The Recipe From Hell

I had to chuckle when I saw this recipe for "Popeye's Fried Chicken". This has to be an early April Fool's joke?


Popeye's Fried Chicken

recipe at a glance
Rating: 4/5
4 stars - 3 reviews


recipe is ready in 30-60 minutes ready in: 30-60 minutes


serves/makes:   4
   

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ingredients:

3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons seasoned salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 package (1.5 ounce size) dry onion soup mix
1 package (.5 ounce size) spaghetti sauce mix
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cups Corn flakes cereal, crushed slightly
eggs, well beaten
1/4 cup cold water
4 pounds chicken, cut up

directions:

Combine first 9 ingredients in large bowl. Put the cornflakes into another bowl. Put eggs and water in a 3rd bowl. Put enough corn oil into a heavy roomy skillet to fill it 1" deep. Get it HOT! Grease a 9x12x2 baking pan. Set it aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dip chicken pieces 1 piece at a time as follows:

1-Into dry coating mix.

2-Into egg and water mix.

3-Into corn flakes.

4-Briskly but briefly back into dry mix.

5-Drop into hot oil, skin-side-down and brown 3 to 4 minutes on medium high. Turn and brown other side of each piece. Don't crowd pieces during frying.

Place in prepared pan in single layer, skin-side-up. Seal in foil, on 3 sides only, leaving 1 side loose for steam to escape. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes removing foil then to test tenderness of chicken. Allow to bake uncovered 5 minutes longer to crisp the coating. 

Adding "Heat" Adding "Spice" To Your Fried Chicken

Based on some suggestions from some readers of this blog, I lightly grilled two habanero chiles and one medium size jalapeƱo chile, put them into a blender with three cloves of garlic and two cups of buttermilk. I processed this mixture and used it to soak my chicken pieces. I was pleased to discover that, yes, this is a way to add 'heat' to the chicken flesh proper. It worked. One commenter had noted that based on their experience, to get this heat one needs to add much much more chile or black pepper or cayenne than one would think one should. And that is how to infuse the chicken with chile 'heat'.

Thanks to Dana LeJune and several 'anonymous' commenters for the guidance.




BonChon - Korean Fried Chicken Copycat Recipe from the Phillippines

http://www.pepper.ph/bonchon-soy-garlic-chicken-wings/

BonChon Soy Garlic Chicken Wings





Korean double-fried chicken has been (and still is, actually) a popular food trend here in the Philippines. Its widespread availability has converted a lot of fast-food junkies into happy chicken campers in search of that “different”kind of crunch (with that crazy good chicken skin in tow).
Generously shared with us by Sandara Park’s kin, Korean fried chicken is so good that there are days when I just find myself craving for its greasy, oily, crunchy, salty-sweet goodness. Unfortunately, for anyone stuck at home or at the office, having it delivered runs the risk of unduly affecting its crispness, temperature, and the overall double-fried chicken experience.
To remedy this fried chicken tragedy, we at Pepper.ph attempted to recreate the Soy-Garlic Wings of none other than the Korean fried chicken place that started it all, BonChon! Using wings from Bounty Fresh, we fried these babies twice to get that signature crunch, and generously basted it with our very own Soy-Garlic marinade.

Food Hack: BonChon Soy Garlic Chicken Wings

Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients: Double-Fried Chicken

  • 1/2 kilo Bounty Fresh chicken wings
  • salt and pepper, to season
  • 2 cups cornstarch

Ingredients: Soy-Garlic Glaze

  • 1/4 small onion, shredded
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 cup light soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1-inch ginger, peeled and shredded
  • white sesame seeds, for garnish

Procedure

  1. Pat dry chicken wings. Season then dredge chicken in cornstarch. Deep fry until cooked all the way through. Place on paper towel to drain excess oil and allow to dry.
  2. To make soy-garlic glaze, combine onion, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, garlic powder and ginger in a saucepan. Place over low-medium heat and stir until sugar is fully dissolved. In a small bowl, place cornstarch and a tablespoon of the soy-garlic mixture. Mix to dissolve. Add to the saucepan and stir until slightly thickened.
  3. Flash fry chicken in hot oil. Place on paper towel to drain excess oil. Toss chicken wings in glaze. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

The Los Angeles Times Mentions "The Fried Chicken Blog"








































Wade Elkins - Buffalo Wings Recipe

My friend (a very fine cook), Carter Wade Elkins, did Buffalo style wings recently.

"Very simple crust, mainly because my friend is from Buffalo and we wanted the sauce to shine. I did about 2-3 cups AP flour and about 2/3 cup corn starch, a few punches of salt and pepper. Did a classic dry > wet > dry dredge and let them rest at room temperature for about 15 min and fried at 350 F in peanut oil. Very crispy crust that cooked all the way through and finished with the wing at about 13-14 min."






