Monday, June 17, 2013

World-Renowned Chef Thomas Keller's Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe


 Recipe: Buttermilk Fried Chicken


Artisan


If there’s a better fried chicken, I haven’t tasted it. First, and critically, the chicken is brined for 12 hours in an herb-lemon brine, which seasons the meat and helps it stay juicy. The flour is seasoned with garlic and onion powders, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. The chicken is dredged in the seasoned flour, dipped in buttermilk, and then dredged again in the flour. The crust becomes almost feathered and is very crisp.

Fried chicken is a great American tradition that’s fallen out of favor. A taste of this, and you will want it back in your weekly routine.

And for those of you not familiar with who Thomas Keller is, he is an American chef, restauranteur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, CA, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant is a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World.
Ingredients
  • Two 2 1/2- to 3-pound chickens (see note on chicken size)
For dredging and frying
  • Peanut or canola oil for deep-frying
  • 1 quart buttermilk
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For coating
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Ground fleur de sel or fine sea salt
  • Rosemary and thyme sprigs for garnish
For the chicken brine
  • 5 lemons, halved
  • 24 bay leaves
  • 1 bunch (4 ounces) flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 bunch (1 ounce) thyme
  • 1/2 cup clover honey
  • 1 head garlic, halved through the equator
  • 3/4 cup black peppercorns
  • 2 cups (10 ounces) kosher salt, preferably Diamond Crystal
  • 2 gallons water
Preparation
For the brine (makes 2 gallons)
The key ingredient here is the lemon, which goes wonderfully with chicken, as do the herbs: bay leaf, parsley and thyme. This amount of brine will be enough for 10 pounds.

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and cool completely, then chill before using. The brine can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

For the chicken
Cut each chicken into 10 pieces: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 breast quarters, and 2 wings. Pour the brine into a container large enough to hold the chicken pieces, add in the chicken, and refrigerate for 12 hours (no longer, or the chicken may become too salty).

Remove the chicken from the brine (discard the brine) and rinse under cold water, removing any herbs or spices sticking to the skin. Pat dry with paper towels, or let air-dry. Let rest at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours, or until it comes to room temperature.

If you have two large pots (about 6 inches deep) and a lot of oil, you can cook the dark and white meat at the same time; if not, cook the dark meat first, then turn up the heat and cook the white meat. No matter what size pot you have, the oil should not come more than one-third of the way up the sides of the pot. Fill the pot with at least 2 inches of peanut oil and heat to 320 degrees F.

Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.

Meanwhile, combine all the coating ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer half the coating to a second large bowl. Pour the buttermilk into a third bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set up a dipping station: the chicken pieces, one bowl of coating, the bowl of buttermilk, the second bowl of coating, and the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Just before frying, dip the chicken thighs into the first bowl of coating, turning to coat and patting off the excess; dip them into the buttermilk, allowing the excess to run back into the bowl; then dip them into the second bowl of coating. Transfer to the parchment-lined pan.

Carefully lower the thighs into the hot oil. Adjust the heat as necessary to return the oil to the proper temperature. Fry for 2 minutes, then carefully move the chicken pieces around in the oil and continue to fry, monitoring the oil temperature and turning the pieces as necessary for even cooking, for 11 to 12 minutes, until the chicken is a deep golden brown, cooked through, and very crisp. Meanwhile, coat the chicken drumsticks and transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Transfer the cooked thighs to the cooling rack skin-side-up and let rest while you fry the remaining chicken. (Putting the pieces skin-side-up will allow excess fat to drain, whereas leaving them skin-side-down could trap some of the fat.) Make sure that the oil is at the correct temperature, and cook the chicken drumsticks. When the drumsticks are done, lean them meat-side-up against the thighs to drain, then sprinkle the chicken with fine sea salt.

Turn up the heat and heat the oil to 340 degees F. Meanwhile, coat the chicken breasts and wings. Carefully lower the chicken breasts into the hot oil and fry for 7 minutes, or until golden brown, cooked through, and crisp. Transfer to the rack, sprinkle with salt, and turn skin side up. Cook the wings for 6 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the wings to the rack and turn off the heat.

Arrange the chicken on a serving platter. Add the herb sprigs to the oil (which will still be hot) and let them cook and crisp for a few seconds, then arrange them over the chicken.

Note on chicken size: You may need to go to a farmers’ market to get these small chickens. Grocery store chickens often run 3 to 4 pounds. They can, of course, be used in this recipe but if chickens in the 2 1/2- to 3-pound range are available to you, they’re worth seeking out. They’re a little easier to cook properly at the temperatures we recommend here and, most important, pieces this size result in the optimal meat-to-crust proportion, which is such an important part of the pleasure of fried chicken.
Tips
Note: We let the chicken rest for 7 to 10 minutes after it comes out of the fryer so that it has a chance to cool down. If the chicken has rested for longer than 10 minutes, put the tray of chicken in a 400°F oven for a minute or two to ensure that the crust is crisp and the chicken is hot.
Serving Size
Serves 4 to 6

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Cause an UPROAR

CAUSE AN UPROAR
with National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative

It was in Tanzania, in the Serengeti, where I saw lions in the wild for the first time and I got to see one of the world’s last black rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater. At that point I realized there was no turning back... I saw with my own eyes the beauty, value, and importance of animals in the wild; in their natural habitat. To this day, I consider my African Safari the trip of a lifetime and by far and away the most rewarding one I've ever taken. Since then, I made a personal vow to take action, get involved in the cause, and participate in sharing the plight of so many species facing extinction. Here's a little information about an Initiative that IS causing an uproar and the ways you can help too.

