Crispy Curry Fried Chicken

She's perky, she's pretty, she's published, she's TV-produced, she's packaged. She embodies the epitome of what the modern media has done to market cooking and the 'young lifestyle'. She's made the rounds of the 'chef shows' showing that she can hold her own, put her wedding in Tuscany 'out there' for her fans to oogle, hosted parties at an Austin-based music festival, become gossip fodder for the tabloids, coined terms that are making their way into common vernacular and the dictionary. She's fast-tracked her name to 'brand status' that can be found on magazines, cookwear, kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, and television shows. Why, of course, she's Rachael Ray.

We're moving right long on our list of 50 Women Game-Changers - One Perfect Bite's Blog Share; it's becoming a weekly tradition for me. I have learned a lot reading all the other bloggers' posts. Plus, I've gotten ideas from their photos and techniques for tablescaping and presenting their dishes ... everyone is just so unique! That's what amazes me about food blogging ... it reinforces our individuality and creativity, while showing us all the diverse ideas and people 'out there' in cyberspace. I hope you are having as much fun scoping the other contributors' websites as I am!

Let's see what's up for this week!

No apologies here ... fried food coming your way. This recipe comes from Rachael Ray's book, Look + Cook - imagine boneless chicken thighs slathered in a spicy curry yogurt, tossed in a spicy curry flour coating, and fried up in a light canola oil to a 'juicy on the inside/crispy on the outside' finish. This was a perfect meal for me to make for myself while Silent Bob is off galavanting, as I made just what I would eat with no leftovers. The rest of the chicken thighs are bagged up and waiting for another meal. It was easy, fast, and tasty - the trademark of a Rachael Ray recipe!

Rachael has made it to the list that Gourmet Live put together. She's a Game-Changer ... and she's Number #13 on a list of 100 women who have influenced the food industry. I'm sure many folks will have something to say about her placement on the list and the number at which she comes in, but I'm not going there. IMHO, she makes some damn fine food and although her snappy attitude grates on me at times, I can look past it ... anyone who comes up with a fried chicken dish like this is okay in my book.

In fact, if I had a college kid who needed a good cookbook with modern, easy, and accessible recipes, her Look + Cook would be the gift I'd choose. It's got plenty of photos that show as well as tell about procedure, it's laid out so that ingredients are all listed to the side, it has hints for increasing or decreasing recipe quantities, it's got humor and an easy reading style. It's perfect for those who may feel intimidated in the kitchen, in that it takes the stress out of cooking - no high falutin' ingredients, fancy pants terminology - just good solid instructions with a tasty outcome.

Fried food. I have it once in a while and when I do, I thoroughly enjoy it! Thanks, Rach!

A few words about the recipe - I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of bone-in chicken pieces ... so much nicer to cut into that crispy chicken rather than gnaw it off the bone (there's a pleasant image, huh?!?). If you choose to use boneless meat, watch it a bit, as it tends to cook up a bit faster. Take it out when it's golden and use the oven to finish any that is still pink in the middle. Yogurt can come in a few consistencies, so if your slather is really really thick, add just a tiny bit of milk to free it up a bit. It should be moist and gooey and not like wet concrete. Also ... a nice yogurt and mint dipping sauce would be heavenly with this chicken ... even an aioli mayonaisse would be 'yum-o'. That is, if you want to add dietary insult to injury ... as my Dad always says, 'You only live once!'

Crispy Curry Fried Chicken

a Rachael Ray recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. Madras curry powder

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. onion powder

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. celery seed

1 tbsp. grated lime zest plus 8 wedges of lime

1 c. plain Greek yogurt

8 pieces chicken (your choice - legs and thighs, boneless and skinless, whatever)

salt and pepper

2 c. flour

Vegetable, safflower, or peanut oil for frying

Making the Dish:

1. Mix the curry powder, chili powder, onion and garlic powders, poultry seasoning, and celery seed in a small bowl. Then divide it evenly between a large cake pan and a large zip-lock plastic bag.

2. Add the yogurt and lime zest to the spices in the cake pan and mix well to make a pasty slather. Clean and dry off the chicken parts, salt and pepper them, and turn them into the yogurt slather, coating them thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until 30 minutes before you would like to fry them up. Then, remove and bring them up to room temperature.

3. Place the flour in the ziplock bag with the spices and shake to mix the spices in.

4. Heat a heavy deep pan (at least 5 inches deep) with about 2½ to 3 inches of oil until the handle of a wooden spoon produces a fast show of bubbles when it is inserted into the oil (375 degrees F). 

5. When the oil is ready, shake the chicken pieces with a good coating of yogurt slather in the flour bag. 

Gently lower two pieces of chicken into the oil and fry for about 12 minutes, turning once to make sure the chicken gets golden and crisp all the way around. 

6. Meanwhile, line a platter with paper towels and warm an oven to 300°F.

7. When the chicken is golden brown, use a metal slotted spoon to gently transfer it to the paper-lined platter, place it in the warm oven and proceed to fry two more pieces. You want to only fry two pieces at a time so that the oil (when it bubbles up) does not spatter out over the edges of the pot (no kitchen fires allowed!).

8. The chicken will finish cooking in the oven while you finish frying the rest of the chicken.

9. Sprinkle the plated chicken with a bit of salt and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over the crispiness.

10. This dish went well with oven roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions. They roasted while the chicken was being fried so that everything was ready at the same time.