A new restaurant recently opened in Cleveland called Hot Chicken Takeover. It was AMAZING. Some of the best fried chicken I’d ever had. I took some of my co-workers there. They all agreed it was amazing except one: he said he has had better fried chicken. That fried chicken was made by a Michelin starred chef: Thomas Keller. Amazingly he had released the recipe. And I have to say, it was pretty good.
Notes on the Chicken
I made a few changes to the original recipe. Since I didn’t have a big enough bucket for 2 gallons of brine, I quartered the brine. It still turned out great! This was my first time brining chicken and I couldn’t have been happier.
Next, I prepared the coating. Even though I quartered the brine, I just halved the coating mix. It still was plenty for 2 pounds of chicken.
Notes on Brining
A few things about the recipe: the original recipe said to brine for 12 hours and leave the chicken out at room temperature for 1.5 hours. That means if I want to eat dinner at 6, I need to be up at 4 AM at the latest.
So of course that didn’t happen. I brined for 7 hours and left it out for half an hour and it turned out fine. Make sure you do leave it out for at least half an hour though so the chicken won’t be partially raw when you fry it.
As you let the chicken sit, don’t be tempted to save some time and start coating them to prep. It will make the coating soggy. Just coat right before frying.
I served my fried chicken with waffles. I don’t do breakfast for dinner often, but when I do I go all out. And who doesn’t love a good waffle? They go amazingly well with chicken, ice cream, jam, melted chocolate: you name it. They have a bunch of holes to hold all of the syrupy goodness. They’re the perfect breakfast carb. (Sorry pancake lovers, I still love pancakes too!)
The day I prepped this chicken, I had decided to run a 5k. My first time running in months! Coming back to enjoy this dish was heaven. I hope you like it as much as I did!
Fried Chicken and Waffles
Ingredients
For the Chicken
Brine
- 1 lemons, sliced
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 oz parsley
- 4 tablespoons thyme
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- 3 cloves garlic, halved
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 8 cups water
- 2 pounds chicken
Seasoning
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons cayenne
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 cups buttermilk
- sea salt (for garnish)
Waffles
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the brine. Place chicken in brine. According to the recipe, you should brine for 12 hours and no more. I ended up brining for 7 hours.
- Pat dry. Let rest for 1.5 hours.
- Combine all coating ingredients except for the buttermilk.
- Fill a dutch oven or pot with enough oil so the chicken will be fully submerged.
- Heat oil to 320 F for thighs and drumsticks. Heat oil to 340 F for breasts and wings.
- Gather 3 shallow dishes and line them up side by side. Put half of the coating in the 1st and 3rd dish. Pour the buttermilk into the center dish.
- Right before frying, dip a piece of chicken in the coating, then the buttermilk, then once more in the coating.
- Deep fry wings for 6 minutes and breasts for 7 minutes. Fry thighs and drumsticks for 11-12 minutes. Fry 3-4 chicken pieces at a time. Don't overcrowd the pot, make sure there is oil circulating around the chicken pieces.
- Place on a paper towel lined cooling rack. Sprinkle on sea salt if desired.
- For waffles, combine all ingredients. Grease a waffle iron and cook waffles according to iron manufacturer’s instructions.
- Serve fried chicken with waffles, maple syrup, and desired toppings.
Notes
Recipe from Chef Thomas Keller. Waffle recipe from NYT Cooking.