Iād just like to verify that Jasonās fried chicken is as good as he says it is.
Please. Thanks!
Vegetables on a completely different plate, or just a completely different day?
Thanks for sharing that recipe.
Try replacing the oil with lard or shortening for a less greasy and tastier chicken. Also, place your thighs in the center of the pan and breasts and legs on the side to cook the entire chicken in one go. These tips have been confirmed by several million southerners over the past couple of hundred years.
For the most part thatās how I make them as well. I go with different spices, usually more salt, pepper, and garlic than creole but I can see how that works well with waffles.
While making brown gravy isnāt something that I go for with waffles, it is something I make when I do fried chicken. And the secret ingredient is sitting in the bottom of that fryer. I wouldnāt call it fond, but itās the well cooked coating thatās come off during the frying process. I keep a small glass container in the fridge with whatever is left over (strained of course) from each frying. Add a tablespoon of that to some butter and flour, cook until well brown, add chicken stock and spice to taste.
Gravy makes everything better.
Useful tip - instead of dredging the chicken pieces, put the flour and seasoning in a paper bag, add the chicken and shake. Perfectly coated chicken every time with less mess besides.
Looks tasty, but what can I use as substitute for
ācreoleā seasoning
and
general purpose flour
if Iām not in the US?
Outside of the US āgeneral purpose flourā is just called āplain flourā as for ācreole seasoningā Hereās a great recipe I have used:
Those are the variations I commonly use as well.
When I had less ready access to a great poultry butcher, Iād prefer to buy a whole bird and cut it up myself for frying, as the meat was fresher than the prepackaged precut alternatives. So the thighs in the center of the pan, legs and breasts on the cooler outside has served me well.
Also, Alton Brown had a good take on this too. Would like to be a judge in a JLW, Dacree, and Alton Fried Chicken cook-off.
Pan fried chicken is the number one reason I save bacon fat. It hardens your arteries just by looking at it but oh so so so tasty.
Start here for the seasoning - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creole-seasoning-blend/
You can easily make your own to your taste. Or just get some āchili powderā and add some dried herbs.
For the flour, check this chart - Flour - Wikipedia
I listened to the Gadgets podcast where this matter was discussed and my arteries were crackling just from listening.
I would love to try this some day.
Yeah, thereās no way Iād put my stuff on the same table as Alton. My friends and family love my cooking but Iām not so delusional as to think it can stand next to food from the amazing Mr Brown. Heās kind of my food hero.
Thanks for the video link. I was surprised to see the seasoning being put on the chicken before the flour dredge. The family recipe calls for mixing your seasoning in the flour by weight and it looks like Jason does seasoning in the flour as well. I imagine Alton has a very valid and scientific explanation for why seasoning the meat and not the bread is a better method - which is why I love him so much.
The madness! Actually not a bad idea. My grandmother used to have a large ceramic jar with a rubber seal and clasped lid. She kept all of her cleaned and rendered bacon fat in it and would mix it 70/30 with lard (30% being bacon fat) being sure to only add the bacon fat after the lard was liquefied. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Iām going to have to try it myself.
Cooks Illustrated seasons the chicken pre-dredge as well.
I feel some things, like celery salt or smoked paprika, are better closer to the chicken where the dredge can protect them from the heat, while other things, like cayenne, work their magic better when in the flour mix.
Then again, Iām terrible at cooking things the same way, itās always an improv between whatās on-hand and what my belly wants.
You are a man of your word. Thank you for this.
Now where did I put that buttermilkā¦?
Thomas Keller, owner of The French Laundry and Ad Hoc in Californiaāand often consider the best restaurants in the USA. Has a recipe that uses Salt, lemon juice and honey and spices and herbs to make a ābrineā out of the buttermilk soak.
http://momofukufor2.com/2010/03/ad-hoc-buttermilk-fried-chicken-recipe/
Man, I need to try that.
Also that site reminds me how much I dig David Chang.
For those with the Netflix, check out the first season of Mind of a Chef. Great fun, easy to binge-watch.
Especially for people who love to cook and eat. People that donātā¦ I just donāt get. 
The other consideration is cooking temperature. Stroudās in Kansas City, considered one of the best pan-fried chicken establishments in the US (and I concur!), recently shared their secrets and one of them was to cook low and slow. This was also my momās technique. She also covered her chicken for the first 10 min or so. She always used Bisquick, salt and pepper as a dredge. The result is tender, tasty, ā ā ā ā ā chicken. Hereās an excerpt:
The Joplin Globe gives pretty detailed instructions on how Stroud's makes the signature dish: The key to tasty fried chicken, Ruff insists, is in the frying. The oil in a pan for Stroudās chicken is heated over a medium high gas flame. When placing the chicken one piece at time into a pan, itās important that the oil cover one half of the chicken. If the oil is too shallow, the chicken wonāt cook through, Ruff said. It takes about 25 to 30 minutes to cook a pan of Stroudās chicken.
