Southern Fried Friends

Fried chicken is one of my all time favorite Southern dishes but certainly one of those dishes I don’t eat or cook very often (or ever cook) because of the obvious time commitment it takes and because of the caloric density.  I love it though, and the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten was last year at the Sunday Supper event at Euphoria.  The Sunday Supper event rounds out a fabulous weekend of lots of eating, drinking and working but is overall one of the best events of the weekend.  A time for those of us involved with the event to celebrate and relax with our peers.  Chef Joseph Lenn of Blackberry Farm fame served up the most amazingly flavorful, juicy and crispy fried chicken I’ve ever had and all for 150 dinner guests.  Pretty amazing.  

Really excited to eat fried chicken at Euphoria's Sunday Supper

Since our anniversary weekend in June I have been on the hunt for fried chicken.  We dined around Asheville for the weekend, finishing up with brunch at the Blackbird restaurant, which is a new spot, located in the bottom of the Aloft hotel.  I always check out restaurant menus online before we go eat anywhere because I have such a hard time deciding what to eat, so it helps me get some ideas in my head of what I want.  Well, I checked out the brunch menu for the Blackbird and decided on the fried chicken with biscuits and gravy.  When we arrived at the restaurant, looked over the brunch menu there was no fried chicken to be found.  I asked our server about the fried chicken, and he apologized, but there was no fried chicken on the brunch menu today.  I settled on the fried shrimp po’ boy instead, which was delicious, it just didn’t satisfy my craving.  For two months I couldn’t get fried chicken out of my head, and I finally decided I would make my own.  It has been a while since our supper club gals have gotten together, so I decided to invite them over to catch up over a fried chicken dinner.  Growing up my mother and grandmother used a simpler preparation of dredging the chicken in flour before placing it in the hot oil resulting in a lighter crust.  I knew that brining would create the result I was looking for and decided to give it a try instead.  I adapted a recipe from a recent issue of Saveur magazine to make it my own, and it is the best fried chicken I’ve ever made.  Make and enjoy with friends!

Crispy Fried Friend Chicken

½ cup kosher salt

2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns

4 Tbsp honey or agave nectar

2 Tbsp sugar

15 allspice berries

8 bay leaves

6 sprigs parsley

12 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

Zest and juice of 1-2 lemons

12 cups of water

2-3 ½ to 4-pound chicken cut up or 12-16 pieces of bone in chicken pieces

4 cups of flour or soy flour

4 cups of buttermilk

2 Tbsp Hungarian paprika

2 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp kosher salt

Canola oil

Cast iron skillet

1.     Bring water, salt, peppercorns, honey, sugar, allspice berries, and the zest and lemon juice to a boil until salt is dissolved.  Remove allspice berries and allow to cool completely.  If you need to speed up the cooling process, add some ice cubes to the liquid.

2.     Add chicken pieces, bay leaves and herbs to a brining bag as well as the cool brining liquid and brine 12-24 hours in the refrigerator.

3.     Remove chicken pieces from brining bag.  Pat dry and place on a large platter.  Blend spice mix together and sprinkle over chicken pieces. Meanwhile heat enough canola oil to about 1/3 of the way up a cast iron skillet to 325 degrees and set up breading station with buttermilk and flour.

4.     Dip chicken pieces into buttermilk then flour, shaking off the excess.  Carefully place chicken pieces into the hot oil, working away from you and making sure not to crowd the pan so not to drop the oil temperature.

5.     Fry chicken pieces until golden brown, about 6 minutes per side and drain on a paper towel.  Work in batches until all the chicken pieces are done.

6.     Best served with traditional Southern sides and friends with healthy appetites.

Serves 12-16 people

Wine Pairing Suggestions:

Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris Willamette Valley, OR 2012

Dirty & Rowdy Skin and Concrete Egg Fermented Semillon Yountville, Napa Valley, CA 2012

Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir Carneros, CA 2012

If fried chicken at home isn’t your thing here are a few places to check out here in town and other spots:

Bacon Bros Public House Greenville, SC-Buttermilk fried “Hot Chicken”

Soby’s New South Cuisine Greenville, SC-Crispy Fried Chicken

Price’s Chicken Coop Charlotte, NC-Nationally recognized fried chicken!

Blackberry Farm Walland, TN-Spend a weekend away in luxury accommodations tucked in the picturesque Great Smoky Mountains.  This might be the most expensive fried chicken you’ll ever have! 

