fat free—you need the fat to tenderize the chicken). The acid and the bacteria cultures break down the fibers of the meat, giving you tender, rather than stringy, chicken. It also makes the seasoned flour stick better, giving you a crunchier crust. As I said before, my first choice is plain, full fat yogurt (not Greek).

But… I’ll save my treatise on lactating chickens for later, and go with the flow here…

It’s not kosher.

Now, if you don’t have a kosher home, you can go with the dairy yogurt, but if you do there’s an easy solution.

Thanks to the many people today who avoid dairy, there are plenty of nondairy yogurts available, and they do the same trick as the dairy version. Most of them are not very good, but there are a few that are, in my opinion, palatable. I recommend Trader Joe’s house brand or, for a supermarket brand, I’d go with So Delicious™. It’s made from coconut milk and doesn’t have the grainy, gritty texture that makes many others unpleasant.

By the way, you’ll notice that my recipe has many fewer herbs and spices than some others do. I think it’s best to let the flavor of the chicken to shine through. If you want more herbs, feel free to use them, and if you want some heat, feel free to add some cayenne pepper or chili powder to your brine and/or your flour mixture.

And now that you know all of my tips and tricks…let’s make some chicken!

Southern style buttermilk fried chicken with a twist

Ingredients:

for the brine

6 pieces of chicken, any parts (Preferably from happy, pasture raised chickens)

3 cups full fat plain yogurt—dairy or non-dairy

a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt (use less or none if you’re using pre-brined kosher chicken)

a generous grind of black pepper

For the coating

• 1 ½ cups flour

• ⅓ cup cornstarch

• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon onion powder

• 1 ½ teaspoons herbs de provence

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• a generous grind of black pepper

Neutral oil, such as avocado or sunflower, for frying.

Method:

• Combine all ingredients for the brine in a large bowl and mix well. 

• Clean the chicken and trim it of excess fat. 

• Submerge the chicken pieces in the marinade and let them soak for a minimum of two hours, and up to six hours.

• Preheat the oven to 325°.

• Mix all the ingredients for the coating on a flat plate or board. Have a metal drying rack at the ready.

• One by one, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and shake off the excess.

• Roll the chicken in the flour mixture and set it on the rack. 

• When all the pieces are coated, take about a tablespoon of the leftover marinade and mix it into the remaining flour mixture. The goal here is to add some little lumps to your flour.

• Do a quick re-dip of each piece in the marinade, and a second coating of the flour mix, pressing on as much as will cling. Return the pieces to the rack and let them rest for about 15 minutes before frying.

• In a large skillet, heat a generous amount of oil, enough to come halfway up the chicken pieces.

• When the oil shimmers, gently lay the chicken pieces in the pan and fry over medium heat until golden brown. Then turn the pieces and brown them on the other side. As they come out of the pan, return them to the rack.

• When all the chicken is fried, slide the entire rack into the oven. This is better than putting them on a sheet pan because air can circulate, keeping them crispy on all sides.

• Keep an eye on the chicken. The amount of time it will need depends upon how well done your chicken is, coming out of the oil. It could take five minutes, or even up to 20 minutes if your pieces are very large. The best way to tell if it’s done is to discretely cut into a piece and check the color. When it’s no longer pink inside and the knife goes in easily, your fried chicken is ready to serve.

  You can serve the chicken with a drizzle of warmed honey, or offer warmed honey on the side. Some people like to add a bit of cayenne pepper or chili powder to the honey.

  Serve your fabulous fried chicken with fluffy mashed potatoes, dairy or pareve, or really go southern style and serve it with waffles, fresh off the iron.