Fried Chicken, GF

By MaryEllen

After brining the chicken to ensure juicy meat, testers ran a battery of gluten-free coating tests, trying cornstarch, rice flour, potato flour, potato starch, cornmeal, and corn flour.

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• ¼ cup salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• 3½ pounds bone-in chicken pieces (split breasts cut in half, drumsticks and/or thighs), trimmed
• 1 cup cornstarch, divided
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk (or milk of choice combined with
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar)
• 1 cup gluten-free cornmeal
• 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
• 1½ teaspoons paprika
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 quarts vegetable oil

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from glutenfreeandmore.com

Preparation

Step 1

Directions:

1. Whisk 1-quart cold water, salt, and sugar together in large bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Add chicken, cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Set wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and line a plate with a triple layer of paper towels.

2. Place ½ cup cornstarch in a large zip-top bag. Beat egg, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl; stir in buttermilk (mixture will bubble and foam). Whisk remaining ½ cup cornstarch, cornmeal, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt together in a shallow dish.

3. Working with half of the chicken at a time, place chicken in the bag of cornstarch, seal the bag and shake it to coat the chicken. Using tongs, remove chicken pieces from the bag, shaking off excess cornstarch. Dip it in the buttermilk mixture and then coat it with cornmeal mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Place dredged chicken on a prepared wire rack, skin side up. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, add oil to a large Dutch oven until it measures about 2 inches deep and heat over medium-high heat to 350°F. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 200°F. Carefully place half the chicken in the pot, skin side down, cover and fry, stirring occasionally to prevent pieces from sticking together, until deep golden brown, 7 to 11 minutes. Adjust burner, if necessary, to maintain oil temperature between 300 and 325°F. (After 4 minutes, check chicken pieces for even browning and rearrange if some pieces are browning faster than others.) Turn chicken pieces over and continue to cook until breast pieces register 160°F and drumsticks and/or thighs register 175°F, 6 to 8 minutes. (Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces. Remove pieces from the pot as they reach the correct temperature.) Drain chicken briefly on the paper towel-lined plate. Then transfer to a clean wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

5. Return oil to 350°F and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Breast (about 3 ounces) with skin contains 218 calories, 11g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 71mg cholesterol, 231mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate, 0g fiber, 0g sugars, 21g protein, 4Est GL.