Chicken Fried Chicken

Although I am trained to make wonderfully gourmet dishes, my bf has very simple taste. It makes him really happy when I tell him that the package of chicken breasts is for chicken fried chicken.

The first time I saw chicken fried steak I thought about a regular dish that we used to make in culinary school. It looked very similar and when I went searching for a recipe, the method was nearly identical to Wiener Schnitzel. I told him I can make his chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken in my sleep. The first time I made it, he said, “good stuff Maynard.” (It is his way of complimenting me.)

This weekend, after eating out for every meal for the last week, I really did not want to eat out for another meal. I was uninspired and was not craving anything so I decided to indulge the bf by making one of his favorite dishes. I made a large batch because he loves leftovers. I told him to freeze the leftovers and reheat portions in the oven. I suppose you can cut the recipe in half or even quarter.

The methods demonstrated in this dish are the three-step breading technique and shallow frying technique. Three-step breading is used for dishes such as veal francese, Weiner Schnitzel and of course chicken fried steak.


Chicken Fried Chicken

4 pounds chicken breast, pounded to about ¼ inch thickness using a meat tenderizer
Sea salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
4 cups All-purpose flour
Garlic powder, to taste
4 eggs
1 cup milk
Canola oil

1. Start by pounding your chicken breast with a meat tenderizer to about ¼ inch thickness. Be careful when you pound. There is a method you want to employ where the goal is to strategically pound the chicken in the right direction instead of haphazardly pounding the chicken and tearing the chicken breast into several pieces. Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder.
2. In a flat dish (such as a pie tin), season flour with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Set aside.
3. Beat eggs and place in another flat dish. (Some people prefer to mix eggs with milk but I find that the flour coating is better when I use just eggs.)
4. Heat a cast-iron skillet on medium heat and add just enough oil to immerse approximately a third or half of the chicken. Let oil heat up. Meanwhile, take a piece of your chicken breast and dip in seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour, and then dip in eggs and then dip again in seasoned flour. You should have a nice coating. When oil is hot, carefully place chicken in skillet. Cook until golden and then carefully flip chicken and fry the other side until golden. (I like to put all the pieces of chicken in an ovenproof pan and finish them off in the oven.) Repeat until all pieces of chicken are cooked.
5. To make gravy: When done cooking chicken, pour off all but about three tablespoons of oil, reserving the brown bits. Add about three tablespoons of the leftover seasoned flour and cook the flour until browned. You want to make a brown roux. Add milk and cook until thickened. Adjust seasonings.

The bf likes his chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and corn.


The picture tutorial:

1. Pound your chicken.

2. Prep you seasoned flour and eggs. Also season the chicken breasts.
3. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour.
4. Dip chicken in eggs.
5. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour again. (My hands are finally dark! I spent a few days on the beaches in Hawaii. Now I am peeling =( but I'm dark =))
6. Shallow fry one side.
7. Now shallow fry the other. You can completely cook in the oil or finish in the oven. I like to cook the chicken until golden on the outside and I know the chicken is not completely cooked so I cook in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Now the finished dish. This is my plate. I didn't finish it. The bf took two pieces of chicken and finished it. He is more than a foot taller than me.