This is a fabulous recipe for fried chicken or veggies! The crust is crispy, tender and chock full of flavor. You can make this completely vegan with gorgeous veggies and unsweetened non-dairy milk. You’re in for a gluten free treat most folks wouldn’t know was gluten free!
Home-Made Fried Chicken or Veggies: Eggplant, Zucchini, Squash, Carrots, and/or Parsnips
Recipe courtesy of “You Say Tomato” – our wonderful local Kansas City Restaurant at 2801 Holmes, KCMO
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus overnight soak if making chicken
Cooking time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 free-range organic chicken cut up into serving pieces, skin removed – or –
3-4 cups veggies, sliced in chunks
1 – 2 quarts buttermilk*, divided, for marinating chicken and preparing soaking slurry
*non-dairy/vegan buttermilk is easily made with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for each cup soy/rice/almond milk
1 Tbs of poultry seasoning (herbes de provence work well for veggies)
5 bay leaves
1 1⁄2 cups Be Free Bakers Jen’s Blend Flour Mix
1 Tbs fine ground pepper
2 tsp granulated garlic (not powder); fresh is beautiful – use 2 cloves
3/4 cup kosher salt
2 cups dehydrated potato flakes
Peanut oil for frying
*Other monounsaturated frying oil options (with high smoke points) include almond, avocado or canola oil.
DIRECTIONS:
For chicken:
Put chicken pieces in marinating container. Use adequate buttermilk to cover. Let sit overnight in fridge. If you cannot soak overnight, 4-5 hours works great too.
Bring a heavy pot of water to a boil. Add chicken, poultry seasoning and bay leaves. Poach chicken until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees (approximately 10-15 minutes). Remove and let dry on mesh cooling rack.
For both chicken and/or veggies:
Prepare slurry with buttermilk, gluten-free flour, pepper, garlic and salt (add herbs at this time for veggies – skip bay leaves). Add buttermilk last, a little at a time to ensure proper consistency – slurry should have texture of heavy cream.
Heat 1⁄2 inch of oil in frying pan (preferably cast iron) to 325 degrees. Coat chicken/veggie pieces with slurry, then dredge through potato flakes. Carefully place in frying pan and adjust heat to maintain temperature. Cook until brown and crunchy – or slightly lighter for al dente veggies.
Remove and place on paper towels to drain.
Enjoy! ☺
Be Free 