Fried Chicken Revisited—Plus Dessert!

Well, it took 8 months, but we finally got around to trying Chris Kimball's recipe as he wrote it. It came out great.

Whisk together 2 cups buttermilk and 2 tablespoons salt in a large bowl. Add (3–4 lbs.) chicken pieces and stir to coat; cover with plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Don't let the chicken soak much longer or it will become too salty.)

Whisk together 3 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder in a large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons buttermilk; with your fingers rub flour and buttermilk together until mixture resembles coarse wet sand.

Drop chicken pieces into flour and turn to thoroughly coat, gently pressing flour mixture onto chicken. Shake excess flour from each piece and transfer to wire rack.

Heat 4 cups peanut oil in large Dutch oven (it should measure 3/4 inch deep) over medium-high heat until it reaches 375°. Place chicken pieces, skin side down, in oil, cover, and fry until deep golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Remove lid after 4 minutes and lift chicken pieces to check for even browning; rearrange if some pieces are browning faster than others. (At this point the oil should be 290–300°. Adjust burner if necessary.) Turn chicken pieces over and continue to fry, uncovered, until chicken pieces are deep golden brown on the second side, 6–8 minutes longer. (Adjust burner to maintain an oil temperature of about 315°.) Using tongs, transfer chicken to paper towel–lined plate, let drain for 2 minutes, then transfer to clean wire rack. Cool chicken pieces for 3 minutes and serve.

Yum.

Then Andy got jonesing for almonds, so he made a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. It came out very good, but the photo didn't, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Almond Cake

1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup almond paste, cut into half-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with vegetable spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, cake flour, and baking powder and set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and almond paste on high speed until smooth, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add confectioners' sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined and light and fluffy. Raise speed to high and add the vanilla extract, whole eggs, and egg yolks, one at a time. Mix until well combined. Reduce speed to medium and add the sour cream and dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 35 minutes, or until the cake is golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool. Remove from pan and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Comments

[nina]

Oh, you have me drooling over my keyboard. Yum!