RCP: Emeril's Fried Chicken

[Jenise]

Think what you will of Emeril, the man makes flavorful food, and the fried chicken friends made from his recipe on Sunday (marinated all day vs. one hour, which is a good thing) was just about the best fried chicken I've ever eaten.

Here's the recipe:

1 whole fryer, cut into 8 pieces
Essence, recipe follows
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Vegetable oil for frying
2 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper

Directions
Season the chicken pieces with Essence. Pour 2 cups of the buttermilk over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Place the chicken in the refrigerator and marinate for 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and drain. Season the flour with Essence. In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining buttermilk. Dredge each piece of chicken in the seasoned flour. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg wash, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the chicken pieces back in the seasoned flour, coating each piece of the chicken completely. Carefully lay the chicken in the hot oil. Fry the chicken for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and the juices run clear. Remove the chicken from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Yield: 2/3 cup

Think what you will of Emeril

Not having television I haven't been subjected to his personality. But I've tried several of his recipes based on friends' recommendations, and the recipes work and are quite tasty.

I really don't see where the one hour in the buttermilk would have any effect at all (it's to tenderize the chicken, folks). I was glad to see you mention the longer marination period.

You better mention a temperature for that oil or novice cooks are going make a real mess of this.

Jenise,

Looks good. A question concerning the frying procedure: is this deep-frying or pan-frying? If pan-frying, how much of the chicken pieces should be covered by the oil?

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I really don't see where the one hour in the buttermilk would have any effect at all (it's to tenderize the chicken, folks). I was glad to see you mention the longer marination period.

And that's why I mentioned it.

You better mention a temperature for that oil or novice cooks are going make a real mess of this.

Novice cooks probably won't have thermometers. They're doomed.

[Jenise]

Jenise,

Looks good. A question concerning the frying procedure: is this deep-frying or pan-frying? If pan-frying, how much of the chicken pieces should be covered by the oil?

-Paul W.

Pan-frying. I wasn't there when any of it took place but I did see the cast iron skillet on the stove when I arrived. Re your second question, the rule of thumb for chicken is immersion about halfway--you need to be able to fully cook each piece turning (ideally) only once.

Think what you will of Emeril

Not having television I haven't been subjected to his personality. But I've tried several of his recipes based on friends' recommendations, and the recipes work and are quite tasty.

Cynthia - you have NO television? When was the last time you watched TV? Living in Japan I am close to zero TV - but I watch SOME when I go to US - on balance I would say I watch 50 hours of TV a year

I'm really surprised Stuart would not have a TV in their apartment. I thought he was a 49'er fan and in Montana that would entail having a TV.

[Jenise]

I'm really surprised Stuart would not have a TV in their apartment. I thought he was a 49'er fan and in Montana that would entail having a TV.

Cynthia didn't have a TV, but there is one in the new combined household. She recently remarked on finally getting to see Rachel Ray (and not liking what she saw), just for instance.

The TV that is here actually belongs to the property. Neither of us has one. We're in a fully furnished place for another little while. They even had towels and all kitchenwares. It was advertised as, "Just bring your toothbrush!" Practically everything we own is in storage. It's like living in a hotel. A very, very *nice* 4 star hotel, but still, it would be good to have our stuff, especially books, which we both have hundreds (maybe thousands) of. There is not one bookcase in the entire place. We find that extremely strange.

We did bring all our knives, stemware, pizza stone, pots and pans, the Kitchen Aid, the food processor, deep fryer, and my baking stuff.... because those items are all essential.

Anyway, back to TV. I did watch the Superbowl, because my family is originally from Pittsburgh! That was the last time the TV was on except as a DVD watching device.

Cynthia - you have NO television? When was the last time you watched TV? Living in Japan I am close to zero TV - but I watch SOME when I go to US - on balance I would say I watch 50 hours of TV a year

I don't subscribe to cable, and I haven't watched any broadcast TV whatsoever for two years. I'm not counting occasional cases where I'm in a bar or auto dealer's waiting room that happens to have a TV on. Now that they're abandoning analog broadcast TV, I may never watch again. I do use the TV monitor to play DVD movies, though.

-Paul W.

You better mention a temperature for that oil or novice cooks are going make a real mess of this.

Novice cooks probably won't have thermometers. They're doomed.

Jenise, thanks for answering my question concerning the frying procedure. That's what I thought, but most frying I do is Chinese, which is either stir-frying or full immersion deep-frying, so I wanted to ask to be sure.

And Chef Carey pointed out the third question that I forgot to ask. Please tell us the proper frying temperature. I do have a thermometer and don't want to be doomed. My guess would be 365 degrees F.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

My guess would be 365 degrees F.

-Paul W.

Emeril's recipe is silent on that and I have no idea what my friends did, but I fry chicken in that range. Some recipes go as high as 375, which is little too hot for my cast iron skillet, and I once saw Alton Brown champion 325 and not a degree over. But I think he's in the minority going that low. Each piece should reach a rich mahogany brown in about 10-12 per side.

I've always use buttermilk for fried chicken. Try mixing in about 30% freshly grated parmesan reggiano to the flour dredge. Makes a nice variation on the crust.

Richard