CRISPY CORNMEAL CHICKEN WITH BLACKBERRY SAUCE..
One of the best food tradtitions, one of so many, that came out of the American South is that of breading fish,
seafood, or poultry in a mix of flour and Corn meal with seasonings. Fry that in peanut oil or lard and you have
a taste of the Ol'South. Ever think about what you are going to cook and base it on a craving you had during the
day? If you say no you are missing out..really..big time. The best meals are made with a mix of recipe know-
ledge and a craving for something in particular. Another great Southern tradition is to pair fried items with a
sweet syrup, sauce, or honey. If you ever are fortunate enough to visit the Babe's Chicken House in the
Dallas-Ft.Worth area of Texas, (the one in Roanoake is my favorite) you will be served biscuits with molasses.
Some places serve fried chicken with honey (a favorite combo of mine, infact, if you mix a little Sriracha or other
favorite hot pepper sauce with the honey you will really love the flavor)..another pairing of the crisp, the soft,
the salty and the sweet all in the same dish. Watch any food show on right now, especially the ones where there
are panels of Celebrity judges and you will invariably hear them extol the dishes that are full of all the taste
sensations, salty, sweet..sour..full of textures. Those seem to be the dishes that always get the highest marks.
Well, here's one that is as basic as it comes in execution and ingredients...and a sweet, slightly acidic (start
counting how many times the competitive cooking shows have judges calling for more or less acid in the food
to counterbalance the sweetness or richness of a dish, you will LOL because it really seems overdone, but
it must be the term du jour) bite to it in the sauce.
Ever go to a Southern Shrimp house? Where they sell only buckets of Fried Shrimp, sometimes caught
locally? The breading is usually a dusting of flour and cornmeal with a little seasoning in the mix. Delicious and
simple. Here we will make chicken strips (boneless breast) and season the cornmeal mix with a little cayenne and
black pepper, some salt, granulated garlic, paprika, ground thyme. A nice mix.
Mix 1 cup of ground cornmeal, 1/2 cupunbleached all purpose flour, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp. ground thyme, 1/2 tsp.
ground sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic (not powder, granulated!). Reserve. Cut into 2 inch strips 2 lbs
of trimmed boneless chicken breast. Dredge in seasoned flour. Then dip into a bowl of 4 beaten eggs, 1/8 cup of
heavy cream or buttermilk, let excess drip off, then into the cornmeal mixture, coating well on all sides. Finish
breading all the chicken and cover and place into the fridge for 10 minutes. While the chicken is chillin (couldn't
help myself there, sorry...lol) in a deep heavy cast iron or heavy skillet, heat 1 inch of Peanut Oil (or lard, don't
flinch, are you eating lard regularly...? 10 strips of bacon every hour? the key to being able to indulge in foods the
way they are cooked at their finest is to balance your life's eating. After a big weekend of parties and eating, you
may want to skip making this. Reserve it for when you really are craving something like this. You don't eat it
everyday...do you? do you??? I'm talking pure lard btw, not the hydrogenated block which has an unbelievably
long shelf life..for the love of all that is good to eat...nothing that you eat should ever last that long...the peanut oil
just seems to have the right balance of everything for me, ok..if you want, use a vegetable oil. ) Just as the oil
starts to give off heat, keep the flame at medium high...fry off each piece..this is a trial and error procedure. I can
give you all sorts of times, etc but I'm not regulating your stove. I will tell you, that if your chicken browns too
fast, your heat is too high. Figure about 8 minutes per side if your strips are no thicken than 1/4 inch. Keep them
to that size, uniformity is good.
Drain on paper towels,do not stack, you'll steam that good coating right off the strips...Loosely cover with foil, not plastic wrap..that will
make the strips sweat (ewe) and get soggy.
This will make enough for 4-6 people.
For the blackberry sauce, we can get very James Beard House on you, but simple is good here...buy a good jar of
seedless blackberry preserves, organic is best for flavor. Non-organic is also good. Am I confusing you? Sorry again.
Slowly head 1/8 cup of the preserves in a non stick sauce pan and let it liquefy. When it's smooth and pourable,
squeeze in the juice of one fresh lime. Here's the acid part. Whisk in . Serve the chicken strips with a drizzle of this
sauce over them. Or you can dunk them in with the sauce served on the side. My preference, and only mine, is the
drizzle..the blackberry is a strong flavor, but goes well with the cornmeal breading. Garnish with fresh thyme!
Serve with a plain steam green vegetable, like broccoli.
Enjoy your crispy strips and save room for Lemon Merengue Pie or a tall layer cake and fruit for dessert later on!
Wow - does that ever sound great. Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
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