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RCP: Wine/apple/herb oven-fried chicken

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:19 pm
by Jenise
Reposting an old recipe for a friend to find here later:

Topic: RC: Wine-apple-herb oven-fried chicken/best FC I ever made
Author: Jenise
Date: Tue May 15 09:25:01 2001

About 20 years ago, I made some fried chicken from a recipe in the LA Times Home Magazine supplement. It was wonderful, very crisp and unusually elegant in its wine-apple-herb flavor, but I lost the recipe and never made it again. As best I recall it, in that preparation, the chicken was marinated in wine and actually cooked with apple juice in the pan. Superb results, but one heckuva mess to clean up after the apple juice literally turned to caramel in the bottom of the pan.

Driving past a KFC the other day, I suddenly remembered that chicken and imagined just how to recreate it as an oven version. When I got home, I pulled a bag of chicken wings out of the freezer and went to work.

The result was, as my title promises, the best fried chicken I''ve ever had. The chicken absorbs enough apple juice to approximate the caramelization effect, the corn meal makes a very tasty crust, and the wine and herbs give the chicken a very sophisticated flavor.

The following recipe has a lot of steps, the chicken isn''t hard to make but you must allow yourself enough time to follow all the steps. That it cooks in the oven is a big bonus--no slaving over a hot stove, no stove mess to clean up later!

1. Marinate the chicken for 4-8 hours:

2 dozen chicken wing drummettes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 tsp dried dill
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons EVOO

2. About an hour and a half before dinner, remove chicken from marinade and coat well with a mixture of:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

3. Place coated chicken on a wire rack to "dry". This sets the crust and helps it stick to the chicken, not your pan. Leave for about 30-45 minutes.

4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put sheet pan in oven to heat up, then add 3 tblsp. corn or olive oil, and set chicken in oven, best/top side down. Place in oven. Leave rack out, you're going to use it again.

5. After 20-25 minutes, chicken should be done on the first side. Check and decide if now's the time to turn. If it is, turn with a spatula to ensure the crust releases--inevitably, some won't. Pulling with tongs will make you sorry. Also, DO NOT TURN CHICKEN MORE THAN ONCE OR YOU'LL TOTALLY FUTZ UP THE CRUST--it WILL stick the second time down. Finish cooking, about ten minutes.

6. When chicken''s done, remove and set on wire rack to rest for five to ten minutes, then serve.

Re: RCP: Wine/apple/herb oven-fried chicken

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:44 am
by Susan B
Would a sheet of the non-stick aluminum foil on the bottom of the baking sheet aid in preserving the crust?

Re: RCP: Wine/apple/herb oven-fried chicken

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:01 pm
by Jenise
Susan, I use foil under uncrusted chicken wings to make cleanup easy. But in this case I would not make that choice since some adhering is unavoidable when the the sugars inthe apple juice and wine cohese with the flour and corn meal and some pieces will separate from the pan only with the aid of a spatula which would tear foil. A non-stick double-wall cookie sheet like the Cuisinart brand's that I use would be best. Mine are pretty well seasoned since they mostly cook stuff like this, not cookies. :)

Re: RCP: Wine/apple/herb oven-fried chicken

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:30 pm
by Mike Filigenzi
Jenise wrote:Susan, I use foil under uncrusted chicken wings to make cleanup easy. But in this case I would not make that choice since some adhering is unavoidable when the the sugars inthe apple juice and wine cohese with the flour and corn meal and some pieces will separate from the pan only with the aid of a spatula which would tear foil. A non-stick double-wall cookie sheet like the Cuisinart brand's that I use would be best. Mine are pretty well seasoned since they mostly cook stuff like this, not cookies. :)


Do you think a Silpat liner on a cookie sheet work?

Re: RCP: Wine/apple/herb oven-fried chicken

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:17 pm
by Jenise
Interesting question, Mike. Not sure the chicken will crust as well and in fact I am sure it definitely would not--but it wouldn't stick!

Re: RCP: Wine/apple/herb oven-fried chicken

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:38 pm
by Mike Filigenzi
Good point - you definitely wouldn't want to sacrifice crust for non-stickiness.