The Carbon Bar in downtown Toronto specializes in mouth-watering meats and their Buttermilk Fried Chicken recipe does not disappoint.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe
Serves 6 -8
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
12 pieces of good quality boneless chicken thighs skin left on.
Chicken Brine
Ingredients:
-2 L Water
-2 Tbsp. Honey
-3 Cloves of Garlic
-¼ Bunch Thyme
-4 Sprigs flat leave Parsley
-1 Lemon (cut in quarters)
-100 gr Kosher salt
-2 Tbsp. black pepper corns
METHOD
-Bring all ingredients to a boil and let it cool before using the brine.
-Lay the chicken thighs in a pan or baking dish and submerge them with the cooled brine and let this sit for six hours refrigerated.
-Remove the chicken thighs from the brine and place the thighs on a kitchen towel and pat dry with a paper towel. Get rid of the brine.
-Let the chicken dry for a couple hours uncovered in the fridge.
-For best results this process should be done a day before.
Buttermilk Mixture for Fried Chicken
Ingredients:
-1 liter buttermilk
-¼ tsp cayenne
-¼ tsp ground nutmeg
-4 sprigs worth of thyme leaves picked from the stem
METHOD
Finely chop the picked thyme. Combine all ingredients and let sit for an hour before using. This will help the spices and thyme infuse the buttermilk.
Flour mixture for breading of chicken
Ingredients:
-500 gr all-purpose flour
-1 tbsp kosher salt
-2 tbsp black pepper
-1 tbsp baking powder
METHOD
-In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk very thoroughly till all ingredients are well combined.
Breading of the Chicken
METHOD
-Pour the 3 litres of canola or vegetable oil into a sauce pot/fry pot with thick bottom.
-Turn on the stove to medium heat and let the oil come up to 350 F
Prepare the breading stations
-Have a large bowl filled half way with the flour mixture.
-And another bowl filled half way with the buttermilk mixture.
-First step take the 12 pieces of chicken thighs and roll them into the flour mixture. Shake of any excess flour and drench one piece at a time in the buttermilk mixture. Allow the excess buttermilk to drain by holding the thigh with two fingers and go back to the flower mixture.
-Carefully press the chicken thigh into the flour mixture and pinch the skin with two fingers and make twisting motions – this allows the skin to separate a little from the thigh and creates small flour clusters that will become very crispy when fried. Gently shake of the excess flour and set aside on a tray making sure the breaded chicken is well spread out and not overlapping.
-Continue this process till all the chicken thighs are done.
-Take the chicken to the fry pot and fry the chicken in small batches of 3-4 pieces until lightly golden brown – about 1 minute and 30 seconds.
-Using a slotted spoon remove the chicken from the hot oil and allow the excess oil to drain. Place the chicken on a baking tray.
-Bake the chicken in an oven on low heat 290F for 25 minutes.
-Before serving fry them one more time for 1 minute and serve immediately. At the Carbon Bar we serve our chicken with our sweet and spicy BBQ sauce.
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Check out The Carbon Bar website for more info.
