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Feast Your Eyes: Fried chicken cook-off

platter of fried chicken on the Bitten Word
I didn't grow up eating fried chicken. My mom was always more of a baked chicken kind of person (she liked to keep things as healthy as possible). In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times in life I've eaten friend chicken. And to be honest, I've never made it myself. And yet, I find it fascinating and totally hypnotic. I love the idea of good fried chicken and aspire to one day giving it a try in my kitchen.

The guys at The Bitten Word have no fried chicken fear and recently whipped up not one, but two batches of the stuff. They put Clay's mom's fried chicken up against Thomas Keller's recipe and invited a whole bunch of friends over to help them with the taste test. Clay's mom's recipe was the winner, mostly for its classic taste and super crispy skin. Sounds delicious!

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Filed Under: Feast Your Eyes
Tags: feast your eyes, FeastYourEyes, fried chicken, FriedChicken, The Bitten Word, TheBittenWord, thomas keller, ThomasKeller

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

Thom

9-26-2008 @8:25AM Thom said... I am craving fried chicken so badly right now! I have to say my favorite place for fried chicken is a place actually known for it's barbeque - Country's Barbeque in Columbus, GA. Their fried chicken dinner comes with two huge fried chicken breasts and your choice of a thigh or drumstick. The batter they use makes a nice thick coating over the skin, and the chicken is the juiciest I've ever had. I have finished the dinner once, eating all of the pieces, and had trouble standing up after that. And to make it even better it's under 10 dollars. You can't go wrong.
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Sally

9-26-2008 @8:39AM Sally said... I read that post and I now have a serious craving for fried chicken. I don't have chicken in the house. This may be a good thing.
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Karen

9-26-2008 @8:50AM Karen said... I grew up eating fried everything, but don't think I've cooked it myself in 20 years. I can't remember the last time I ordered any.

But I think I read somewhere that fried chicken isn't as bad for you as once thought? Maybe I'm wrong, but you ought to try some and now I'd love some for breakfast! LOL
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Zach @ The Bitten Word

9-26-2008 @11:49AM Zach @ The Bitten Word said... Thanks for the nice post about our fried chicken!

Karen -- that's a really interesting comment about the health aspects. I have to say, fried chicken obviously isn't something you'd want to eat every day, but I really don't think it's that bad for you. I mean, there's salt and pepper, a little bit of flour, and a minimal amount of oil.

It's like, yes, it takes a lot of oil to fry chicken, but at the end of the day, there's still just about the same amount of oil in the pan as when you started. That is, it's not in the chicken.

I don't know -- I'm no dietician! But I think that, as indulgences go, simple home-fried chicken isn't really that bad for you.

Am I wrong?
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Bear Silber

9-26-2008 @10:16AM Bear Silber said... Haha, I'm the same as "ya'll", I don't eat the stuff but darn if that doesn't look 'mazin' right now :)
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George

9-26-2008 @11:36AM George said... I actually made my first batch of fried chicken a couple nights ago. As scared as I was, I was surprised with just how easy it was and how amazing it tasted.
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Muse in the Kitchen

9-28-2008 @9:20PM Muse in the Kitchen said... I have to say, I really hate the fact that I really love fried chicken! It's an every once in a while indulgence for me. Really good homemade fried chicken is just amazing.
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Bryan

10-17-2008 @7:02AM Bryan said... Zach is correct, there isn't that much oil absorbed per piece in frying at the proper temperature. There was an old Crisco or Wesson oil TV commercial where they demonstrated that the oil loss was only a teaspoon after making a batch of fried chicken. A way to reduce this even further is to use a pressure fryer and have the chicken fully submerged. The combination keeps the moisture inside and allows none to escape, keeping the chicken moist. It also reduces the amount of oil entering the breading and chicken. It's a must if you get serious about frying your chicken. Under pressure or not, submerging in oil is almost always superior for preventing hot spots, burning, and keeping the chicken as moist inside as possible.

I grew up around Louisville, KY, and fried chicken was a basic staple - more often than burgers, even. Another trick I love is while the first batch is waiting in a warm oven, drizzle honey on the pieces. The contrast of the sweet honey and a little spice like paprika, etc. in the breading is a great variation once in a while.
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8 Comments / 1 Pages

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