Going on a picnic? Find a nice, level and shady area to lay your beach blanket down. Make sure you are not too far from the public bathrooms, especially if you have children, and look for the garbage cans. However, you don’t want to be too close to either of them, due to the smell and flies.
Vinegar-based salads make good picnic food as those with mayonnaise or lettuce-based salads are not good choices.
There is nothing better than room temperature fried chicken on a picnic. The crust is very important. It needs to be crispy and crackling with flavor.
Cook’s Illustrated recommends using a whole plump chicken, cut into 12 pieces, for the best fried chicken. They claim that packaged parts of the chicken “were irregular and disappointing, containing mismatched pieces in shabby dress with tattered skin, cut with no nod to basic anatomy.”
Directions from Cook’s Illustrated:
1. With a sharp chef’s knife, cut through the skin around the leg where it attaches to the breast.
2. Using both hands, pop the leg joint out of its socket.
3. Use a chef’s knife to cut through the flesh and skin to detach the leg from the body.
4. A line of fat separates the thigh and drumstick. Cut through the joint at this point. Repeat steps 1 through 4 with the other leg.
5. Bend the wing out from the breast and use a boning knife to cut through the joint. Repeat with the other wing.
6. Cut through the cartilage around the wing tip to remove it. Discard the tip. Cut through the joint to split. Repeat with the other wing.
7. Using poultry shears, cut along the ribs to completely separate the back from the breast. Discard the backbone.
8. Place the knife on the breastbone, then apply pressure to cut through and separate the breast into halves.
9. Cut each breast in half crosswise into two pieces.”
You are now ready to brine some chicken.
The Ultimate Crispy Fried Chicken
Serves 4 to 6
“Maintaining an even oil temperature is key to the success of this recipe. An instant-read thermometer with a high upper range is perfect for checking the temperature.”
6 tablespoons kosher salt (I revised the amount of salt. I think anything over 1 cup of salt is excessive. Before adding the raw chicken in the bag, taste the buttermilk mixture — it should be as salty as you would want the chicken to be)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
3 medium garlic heads, cloves separated
3 bay leaves, crumbled
1 quart buttermilk, plus one cup for the batter
1 whole chicken, cut into 12 pieces (see instructions above)
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3-4 cups refined peanut oil or vegetable shortening (refined means the oil has been cleansed and sanitized and can handle 375 degrees)
A cast-iron Dutch oven is best for even frying. The Lodge cast-iron Dutch oven or the Le Creuset enameled Dutch oven (although pricey) are recommended by Cook’s Illustrated.
In a large Ziploc plastic bag, combine salt, sugar, paprika, garlic cloves and bay leaves. With a rubber mallet, smash the garlic.
Add buttermilk and stir the sugar and salt to dissolve, place chicken pieces in the bag and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
Remove chicken from buttermilk brine and shake off excess; place in a single layer on a large wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered for 2 hours.
(After 2 hours, chicken can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 6 hours longer.)
Measure flour and cornstarch into a large shallow dish. Beat egg, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl, stir in one cup buttermilk. (The mixture will bubble and foam.)
Working in batches of 3, drop the chicken pieces in flour mixture and shake to coat. Shake excess flour from each piece, then using tongs, dip the chicken pieces into the egg mixture, turning to coat well and allowing excess to drip off. Coat pieces with flour again, shake off excess, and return to wire rack.
Adjust oven rack to middle position, set second wire rack over second rimmed baking sheets, and place on oven rack, heat oven to 200 degrees. Line large plate with double layer paper towels.
Meanwhile, heat oil (oil should have 2-1/2 inch depth in pan) to 375 degrees over medium-high heat in a large 8-quart cast-iron Dutch oven with a diameter of about 12 inches. Place half of the chicken pieces skin-side down in the oil, cover, reduce heat to medium, and fry until deep golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
After about 3 minutes, lift chicken pieces with tongs to check for even browning, rearrange if some pieces are browning faster than others. (Spot check oil temperature after the first 6 minutes of frying, oil should be about 325 degrees. 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 to 8 minutes longer. Using tongs, transfer pieces to paper towel-lining of plate, let stand 2 minutes to drain, then transfer to rack into the warm oven. Replace paper towels on plate. Return oil to 375 degrees and fry remaining pieces, transferring pieces to paper towel-lined plate to drain, then transferring to rack with other chicken pieces. Cool chicken for 5 minutes and serve.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.