(Note: I haven’t been here but it’s on my bucket list) 

Six Degrees of Bacon Bros

If you haven’t been to Bacon Brothers Public House on Pelham Road, do yourself a favor and go make a reservation and eat your face off.  The menu isn’t just a celebration of bacon, but a celebration of all things pork.  You will find an array of pig parts from house-cured meats, sausages and hot dogs, headcheese, all the way to pig trotters.  Vegetarians and dieters beware: this restaurant is not for the faint of heart.

Bacon Brothers Public House opened in May with a bang by the new duo running Coal Fired Bistro, Chef Anthony Gray and Jason Callaway.  The two are backed by a team of both front and back of the house industry vets, several of whom are formerly of Maverick Southern Kitchens along with my friend Christina Blackwell.

Start your meal with a craft brew or a cocktail from the bar while making the hard decision of what to order for dinner.  The cocktail list is a mix of well thought out original cocktails and a revival of classics from Jason Callaway and team, some of which people may have never heard of like the Corpse Reviver #2 (gin, Cointreau, Lillet blanc, lemon juice and Absinthe) or the Blood Sand (scotch, orange juice, cherry marnier, and sweet vermouth).  The wine list is short but appropriate for the fare and atmosphere; however, some usual suspects do appear.

On each occasion I have visited I have tried different items, but the one menu item I can’t get away from each time I dine is the “potater tots.” This delicious appetizer is a gut-busting, sinful amalgamation of pit cooked pulled pork shoulder combined with potatoes, then formed into tots and deep fried to perfection, topped with shredded American cheese, crispy buffalo pig ears and sorghum vinegar.   As previously mentioned, I have ordered these each visit to BBPH and have enjoyed these each time, even though each time it’s a little different than the last while the kitchen still figures out the right heat level for the buffalo sauce.  The devils dust eggs are tasty with country ham and pickled mustard seeds as well, but beware of the ghost pepper spice flecks on top, as they can leave your lips in a state of numbness throughout the rest of the meal.  The trout dip with house made saltines is another great option to start, along with the Bethel Trails Farms chicken wings with Southernyaki sauce and benne seeds.  Be careful when eating the wings; overzealous diners can end up burning their fingers and/or mouths, as the sticky sweet sauce is hot like molten lava. 

Sandwiches range from more in-house items like the fried bologna and pimento cheese sandwich to the eponymous burger.  The new favorite among diners and staff is the BET: a pork belly pastrami sandwich with Swiss cheese, green peppercorn mayo, arugula, yellow tomato, and to top it all off….a fried over easy duck egg! If your mouth isn’t watering yet then it should be, because it is as great as it sounds and it’s no wonder why it has quickly become a favorite.  If that’s not your thing you can always go with one of the dogs, sandwiches or the burger.  As a fan of corn dogs I was anxious to try the house-made all beef hot dog breaded with Anson Mills corn flour, served with sorghum ketchup and mustard.  It didn’t disappoint! For the burger, Chef Gray blends his own ground meat mix of bacon, smoked brisket and chuck for the double patty burger.  The mix of meat makes for a juicy and smoky combination that is set off by the pickles, American cheese, and special sauce.  Really it’s like a grown up and much better version of the Big Mac. (Remember two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun?) The burger is real steal for ten dollars since you get two double burgers on the plate instead of just one, but if your appetite is on the smaller side just one burger is still a filling option for six dollars. For something on the lighter side, there are salads, but none have been on my radar just yet since there have been so many other menu items I have wanted to try first.  They all look great though, and just know that there are some in case you feel the need to save a few calories, but it may have bacon on it. 

Selections from the “Classics” portion can vary, but a couple that I have loved were the pig trotters (or pig feet) with succotash and surprisingly the shrimp and grits.  This ubiquitous Low Country dish is not one that I ever order any restaurants because it can be found on almost any menu in town.  Chef Gray has managed to breathe some new life into the dish with the addition of tomato gravy and shitake mushrooms.  Just try it and you’ll see.  The rotating sides are a la carte and can range from butter beans, onion rings, french fries, skillet cornbread, and chicken n’dumplings to name a few.  I suspect they could be a meal in itself as all of the portions are extremely generous and most of all damn good.   

There are so many options on the menu it seems like you can’t go wrong at BBPH-- and you can’t. Chef Gray and his team have very little missteps here, which can be hard to do while finding one’s culinary footing in a new restaurant. I’m glad to have this restaurant as a part of my dining repertoire now and have already found my own favorites from the hearty menu and many more I can’t wait to try.