I have been craving this fried chicken since I saw it in a recent cookbook purchase, Party Like a Culinista. These ladies are full of fun tips and recipes for throwing major parties, small parties, or just cooking up some delicious food!
Take this fried chicken, for example. It’s crispy, juicy, you can make it ahead, and it’s gluten-free! HELLLO! Genius.
Brown rice flour does wonders here, as does a buttermilk soak (I’m currently obsessed with buttermilk) and a spice mix they call in their book “The Colonel.” HA.
I love the fry/bake method. I want to try this with bone-in chicken wings and a spicy Asian style sauce next time!
Here’s how you do it. You want to start the chicken a day ahead or at least let it marinate for 4 hours (you could easily throw this together before work in the morning and come home to some chicken dinner!)
Make the spice mixture: combine garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne…basically, this is your secret spice blend and you’ll use half your cabinet, but it’s awesome.
You use the mixture in the marinade for the chicken, the flour coating AND the gravy. I loved this idea, it really made the spices stand out! Below: buttermilk and spices get mixed together, spices and brown rice flour get mixed together.
Put the buttermilk in a ziptop bag and pour the buttermilk mixture over it.
Let this sit at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to cook, get your station ready! Preheat the oven and heat the oil to 350. Then take the chicken out of the buttermilk and toss it, a piece at a time, with the flour mixture. Delicious, delicious fried chicken.
This goes (on the rack) into the oven and is baked for 10 minutes. The result is delicious, crispy, flavorful chicken. It’s chicken breast! It’s gluten-free! It’s make-ahead! It’s completely perfect for summer or your next picnic.
We had this with roasted fingerling potatoes and gravy (recipe below). I also made a romaine salad with cucumber, avocado, blue cheese, sunflower seeds and a homemade kefir ranch dressing! A salad like that goes perfect with this comfort food chicken.
- Gluten Free Crispy Fried Chicken
- The chicken:
- Spice mix:
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- For the chicken:
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half (or thighs, left whole, or a mix of both)
- vegetable oil for frying
- For the gravy:
- 6 tablespoons ap flour (or brown rice flour, if you want to do this gluten free)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons reserved spice mix
- Mix up the spices. In a small bowl measure and mix up the spice blend. Measure out the rice flour and place in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the spice mix to the rice flour and whisk together or stir with a fork. Set aside.
- Marinate the chicken: In a ziptop bag set inside of a glass bowl, set the chicken in the bottom of the plastic bag. In a small measuring cup, add the buttermilk and 1/2 the remaining spice mix and blend together. Save the remaining spice mix for the gravy. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the plastic bag with the chicken. Seal the bag and gently massage it so that the chicken is coated with the spicy buttermilk. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- To cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Find a rack and a baking sheet that will fit the rack inside of it. Fill a cast iron skillet or large pot with at least 1” of the vegetable oil and use a candy thermometer to heat to 350 degrees over medium heat.
- When the oil is right around 350, you are ready to fry the chicken! Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge, and dump the flour and spice mixture on a large plate or small tray. You want it big enough to fit a few pieces of chicken at a time. Take one piece of chicken out of the buttermilk mixture, pausing over the bag to let the excess buttermilk drip off the chicken. You can gently shake the chicken to help it drain. Place the chicken into the flour mixture and toss to coat it with flour, then gently shake to remove excess flour. I found it helpful to coat three pieces of chicken at a time, then add them to the oil at once. Carefully drop each piece into the hot oil, standing back from the oil a bit as you drop them in. Fry until crispy on the bottom side, about 4-5 minutes, then check the bottom by flipping them over with long handled metal tongs. If they look golden brown, flip them, and fry on the other side 3-4 minutes. When they are crispy and lightly brown on all sides, remove the pieces from the oil and place on the rack that is set over a baking sheet. This allows the excess grease to drip away from the chicken, and they won’t get soggy. Repeat with the remaining chicken, frying it all up and putting it on the rack.
- When all the chicken has been fried, bake in the oven for 10 minutes. If you want to make this ahead, keep warm in the oven at 300 degrees until ready to serve, but not for too long!
- The gravy is simple. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes, until it is smooth and blended. Add in the garlic and let it cook for 1 minute.
- Slowly stir in the chicken stock until smooth. Add the reserved spice mix, about 2 teaspoons (you might have extra spice mix to save for another time). Cook on medium, whisking occasionally until the gravy thickens up. If you used brown rice flour, you can blend with an immersion blender after 10 minutes to make sure it is smooth.
- To serve, pour the gravy over the fried chicken.
Resources:
Oil cloth fabric, from The Whole 9 Yards Fabric Store, Portland, OR
Enamel tray, comes in a set of 3, Blick
Gravy pitcher, vintage, Eden Roc China Co.
Cast iron pan, Lodge, Amazon
Candy Thermometer, Bed Bath & Beyond
Looks delicious… I will make it for my family.. Thank you very much for sharing..