Scrumptious Street

Dee's Fried Chicken and Slaw

Last week a very dear member of my extended family passed away and in my sadness at her loss I felt that cooking her food would be the best way to honor her.  I had the chance to spend some time with her last August and while we knew it was likely our goodbye it was a great joy to see her and learn from her.  She has been one of the family's best cooks for years and I only learned last summer that she also had published a cookbook. Titled "An Angel in the Kitchen" it was a tribute to her own mother and friends who love cooking.  It's a classic community-compiled book, a real treasure in plastic-spiral-bound nostalgia.  Her signature dish is fried chicken, and no one makes it better.  Even last summer, at a family reunion with more than 12 people, while she was tired and unwell, she cranked out her chicken and we devoured it.  I discovered the recipe in her book and decided that my tribute to her would be to make her famous chicken and accompanying coleslaw.  This is "Dee's Fried Chicken and Slaw" and it's classic home-style American cooking from my grandparents' generation.  Simple, unfussy and completely soul-satisfying.

 

Here are her recipes, written the same way they are in her cookbook.

"My Best Fried Chicken"

Remove skin from chicken parts.  Place in a large bowl.  For one chicken, sprinkle 1/4 c. salt over the chicken; pour milk over chicken, enough to completely cover.  Leave set for 1 hour.  Pour off and rinse and dry.  Roll in flour.  Heat Crisco oil in heavy skillet to fry chicken.  (Stephanie's Note: I must admit -- I used canola oil, not Crisco.  Otherwise, true to the recipe.)

"My Slaw"

1 sm. head cabbage, shredded

1 red apple

1 sm. onion, chopped

1/2 carrot, shredded

1 c. mayonnaise

1/3 c. vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. milk

Place cabbage, onion and carrot in medium bowl.  Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar and milk.  Pour over cabbage; don't mix.  Cover with plastic wrap for an hour.  When ready to use, chop an apple in small pieces, add to the cabbage and stir until well mixed. (Stephanie's Note: the raw onion is very, very strong.  I used less and shredded it, but it's still very strong.  Your choice whether to use or omit but I wanted to re-create it her way.)

Though I tried my best, I simply could not re-create her chicken.  Mine was nowhere near as perfect and delicious as hers.  It is definitely her lifetime of making that chicken and the extra dash of her own love she put in when no one was watching, that made it her own special recipe. She was the perfect example of a cook who makes spectacular food by cooking with love.  We'll miss you, Dee.  You too, just like your Mother, were "An Angel in the Kitchen".

Most Amazing Roasted Whole Chicken

I have been experimenting all Winter with roasted chicken and have finally settled on what I consider the ultimate, most spectacular variation I've tried.  The recipe couldn't be simpler, but there are three things that make it truly extraordinary.  If you make sure your recipe entails all three of these, I guarantee you will love this roasted chicken.  The first secret is to find the best free-range organic whole bird you can buy.  Do not get a frozen chicken from Safeway.  Go to a specialty or gourmet market and even better, get one from a farmer or a farmer's market.  The best possible chicken itself will yield a final result that will astound you.  The next secret is the herbs.  You must use Herbes de Provence.  There are all kinds of mixes of this herb blend but make sure to use one that has plenty of lavender.  Yes, the lavender is secret number two.  And, the third secret goes along with the lavender -- it's honey.  Again, go with something unique, flowery and upscale.  Not the honey bear here.  I like Bee Raw Star Thistle honey but really just use any honey that has special depth of flavor and floral notes.In this combination, you will be amazed to discover (if you didn't know already) that lavender and poultry are made for each other as are honey and lavender.  Put them all together and you'll be completely blown away.

When making this roasted chicken, I always put lots of chopped vegetables in the pan halfway through the roasting.  Always the same methodology: I toss the vegetables with olive oil, white wine, kosher salt and black pepper and scatter them around the bird halfway through the roasting.  Use whatever you like, but make sure to include with your vegetables some more herbs, some chopped garlic and onion.  My favorite variation of vegetables includes fennel, turnips and winter squashes.  Experiment here and use whatever is in season, making sure to always have aromatics (herbs and onions), acid (wine or lemon juice), olive oil, salt and pepper.  

For the chicken, it's also incredibly simple.  Here's how I do it:

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 T. unsalted butter

1 1/2 T. Herbes de Provence (make sure it's one with lavender)

1 T. good quality floral honey

1 4 lb. whole free-range chicken

1 lemon

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 bunch thyme

4 sprigs tarragon

Vegetables, wine, herbes, onions that are in season

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Heat oven to 375˚F.  Melt the butter and herbes de provence in a small saucepan over low heat.  Remove from heat when melted and whisk the honey into the butter and herbs de provence.  Cover and let it steep for 20 minutes.

2. Remove giblets from inside chicken if they're there.  Season the chicken inside the cavity and all over the outside with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  Peel rind from the lemon using a vegetable peeler, and make long strips.  Cut the lemon in half and slice one half and leave the other save the other half for later.  Put the lemon rind, sliced lemon half, crushed garlic cloves, thyme and tarragon into the body cavity of the chicken.  Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and set the chicken on a roasting rack placed inside a roasting pan.  Brush the chicken all over with half of the herb -honey-butter.  Pour about 1 c. water into the bottom of the roasting pan, making sure not to get the chicken wet.

3. Roast the chicken uncovered for 45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.  If the pan begins to go dry, add more water.  After 45 minutes, quickly remove the chicken from the oven and scatter the vegetables you've prepared all around the bottom of the pan.  Add a little more water if the pan is completely dry.  Brush the chicken with the remaining herb-honey-butter mixture.  Place the chicken back into the oven and continue roasting another 40-45 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the internal temperature of the chicken's thigh is 165˚F.

4. Remove the chicken and set on a cutting board to rest, cover loosely with aluminum foil.  Serve the vegetables into a dish and if you'd like, make a nice sauce from the leftover juices in the pan.  After the chicken has rested about 10 minutes, carve it and gently squeeze the remaining half of the lemon over the chicken and vegetables.  Serve immediately.