Southern Fried Boneless Chicken

My Southern grandmother made the world's best fried chicken, and I used to make it her way (never turned out as good as hers, of course). But then a few people came into my life who don't like bone-in chicken (or dark meat) and will only eat boneless skinless chicken breasts. 

So I had to develop a recipe that would put the flavor of Grandma's fried chicken into bland boneless skinless chicken breasts. Of course, Grandma would be appalled that anyone would not be using the whole chicken.

Grandma didn't always just quickly and efficiently cut up a whole chicken. When my father was a boy, she would step out the door of her farmhouse kitchen, grab a live chicken and take care of business, baby! Well, you know I'm all about carrying on family food traditions, but you won't be seeing that here at Delightful Repast!

I have a huge skillet that could handle all the chicken in one batch, but then I'd have to use twice as much oil. So I use a 12-inch flare-sided skillet and fry it in two batches. The oil only needs to be about 1/4-inch-deep. No need to deep-fry. Measure the oil into the pan so that next time you'll know how much oil to put in the pan without getting out your ruler.

How about you? Do you prefer bone-in or boneless chicken? Dark or white meat? Either is fine with me, as long as there's plenty of Grandma's Cream Gravy!

Southern Fried Boneless Chicken

(Makes 6 Servings)

The Chicken

1 1/2 cups (12 fluid ounces/355ml)  buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Tapatio)
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 16 pieces

The Coating

1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces/213 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon marjoram
1/8 teaspoon thyme leaves

About 1/2 to 3/4 cup organic canola oil (to a depth* of 1/4 inch in skillet)

* Pans vary. The first time you make this, measure oil into pan 1/4 cup at a time and use a ruler to measure the depth. Next time, use the same pan and just measure the same amount of oil into the pan; no need to get out the ruler. This may sound overly meticulous, but it will keep you from wasting oil.

The Gravy

(Makes about 2 cups)

3 tablespoons pan drippings

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup lower sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 In 1.5-quart bowl, stir together buttermilk, salt and hot sauce. Add chicken to bowl, cover and refrigerate for 6 to 10 hours. Remove from refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes before coating and frying. That's so the chicken won't be super cold and bring down the temperature of the oil too much.

2 In 8x8x2-inch baking dish, whisk together flour, cornstarch, paprika, pepper, salt, marjoram and thyme leaves. Remove chicken, a few pieces at a time, from the buttermilk and place them in the coating mixture, coating them well on all sides. Place coated pieces on a wire rack.

3 Pour oil into 12-inch skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch. When the oil is very hot,* 350F/180C, use tongs to gently lower half the chicken pieces into the hot oil. Cook for 7 minutes, until golden brown; turn and cook another 7 minutes. During cooking, try to keep the oil between 250F/121C and 300F/149C; this keeps moisture in, and oil out of, the chicken. An instant-read thermometer inserted to the center of one of the larger pieces should register 165F/74C. Drain on wire rack (not the same one that had raw chicken on it, unless you wash it) set in a baking sheet. Blot surface with paper towel. Repeat for second batch, first making sure the oil is up to temperature. You can keep the first batch warm on the wire rack in baking sheet in a preheated 200F/93C oven.

* If you don't have a good instant-read thermometer, you need to get one. I use it all the time: oil, caramel, candy, egg mixtures, roasts, steaks, chops, fish, poultry ... You'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

4 Pour off pan drippings, and measure 3 tablespoons back into pan. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and broth. Turn heat to low and continue stirring until gravy is thickening. Stir in salt and pepper. Continue cooking and stirring until it's the consistency you like. If it's too thick, add milk or broth a tablespoon at a time until it's just the way you like it. Taste and adjust seasoning. 

Jean