And then there was chicken

About a month or so ago, I decided to purchase Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Recipe book.  I loved everything about this cookbook. I loved reading it, and imagining how everything I was going to make was going to turn out so fantastic. I'm salivating again right now just thinking about all the food.

So... the first thing I tried to make was the fried chicken. its all over google. You don't really need to buy the actual cookbook for this recipe. I liked looking over the internet recipes because they had more photos on the step by step process. I also noticed that their portions were a little different than the book.
the chicken.  I decided that I wasn't going to go the easy route. I followed Mr. Keller's instructions and bought a bird about 3.5 lbs. Then I went home and looked at it in disgust. It was gross just thinking about hacking this thing into 10 pieces.

With my scissors I started to snip down the middle of the chicken. I bet this is where an experienced chef would have a kitchen shearer... I managed ... Then I began hacking the legs/thighs/wings/breast apart. When I finished, I had 10 pieces of chicken and a neck/spine piece.  Mr. Keller says the extra piece is good for a stock. I wrapped the sucker up and threw it in my freezer. Some day that neck will come to use.

Next up - the brine. his recipe makes 2 gallons or something crazy. I made half the amount. it smelled great.  then i realized it needed to be cooled. ugh- there goes another few hours.

While making the brine, I learned that salts are different. who knew?! he recommends using dixie crystal salt, but all I had was morton's.   it started to make me paranoid that i was over salting everything. every other cookbook i've ever used... says 1 teaspoon... blah blah blah.  Now Mr. Keller is saying i have to weigh it? its in ounces? the stress! no wonder my stuff is always too salty.

after a nice 12 hour soak- my lil chicadees were ready for a bath. I poured out the brine and then rinsed all the pieces.  I laid everything out and pat them down to dry. thats when i noticed... 9 pieces. dang. one must of jumped ship while i was pouring out the brine. :(

fry time. I must not have properly prepared. the recipe calls for the oil to be at 350 degrees. my thermometer only went up to 220. so i waited till it hit 220- then wait a while longer. I threw in the first piece and it looked great. 3 minutes later i took it out. then i realized that i read the directions wrong. its supposed to be turn after 2-3 minutes, not remove. then i put it back for another 10 minutes.  Each piece looked great. a little dark compared to popeye's fried chicken... but still good.

It took me almost an hour to fry all the pieces. by the time i finished the entire apartment felt like it was 120 degrees. i was hot, sweaty, and shiny from all the oil.

the chicken was served outside on the patio... in the nice cool night.  the entire process took me the entire weekend. friday- but the stuff . Saturday make the brine, let it cool. throw the chicken in the brine for 12 hours. take out- dry and let the chicken rest. ...

totally worth it. but super tiring.