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Crisp fried chicken is one of the things that I always find
contradictory instructions for. "ALWAYS cover the frying chicken."

"NEVER cover the frying chicken." This is from "The Chef's Secret Cook
Book" and directly addresses the question. It works too. I tried
this out last night (used a bunch of chicken wings rather than whole
cut up chickens) and came up with a crispy, nice batch of fried
chicken. The trick is explained in the "Chef's Secret" section
below. BTW, I used plain ol' commercial seasoned salt instead of the
"Chef's Salt" called for and it turned out just fine. 2 2 1/4 to 2
1/2 -lb. fryers, cut into serving pieces 2 cups milk 2 cups flour 3
tbsp. Chef's Salt (see below) 4 whole eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup water
4 to 6 cups bread crumbs Shortening for frying 1. When cutting the
chicken into serving pieces, separate the thighs from the drumsticks,
cut each breast in half, leaving a part of the breast meat on each
wing, and, if you wish, cut two separate back pieces. 2. Take out all
the small bones like the rib cage, backbone, collarbone, etc.,leaving
only the main bones in the pieces. 3. Mix the flour with the Chef's
Salt. Beat the eggs with the 1/2 cup milk and the water, then strain
through a sieve. 4. Dip each chicken piece in the 2 cups milk, let
the milk drip off, then dip it in the flour-spice mixture. Be sure
to completely cover with the flour mixture. Shake off excess flour
and then dip in the egg wash. Turn the piece to be sure no dry spots
remain, then place the piece on the top of the piled up bread crumbs.
Sprinkle more bread crumbs over the chicken until completely covered,
then gently but firmly press down so that the crumbs really adhere to
the chicken. Shake off excess crumbs and lay the chicken parts on a
paper covered tray, skin side up. Continue until all chicken is
breaded. 5. In a large frying pan which has a lid, heat half of the
shortening to approximately 360F and carefully, one by one, put in
the chicken pieces, skin side up. Add the chicken slowly so that the
fat remains hot. Cover the pan, adjust the heat to medium, and cook
for about 10 to 12 minutes. 6. Remove cover, turn pieces, and fry,
uncovered, for another 10 minutes or so. Remove the pieces to a warm
place on absorbent paper and keep warm until served. CHEF'S SECRET:
By straining the egg-milk-water mixture, called egg wash, you avoid
having big parts of the egg white adhere to some pieces so that there
is not enough of the egg wash for other pieces. Also, the straining
makes the coating even. If you want to avoid lumps of flour and bread
crumbs on your fingers, designate one hand as "wet" and the other as
"dry." With the wet hand, handle the uncoated chicken, dip it into
and remove it from the, milk, and place it on the flour. Sprinkle
flour over it with the dry hand, and coat it and lift it out with the
dry hand. Place it in the egg wash with the dry hand, lift it out
with the wet hand, and then finish with the, dry hand. It sounds
complicated, but if you learn the trick you can prepare large amounts
of chicken without ever getting lumps on your fingers. It is
important to cover the pan while the bottom of the chicken is frying
as this keeps it tender. Frying the pieces without a cover after
turning makes the skin crisp. CHEF'S SALT: Mix well and use instead
of salt: 1 cup salt 1 tbsp. Spanish paprika 1 tsp. ground black
pepper 1/4 tsp. ground white pepper 1/4 tsp. celery salt 1/4 tsp.
garlic salt Be careful to use garlic salt, not garlic powder, If you
use garlic powder a small pinch is enough. Makes 8 servings. From
"The Chef's Secret Cookbook", Louis Szathmary, Quadrangle Books,
Chicago. 1972. Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; March 16 1993.

Submitted By BILL JERNIGAN On 12-01-94

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