Recipe: Southern Fried Chicken with Cornbread Muffins

Leftover of rose boy's roses put to good use as table centrepiece

Academics are a funny bunch. There are times when you can be at a party with a whole bunch of your colleagues and feel utterly lonely (this goes for conferences as well). And then there are other times when everyone just decides to show their private wacky side and you realise that philosophers are one of the most fun and interesting people around. Or, it could have been the fact that I loosened my guests tonight, which included my advisor and his wife, with some of Elise's Watermelon Strawberry Agua Fresca. Or that the continuous waft of fried chicken mixed with baked cornbread, combined with the sizzling of oil in the background, was just too intoxicating. Or, maybe it was just summer floating in from the yard outside.

Chicken soaked overnight in brine in the infamous ziploc bags

On the menu tonight: Southern Fried Chicken and cornbread muffins. I adapted the chicken recipe from Homesick Texan, adding cayenne pepper and curry powder and no salt into the batter (really, you can add anything you fancy). The recipe was tested out tonight on 3 Americans, among others, one of whom is certifiably mid-western - and passed with colours! Also, Homesick Texan's chocolate fudge (with vanilla ice-cream and strawberries) was up for dessert as always - it has proven a hot favourite with consumers on this side of the Atlantic! However, it seems we are a little more fainthearted about sugar - 2 cups, not 3, is quite nice thank you.

Cornbread resting in a bowl lined prettily with teatowel

Everything had been prepared before the first guest arrived. The peas and sweetcorn were bubbling in their pots (I add one stock cube for extra flavour), the mash was done and resting in its pot. I learned how to make the best mash in the world from a classmate in school whom I had a massive crush on at the time. The secret ingredient? Absolutely anything dairy and lotsa pepper. Being a bit more grown up now, I used milk and added a pinch of rosemary for an elegant touch last night.

Nowadays, I only start cooking when guests arrive. But everything is ready to go. I call it "macro mise on place" - preparing for preparing. It makes things easier, and I can do it over a few days (on top of a full-time job, that is). Plus, my guests can visually participate in the cooking process. Of course, this doesn't work for long braises, roasts and other time-dependent dishes. But it's nice when it happens wherever possible.


No, we did not have fireworks after dinner. These are the fireworks from the Mostly Mozart concert at the Barbican last week. But we did try playing poker. My advisor and wife got distracted with playing pac-man though, and everyone started wanting their turn. (My pac-man is plugged into my widescreen tv.) Pac-man rocks! Even the audience gets involved in cheering the player on and shouting directions and whooping at close calls. See what I mean about academics' hidden side? People left after midnight, which is always a good sign of a fun time had by all.


SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Equipment:
Cast iron pan (Le Creuset and Staub are good brands)
* Warning: Cast iron pan will take a hour of scrubbing after dinner. Can anyone recommend a good grease remover that will do the job in a second?

A - Meat
Chicken pieces, with skin intact
8 cups of water
1/2 cup salt

B - Batter
1 cup flour
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tbsp curry powder
2 cups buttermilk

C - Frying
Grapeseed oil
(or any other oil with a high smoke point, like canola or sunflower oil)

*****

A - Heat water and dissolve salt. Allow to cool. Soak chicken in brine in ziploc bags and leave overnight (at least 8 hours) in fridge.

B - Mix dry ingredients. Prepare one container with dry ingredients, and a separate container with buttermilk, for frying. Take chicken out of brine and place on a tray.

C - Heat oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, but make sure it is not smoking (that will give chicken an unpleasant taste). Test heat by throwing in a sprinkle of flour - if it starts frying, the temperature is good. Coat each piece of chicken with flour, then dip in buttermilk and coat with another layer of flour (I find it easier to use my hands to do this). Place in hot oil, skin-side down. Lower heat to low. Fry for 15 minutes on one side till golden brown, turn with tongs and fry for another 10 minutes.** Remove fried chicken from pan with tongs and drain for 10 minutes on paper towels or a dishcloth. Serve immediately.

** These times are approximates, since much will decide on your type of pan. Cast iron pans retain heat well, hence I lower the heat once a good temperature has been reached. But if you are using some other pan, like a wok, then you might have to adjust the temperature constantly. The guide is that the chicken must be sizzling throughout.


CORNBREAD MUFFINS

A - Dry ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
(In Britain, some labels say "maize meal". Cornmeal is not easy to find in London, unless you go to a supermarket with a World Cuisine section. Polenta (not instant) is a good substitute.)
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar

B - Wet ingredients
2 tbsp canola oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk.

*****

Preheat oven to 232 degrees celcius.

A - Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

B - Using your fingers, work the oil into the flour mix, until it is crumbly. Wash hands. Using an electric beater, beat the egg in and then buttermilk. Spoon yellow batter into greased muffin tray*** and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Fork one muffin to test - fork should come out dry.

Serve with butter.

*** I use Jamie Oliver's silicon muffin tray, which does away with the need to grease and works wonders. My muffins pull away from the tray after baking like magic, and it cleans like magic too (very important without dishwasher). Am beginning to be fascinated by the material silicon, and thinking about getting silicon tongs. Silicon oven gloves are silly though.