  

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

From lions in Kenya to snow leopards in the Himalaya, the big cats of the world need help. Lionstigerscheetahsleopardsjaguars, and other top felines are quickly disappearing, all victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans.

Me & Thor, a Golden Tabby
To address this critical situation, the National Geographic Society and Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert, have launched the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports on-the-ground conservation projects, education, and economic incentive efforts and a global public-awareness campaign. “We no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to big cats,” says Dereck Joubert. “They are in such a downward spiral that if we hesitate now, we will be responsible for extinctions across the globe. If there was ever a time to take action, it is now.” You can help us make a difference.

Your donation can help save a big cat and ensure the Earth is not without these majestic creatures. Please donate today! You also can help by signing up for Big Cats Initiative updates with the Explorers Newsletter. To see how we use donations to BCI, read our 2011 Annual Donor Report.

First Step: Halting Decline of Lions and Cheetahs
Lions are dying off rapidly across Africa. These cats once ranged across the continent and into Syria, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, and even northwest India; 2,000 years ago more than a million lions roamed the Earth. Since the 1940s, when lions numbered an estimated 400,000, lion populations have blinked out across the continent. Now they may total as few as 20,000 animals. Scientists connect the drastic decreases in many cases to burgeoning human populations. The Big Cats Initiative aims to halt lion population declines by the year 2015 and to restore populations to sustainable levels.

Who’s Involved
The Big Cats Initiative is made up of conservationists led by National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Having lived and worked in some of Africa’s most remote areas for more than 25 years as authors and filmmakers, the Jouberts have embraced the cause of wildlife conservation, especially for big cats. They are active conservationists in Botswana, members of the IUCN Lion Working Group, and founding members of the Chobe Wildlife Trust and of Conservation International in Botswana. The Jouberts also work in ecotourism and on building community partnerships.

Partners and Funders Sought
National Geographic will collaborate with local and international NGOs, corporations, local community groups, and individuals to work with saving lions and ensuring the future of this multiyear initiative.

Monday, March 18, 2013

To Live In . . . UHURU !!!!


What does it mean to live in “Uhuru”? Uhuru is a Swahili word meaning independence; freedom. What exactly is freedom? Can you taste it, see it, reach out and touch it? The answer to these questions is no. However, if reflected upon, freedom can certainly be felt, not in the physical sense but by the emotion called feeling.

An exemplary story about living in Uhuru (freedom) is that of Wangari Maathai. Professor Maathai was a celebrated environmentalist, but what was equally remarkable about her was 'her open defiance of outdated, male chauvinistic, neo-colonial and repressive attitudes and traditions' that hindered not just women, but Kenya as a whole. Her memoir, aptly titled Unbowed is an autobiographical account of her desire to live in freedom and to forge new territory by living ‘unbowed’ in her convictions.

A review of ‘Unbowed’ by the American Library Association provides insight into Wangari Maathai’s extraordinary life. She was the mother of three, the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate, and the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai of Kenya understood how the good earth sustains life both as a biologist and as a Kikuyu woman who, like generations before her, grew up nourishing food in the rich soil of Kenya's central highlands. In her engrossing and eye-opening memoir, a work of tremendous dignity and rigor, Maathai described the paradise she knew as a child in the 1940s, when Kenya was a "lush, green, fertile" land of plenty, and the deforested nightmare it became. Discriminated against as a female university professor, Maathai fought hard for women's rights.


And it was women she turned to when she undertook her mission to restore Kenya's decimated forests, launching the Green Belt Movement which provided women with work planting trees. Maathai's ingenious, courageous, and tenacious activism led to arrests, beatings, and death threats, and yet she and her tree-planting followers remained unmoved and UNBOWED. As Kenya's deputy minister for the environment and natural resources, Nobel laureate, visionary, and hero, Maathai restored humankind's innate, if nearly lost, knowledge of the intrinsic connection between thriving, wisely managed ecosystems and health, justice, and peace. She epitomized what it means to live in ‘Uhuru’.

It is my belief that everyone, particularly every woman, will greatly benefit by reading Wangari Maathai’s memoir, 'Unbowed', and hopefully at the end of its pages feel inspired by the message to truly live independently in freedom or ‘Uhuru’. This is what the book has done for me. It taught me something so important about life . . . To live unbowed (or in other words unyielding) in freedom is the emotion that comes with feeling something so strongly that we are inspired to act with conviction, faith, and courage in order to triumph over whatever it is that may come our way.


To live in Uhuru is a state of independence, not dependence, which is best achieved by embracing the principles of being educated, strong, persistent, wiser, and braver than we ever thought we could be. No matter what it is you believe in or are passionate about . . . use your voice with confidence in a positive way . . . letting your unique spirit shine … that is what it truly means to embody ‘Uhuru’!

To read Wangari Maathai’s remarkable story about posessing the will to make change occur, listen, no matter where you are from, as this book and its central theme about being 'unbowed' will positively change your life. Here is the link to purchase the book on Amazon:


http://www.amazon.com/Unbowed-Memoir-Vintage-Wangari-Maathai/dp/0307275205

And one more thing . . . as a testament to Wangari Maathai’s life of living ‘unbowed’ there is a special place in the heart of Nairobi-Kenya called Uhuru Park … a green reserve amidst vast high-rise development.

So cool!