Lower the heat slightly, take off the cover, and use tongs to turn over the chicken gently. Fry it uncovered for another 17 minutes.
Remove the chicken with the tongs—it will be a deep, rich brown—and lay it on the paper sack to drain.
Serve the chicken hot with Prime-Time Mashed Potatoes ([>]) and Classic Cream Gravy ([>]) made with the pan drippings.
Variation: Among all the possible variations on fried chicken, we're partial to the jalapeño-garlic version we enjoyed a few years ago at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Just add to the buttermilk a couple of minced pickled jalapeños with 1 or 2 tablespoons of their pickling liquid and a half-dozen garlic cloves. Serve the chicken with pickled jalapeño slices.
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Pilgrim's Pride grew from a feed-store in Pittsburg, Texas, to one of the nation's largest chicken producers. Owner "Bo" Pilgrim still lives close to the headquarters in a multimillion-dollar mansion locals call "Cluckingham Palace."
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Technique Tips
Fried chicken deserves perfection. These half-dozen hints help you get there.
Avoid supermarket-style mass-produced poultry parts. Find yourself a good meat market that takes pride in its chickens, and have it cut up a whole chicken for you. Or do it yourself.
Always use a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet at least 10 inches in diameter. Never substitute anything with an electric cord or a decorator color.
Soaking the chicken adds moisture to the meat. Don't skimp on the soaking time.
Yes, you have to use Crisco and bacon drippings. They make a big difference in taste and texture. If you follow our instructions carefully, though, the chicken will absorb little of the fat it's fried in.
Never cook the chicken in more than ½ inch of oil or you will deep-fry it, even if you're using a skillet. Deep-fried chicken does not have the proper balance of crispy exterior and juicy interior.
Do not reheat fried chicken. Any leftovers are better cold.
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Chicken and Dumplings
When Huey P. Long, the Louisiana politico, promised Depression-era voters a chicken in every pot, people on both sides of the Sabine River drooled over the idea of chicken and dumplings. This was Sunday Dinner Number 2 then, a close second to fried chicken, and even preferable if you had an old bird—like any of Huey's—that was too tough for the skillet.
CHICKEN
1 stewing chicken, about 5 pounds, cut up
About 8 cups unsalted chicken stock
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
½ teaspoon mace or a pinch of nutmeg
DUMPLINGS
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
⅔ cup milk
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
½ teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
Chopped parsley, for garnish
Serves 6 to 8
Place the chicken in a stockpot, and pour in enough stock just to cover it. Add the rest of the chicken ingredients, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook about 1 hour.
With a slotted spoon, remove the breasts to a plate, and continue simmering for another 30 minutes. Remove the remaining chicken, setting it aside with the breasts, and reserve the broth.
When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat, and discard the skin and bones. Transfer the chicken to a large serving dish, and keep it warm.
While the chicken is cooking, mix up the dumpling batter. Some Texas recipes make noodle-style dumplings in strips, but we prefer the fluffy biscuit-like option. Sift the flour together with the baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, and combine lightly. Don't overmix. For lighter dumplings, let the batter sit at least 10 minutes, and up to an hour, before using it.
About twenty minutes before you plan to eat, bring the broth to a boil. Drop the batter into the broth by tablespoons. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook the dumplings 15 minutes.
Spoon the dumplings and the thickened mixture of broth and vegetables over the chicken, top with parsley, and serve immediately.
Variation: Maybe only in Texas would a cook think of this. For fast dumplings, cut flour tortillas into small wedges, and cook them in the broth for several minutes until they are soft. Few friends will guess what you've done—unless, of course, they do it, too.
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Allen's Family-Style Meals in Sweetwater serves the best six-dollar meal in Texas and maybe the world. The Allens have been frying chicken for the public since the 1940s, and today they bring it to their communal tables with brimming bowls of serve-yourself vegetables, breads, and desserts. On our last visit, there were a dozen down-home vegetables to sample, but the fried chicken was still the star. In Road-food, roving writers Jane and Michael Stern describe it as "sheathed in a lovely, crackling-crisp crust, juicy and loaded with flavor inside, a perfect blend of spice, crunch, juice, and balmy bird savor." That's the idea, sure enough.
