fried chicken

I have to say, I do enjoy a crispy piece of Church’s Fried Chicken… much more than KFC. But is “enjoy” really the right word when I feel so incredibly gross afterwards… gobbling down that extremely oily piece of chicken, wondering what it’s doing to my insides? We excuse ourselves by saying, “If we’re only going to have it once every 1-2 years, we should just enjoy it!”

But what I really enjoy about Church’s is the warm, fuzzy feelings that I have attached to that greasy aroma. Growing up with grandparents living five minutes away from the nearest Church’s restaurant, a large box of fried chicken always accompanied a family dinner, regardless of whatever my grandmother was cooking that night.

Grandpa would get into his car, drive up the street to get the fried chicken. When he came home, he would slice up a beautiful ripe tomato from his garden and open a can of pineapple. I think the pineapple may have been for us grandkids but I don’t really know. Warm memories of family, my grandparents who are no longer with us, and a simpler time.

My kids also enjoy fried chicken. But they have only been allowed to have Church’s two or three times in their whole little lives. The only fried chicken they really know is the one I bake. That’s right, oven-baked fried chicken. You may recall I don’t deep fry at home (with one exception: honey walnut prawns).

I also do not buy Shake’n Bake because how hard is it really to make your own? Here’s how easy.

Oven-Baked Fried Chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken cut up into 8 parts (you can ask a butcher to do this for you)
2-3 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2T grape seed oil
1 1/2 cup flour
1T poultry seasoning
1T paprika
1 1/2t kosher salt
1/2t fresh ground pepper

Gravy

2 green onions chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2T flour mixture
1 cup milk
1t chicken bouillon

Instructions

1. Wash and pat dry your chicken pieces and put into a large mixing bowl. Cover with buttermilk and let stand for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter in the oven on a sheet pan or baking pan that will fit the chicken pieces nicely (not crowded).

3. Meanwhile place the flour, poultry seasoning, paprika, salt and pepper in a large freezer bag and shake well. If you are making gravy, reserve 2T of the flour mixture.

4. Shake off excess buttermilk from chicken pieces and coat well with the flour mixture.

5. Add the grapeseed oil to the melted butter and stir. Place the coated chicken pieces, skin side down onto the pan.

6. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the pieces over and bake for another 20 mins.

7. Remove chicken onto a plate and keep warm.

8. Pour out grease, leaving about 3-4T in the pan. Place the pan on the stovetop at medium low heat. Sautée the green onion and mushrooms.

9. Whisk the flour mixture, milk and bouillon together. Add it to the pan and scrape up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. If the gravy is too thick, add more milk.

**Notes: If your family prefers all dark meat, just buy legs and thighs. You don’t have to cut up a whole chicken. I also like to use grape seed oil as it has a higher burn temperature than butter. By combining the two, the result is a buttery flavour without burning.

What memories do you associate with your favourite food?