Despite the fact that I’m a Midwestern girl, my favorite foods mostly fall into Mediterranean, Latin and Asian categories. With the exception of two very Midwestern/Southern U.S. classics: fried chicken, and biscuits and gravy.
While Barcelona has its fill of Kentucky Fried and McDonald’s, Jesus despises the thickly breaded stuff for sale at those places. I don’t mind it, myself (if I don’t think about transfats and processed proteins) but our happy medium has been making breaded fried chicken at home, where I use thinly sliced chicken breast filets, 2% milk and corn flour for a light and crunchy breading. I flour the chicken, dip it in milk, flour it again, dip it in milk, and flour it again, until it’s got an even coating.
I use the flour and milk that’s left to make hush puppies. To round-off an already deep-fried meal, add skin-on fries (just like mom makes).
Corn-fried Chicken with Hush Puppies and Skin-on Fries (Serves 2)
Ingredients Corn-fried Chicken and Hush Puppies
- 1 chicken breast sliced into thin filets
- 2 cups corn flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- Coconut, Peanut or Olive Oil to (1 -1 and 1/2cups)
- 1 tsp salt
- Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high.
- Mix salt, paprika, garlic powder and oregano with corn flour.
- Dip chicken filets in the flour mixture
- Dip filets in milk
- Dip filets in flour mixture again
- dip filets in milk
- dip filets in flour mixture again
- Form hush puppies out of the mixture of leftover milk and flour, add more flour or milk if needed.
- Fry chicken and hush puppies in hot (bubbling) oil 5-8 minutes or until the chicken’s white through (I take out one, and cut it in half)
- Drain on paper towels to remove excess grease.
- 1 large potato or 2 medium to small potatoes ( I prefer white or yellow potatoes for fries).
- 1 1/2- 2 cups oil (coconut or peanut oil is best for crisp fries, but olive oil will do in a pinch)
- salt and pepper to taste
- paper towels for draining
- Put your oil in a skillet on medium high
- Scrub potatoes clean and rinse.
- Pat dry
- Slice into wedges and strips.
- Slide potatoes into bubbling oil
- Cook 8-10 minutes or until crisp and golden.
- Drain on paper towels to remove excess grease.
- Salt and pepper to taste
Extra Tips:
- Corn flour is a gluten-free way to bread all sorts of foods, not just chicken.
- It works well on fish, onion rings or even cheese or tofu (which should be kept very cold up until frying)
- To make this vegan friendly, deep fry vegetables, and instead of milk, use a vegan egg white or milk substitute.
- Coconut oil and peanut oil are great for deep frying as they don’t smoke at high temperatures. I often use extra virgin olive oil, because living in Spain, I always have big 5L jugs of it on hand at home, but I’ve read conflicting opinions that heated to high temperatures for deep frying olive oil becomes hydrogenated and loses its nutritional value. Here are some links if you’re interested: Oprah.com: Can Olive Oil Stand the Heat; EatingWell.com: Why You Shouldn’t Always Cook With Olive Oil
- Never eat pink fried-chicken….it might not kill you, but it also might make you throw up for hours, and no one wants that….
- I like my chicken, fries and hush puppies with an easy to make bravas- style sauce. Mix up your favorite mayo with your favorite hot sauce. I like natural mayos with a short list of ingredients, here in Barcelona, I buy Musa mayonnaise and mix it with Aji, a Peruvian hot sauce.