Autocorrect Can Be Dangerous


KFC Copycat Recipe - The Colonel's Recipe as Tested by Sara Rae Smith

Here is the link to the Kitchn article by Sara Rae Smith:


I Tried KFC's Secret Fried Chicken Recipe and Here's How It Went

(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)
If there was a magical list of secret recipes that everyone on the internet has attempted to make before, KFC's fried chicken is pretty much at the top of that list. There are many copycat recipes around the internet, and they all claim that theirs is the one that reigns supreme, but KFC claims that none come close to the original.
Recently I found out that the supposed real mixture of magical 11 herbs and spices was released, and of course I scrambled to put it to the test. Man oh man, I'm sure glad I did!
(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)
Our friends over at the Chicago Tribune recently had a chat with the the nephew of Colonel Sanders, who spent his summers, back in the day, cutting up chickens and making up the secret 11-spice mixture to sell to local restaurants. I decided that this recipe — found in a family photo album — obviously needed to be tested in my own kitchen.
As any good cook would do when replicating such a trusted and iconic food and taste, I overthought everything. You see, the recipe found in the photo album gives us the spice and flour ratio for the coating to the chicken — but it doesn't tell us how the chicken is treated prior to frying, oil temperatures, length of frying, cooking method (although that's not exactly a secret), or any additional tricks of the trade.
Most recipes aren't rocket science, however, so I stopped analyzing every last fried chicken recipe out there (because it was seriously making my hungry) and decided to trust my gut and do my best to honor what I felt would yield the best results. Surely my Midwestern upbringing had prepared me for this exact moment.
(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

Prep Work

Here's what I came up with on a few of the undeclared recipe points for this batch.
I soaked my chicken pieces in buttermilk and egg for an hour before starting. I let the buttermilk and eggs come to room temperature before soaking and, when all was said and done, my chicken (which came from the refrigerator) was also room temperature. Room temperature is ideal because it will not decrease the temperature of the hot oil once the chicken is submerged.
I decided on wings, thighs, and drumsticks, which, although they don't cook for the same amount of time, would be more close in time than a larger section of breast meat would be.
(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

The Coating

This is where the Colonel's Secret Recipe comes into play. The seasoning is as follows:
  • 2/3 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon thyme
  • 1/2 tablespoon basil
  • 1/3 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon celery salt
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried mustard
  • 4 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons garlic salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 3 tablespoons white pepper
I mixed the above seasoning with two cups of flour. While I am a large fan of the paper bag method for fried chicken, I don't see every KFC on the planet shaking chicken in a bag before frying, I skipped it this round and went with the more traditional flour-egg-flour dredge in shallow pans.
(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

Frying Method

I, like most people I imagine, don't own a pressure fryer. These things are a few hundred dollars and aren't exactly a go-to small appliance for most homes. I do own a pressure cooker, but adding hot oil to a pressure cooker can create all sorts of havoc. So I fried the chicke in my tabletop fryer (360°F until internal chicken temperature reaches 165°F — roughly eight minutes), as I am a fan of the lid which regulates temperature and lack of splatters.
(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

The Results

You know how you try "the ultimate" whatever recipe that surfaces online and, although it tastes good, it never really lives up to the brand name of the real thing? This recipe ... this isn't that. You guys. Seriously. I can't. The taste of its crispy skin is a dead ringer for its commercial counterpart. KFC might deny that the spice mixture given to the Chicago Tribune is incorrect, but it sure tastes like the real thing.

The taste of its crispy skin is a dead ringer for its commercial counterpart.



The texture, on the other hand, was not an identical match to KFC. Although I greatly enjoyed the extra-crunchy, thick skin of the chicken, it didn't foster the same memories of the soft yet textured skin that come spilling out of the traditional red-and-white bucket. If I wanted to make this recipe as KFC as possible, I think my beloved paper bag method for flouring would have been more thin and even. In addition, if it had been cooked in a pressure fryer, the time would have been lessened and the texture on the outside would have been a little softer, making the thickness less noticeable.
Now, keeping in mind that my job is to be overly critical of a few pieces of chicken, the masses that wandered into my home — children from the yard, husband from repairing the roof, neighbors from doing neighbor things — everyone was a fan. Every. Last. One. This recipe is a winner! When you give it a go in your own home, make sure to make enough to feed a pack of wolves.
All hail the overabundance of white pepper and 10 other delicious seasonings, as this recipe will be around our home for a while!

Fried Chicken State by State - Garden and Gun Magazine - Recommendations for Every State by Jed Portman

When I was alerted to this article, I immediately went to check out the recs for Houston. They were very good and so, I decided to share this link with you for your next road trip around this USA of ours.

Fried Chicken List - Recommendations for Every State by Garden and Gun Magazine



Garden & Gun’s Fried Chicken Bucket List

A state-by-state guide to the best birds in the South







Food & Drink
March 16, 2017
photo: Margaret Houston

Southerners eat fried chicken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which is why so many of us are self-professed experts. For this list, though, we turned to real professionals—seventy-some people who truly know fried chicken, from chefs with their own famous recipes to seasoned food and travel writers and G&Gcontributors. Chains proved surprisingly popular. Both Popeyes and Publix earned high praise from a dozen different sources. So did staples like Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, in Memphis, and Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans. But there were still plenty of surprises, too. Who knew you could order outstanding fried chicken off-menu at OvenBird, chef Chris Hastings’s Birmingham temple to open-fire cooking? Nashville’s Karl Worley did, and now the secret’s out. Start scrolling or click to skip around and see where the pros brake for yardbird in your state.
AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMississippiNorth CarolinaSouth Carolina
TennesseeTexasVirginiaWashington, D.C.West VirginiaNational & Regional Chains

Ammansville Church Picnic - 2017