Fried Chicken

If crunch is what you're after, you'll want to know these tips.

Fried chicken on its own? Perfection. Fried chicken and waffles? Double perfection, which means fried chicken on a biscuit dripping with honey takes things to a whole new level. We’re taking this sandwich to weeknight status with shallow-fried chicken cutlets and the option to make or buy the biscuits — dealer’s choice. Frying big pieces of bone-in chicken is a bit of a daunting task, so this route is much easier.

I didn’t always live in a football household. Four years ago, Sundays were all about lazy breakfasts, farmers market shopping, and maybe a movie matinee before dinner. Then my husband joined a fantasy football league, and now my peaceful Sunday mornings are regularly interrupted by a living room full of dudes eating crumbly doughnuts and checking stats on their phones while watching the Red Zone channel on TV. Am I bitter? Perhaps.

It doesn't get any more epic than this.

You can call this oven-fried chicken or crunchy baked chicken or breaded chicken or any number of things. I like calling this dish Fake Fried Chicken because I feel like I’m getting away with something sneaky. Panko is the secret to crunchiness without deep-frying. I’ve tried everything from straight bread crumbs to melba toasts whizzed in the food processor, and panko comes the closest to giving us the kind of crust that you can actually hear when you bite into it.

It’s been quite the week for fried chicken. First we gave you Grandma’s recipe, then we showed you oven-fried crispy chicken. And now we’re giving you one more crispy, greasy, delicious recipe for fried chicken, and it’s from Chef Cruz of Thomas Keller’s restaurant Ad Hoc. Apparently great chefs love fried chicken too! Thomas Keller’s Napa Valley restaurant Ad Hoc offers an daily changing menu of seasonal American cuisine.

After getting married, one of the first things we learned to make was fried chicken. With a husband whose Grandmother had award-winning chicken frying skills, it was a quick realization that we too would soon be learning the trade. Even though a fryer lives in our pantry, we don’t bother. With techniques that are simple and are sure to produce perfect results each time…just make sure to lock the front door so you don’t have neighbors following their noses into your kitchen!