Fried Chicken #3: Fancy-pants Italian Fried Chicken*

We move on in our Fried Chicken journey to Chicago, sort of. See, the owner of "Gourmet Fried Chicken" who makes Italian-American fried chicken in Chicago although he is Indian (follow that) just laughed when asked for his recipe for herbalicious fried chicken. So John T. Edge shares the recipe from some super schmancy New York restaurant.

First, you rub the raw chicken pieces with lemon juice (side note: I have taken to using cut up kosher chicken to eliminate any need for brining) and wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Then, an hour before cooking, you take the chicken out to let it get to room temperature (which should set all your food safety instincts into a panic). You dredge the chicken in flour (seasoned with salt and pepper) and then beaten egg (also seasoned with salt and pepper) and fry in a big mess of peanut oil, which starts at 350 degrees and which you fry at 325. A few minutes before it's done you pop the heat up to 375 (if you can, my oil never got that hot) and one minute before it's done you toss in some rosemary and thyme and garlic.

You serve the chicken with the fried herbs and a squeeze of lemon, and it is very much like a nice fritto misto. In fact, it's exactly like a good fritto misto, if your fritto misto contained chicken. It was lovely, but I don't know if I'd consider it real fried chicken. (Jeff: "You FRIED it, didn't you?") However, you could totally serve this fried chicken at your fanciest fried food dinner party.

I give it a 6 out of 10 (low points for excessive fanciness). Jeff gave it an 8. He has the leftovers at work and will hopefully report on the refrigeration factor later.



*Not the actual name of the recipe