Spicy Supercrunchy Fried Chicken

This week at IHCC the theme was spice week. I searched for recipes, arranged my spices from sweet to mild to hot and then I arranged them alphabetically. I just could not decide on one specific recipe. Until the one that caught my eye late Tuesday night. The term fried chicken is not uncommon here in my home. However, with Mark Bittman's spice kick added and a different coating technique , it turned out to have a totally different taste than my southern, iron skillet scalded fried chicken recipe.

Never have I thought about adding curry, chili pepper and allspice to my fried chicken! This recipe was also different in the way that the chicken is battered. In the past, I have always had a plate of flour with the spices added, and a bowl for the egg and milk. and would roll, dip and then roll again. The recipe calls to add EVERYTHING together in a bowl. I used a gallon sized zip lock bag to mix it all together. The batter was thick and remained on the chicken very well. Warning: Things could become a 'lil messy at this point, but well worth the goo.

I used Betsy, my iron skillet and corn oil.

I also used boneless chicken breasts for two reasons. 1. They cook so much faster. 2. My youngest son's newest line when having chicken for dinner is.."Does it have bones?" (shrugs, not sure when his preference switched to boneless chicken. hahaha.)

To maintain some sort of healthiness to the fried chicken, I did remove the skin. I know it's a sin to some in the south to de-skin the chicken..my hips will thank me later!

Served with seasoned collard greens and pinto beans made for a spicy southern meal.

Spicy Supercrunchy Fried Chicken (Mark Bittman)

Ingredients

• 1 good chicken, cut into serving pieces, or use 8 to 10 leg pieces (drumsticks and thighs), trimmed of excess fat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 Scotch bonnet (habanero), or other fresh chili, stemmed, seeded and minced, or cayenne to taste, optional
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• A mixture of lard and butter, as needed, or olive oil, or neutral oil like corn or grapeseed
• Lemon or lime wedges for garnish

Method

• 1. In a bowl, toss the chicken with salt, pepper, curry, allspice, garlic, chili, egg and 2 tablespoons water. When everything is combined, blend in the flour, using your hands. Keep mixing until most of the flour is blended with the other ingredients and the chicken is coated (add more water or flour if mixture is too thin or too dry; it should be dry but not powdery). Let sit while you heat the fat.
• 2. Choose a skillet or casserole at least 12 inches in diameter that can be covered. Add enough fat to come to a depth of about 1/2 inch and turn heat to medium-high. If you\'re using butter, skim any foam as it rises to the surface.
• 3. When the fat is hot (a pinch of flour will sizzle) raise heat to high. Slowly add chicken pieces to skillet (if you add them all at once, temperature will plummet). Cover skillet, reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook for 7 minutes.
• 4. Uncover the skillet, turn the chicken and continue to cook, uncovered, for another 7 minutes. Turn the chicken again and cook for about 5 minutes more, turning as necessary to ensure that both sides are golden brown.
• 5. Remove the chicken from skillet and drain on paper towels. Serve chicken at any temperature, with lemon or lime wedges.