Chicken in the crisping phase.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
2 t garlic powder
2 t paprika
1 t onion powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/8 t turmeric
1 egg, whisked with 2 T cold water
4 chicken thighs, bone in with skin left on
2 chicken breasts, bone in with skin left on
1 cup vegetable oil or shortening

Spoon Mage™ Note:

Friendly reminder, wear floaties while cooking in case you need to swim in the gravy.

Directions:

Pat the chicken with paper towels. Moisture on the chicken will result in an excess of splatters. You should still wear a nice apron.

Stir the flour, salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper together in a large bowl.

Whisk the egg and water in a medium bowl. This is called an egg wash. The water helps reduce egg glumps that work with the flour to create soggy non-crisp parts.

Drag chicken pieces through the egg wash, shake off the excess liquid.

Lightly dust chicken pieces with the flour and seasonings. Shake off excess flour as you transfer the chicken to a plate. The goal here is to have a good ratio of crispy skin to chicken. Too much flour only creates areas of floury flavor that is distracting.

After the chicken is ready, heat a very large fry pan over medium high heat – until the pan is very hot.

Add the oil or shortening and wait one minute so that it can return to the correct temperature.

Fried chicken thigh with veggies and mashed potatoes covered with chicken gravy. Yum!

Use tongs and add the chicken a few pieces at a time and quickly brown on both sides. This should take more than 2-3 minutes on each side. Never crowd meat when browning . Remove the browned pieces to a paper towel lined plate.

After the last batch is brown, put all the browned meat, skin side up, back into the pan. It is ok to crowd them now, the crispy foundation has been well put down.

Reduce the heat to medium low, cover tightly, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the chicken juices run clear when poked in the thickest part. This is a spitting oil moment, so be careful, ok?

Remove the lid and cook for 10 more minutes. This part of the process that finishes crisping the skin, so don’t skip it!

Place the chicken on a serving platter. Let it rest a bit while you make gravy. You may have to keep some family members away right now.

To make gravy, pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat and return the pan to medium heat.

Stir 3 tablespoons of flour into the hot oil. Scrape up the browned bits as you go.

Slowly add 1 cup of chicken stock, stirring constantly until the liquid reaches a simmer and thickens.

Add more stock if the gravy is too thick. Season to taste with pepper and salt.

Pour into a gravy boat and enjoy.