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The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, who operate the Alamo, supplied this bit of turn-of-the-century advice on tenderizing chicken: "In cooking tough fowl or meat, one tablespoon of vinegar in the water will save nearly two hours of boiling."
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King Ranch Chicken Casserole
The origin of this dish and its connection to the King Ranch are mysteries, but it is the Lone Star of casseroles, well known and loved all over the state.
SAUCE
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon ground dried red chile, preferably ancho or New Mexican
Pinch of ground cumin
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsalted chicken stock
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons sour cream
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
FILLING
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ medium onion, chopped
½ medium green bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup chopped roasted green chile, preferably New Mexican or poblano, fresh or frozen
6 ounces mushrooms, chopped fine
½ cup diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons pimientos
Oil for frying, preferably canola or corn
8 corn tortillas
2
to
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken (smoked chicken is especially flavorful)
1½ cups grated mild cheddar cheese
¼ cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
¼ cup sliced green onions
Serves 6
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a large baking dish.
In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the garlic, chile, and cumin, and saute 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, and stir. Pour the chicken stock and milk into the skillet slowly, stirring continuously to avoid lumps. Simmer the sauce about 3 minutes, or until it has thickened. Stir in the sour cream, salt, and pepper. Reserve the sauce. (It can be made ahead and refrigerated.)
Prepare the filling: Melt the butter in a skillet. Add all the filling ingredients, and sauté until they are softened and well combined. Reserve the filling.
Heat about ½ inch of the oil in a small skillet. With a pair of tongs, dunk the tortillas, a couple at a time, in the oil for a few seconds, just long enough to soften them. If you have made your own fresh tortillas ([>]), this step can be eliminated.
In the baking dish, layer half of the tortillas and the chicken, a third of the sauce, and one-half each of the filling, cheese, green olives, and green onions.
Spoon on another third of the sauce, and then repeat the layering with the remaining ingredients, ending with the rest of the sauce. Bake the casserole 30 minutes, until it is heated through and bubbly.
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The King Ranch is known for almost everything except chicken. It's the largest spread in Texas today—though less than a third the size of the XIT at its peak—and runs some sixty thousand head of cattle, mostly Santa Gertrudis, a beefy breed the ranch developed to replace stringy longhorns. You would think the land and cattle would produce ample income, but the owners were deep in debt until they discovered oil in the 1940s. Now thousands of oil and gas wells keep them comfortable down on the ranch.
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Both-Ways Chicken Gumbo
Gumbo sailed down the gulf from New Orleans to galveston and Houston on the earliest ships that plied those waters. Most recipes call for either okra or filé powder to aid in thickening, hut this version benefits from the flavors of both.
1 2½- to 3-pound chicken, or 2½ to 3 pounds chicken parts
4 cups unsalted chicken stock
½ pound andouille or other hot, smoky sausage
About 3 tablespoons oil, preferably canola or corn
¼ cup all-purpose flour or prebrowned flour (see Technique Tip)
1 cup sliced okra, fresh or frozen
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14½-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained
1 cup V-8 juice
½ cup sliced green onions
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
¾ teaspoon dried thyme
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon filé powder
Several splashes Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
Serves 6 to 8
Place the chicken in a large saucepan with the stock. Bring the stock to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 45 to 60 minutes. Remove the chicken from the stock, and reserve both.
When the chicken has cooled enough to handle, shred it, and transfer it to a plate or bowl.
Brown the sausage in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-low heat. With a slotted spoon, remove it from the pot, leaving the rendered fat, and add the sausage to the reserved chicken. Refrigerate the chicken and sausage.
Eyeball the amount of fat remaining in the skillet, and add enough oil to bring it up to about ¼ cup. Warm the oil and meat drippings over medium-high heat. Add the flour, and stir constantly until a medium-brown roux forms. The time will depend on whether you use uncooked or browned flour.
When the roux has reached the right shade, turn off the heat. Quickly stir in the okra, onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. When the sizzling stops, slowly pour in the reserved chicken stock, stirring to combine. Add the tomatoes, V-8 juice, green onions, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, salt, peppers, and cayenne, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer the gumbo about 45 minutes. Stir in the chicken, sausage, and filé powder. Heat through, and taste, adjusting the seasoning or adding a bit of Tabasco for a little more kick. Serve the gumbo hot over rice, in bowls.
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Technique Tip
Many Cajun and Creole dishes require a roux, a flour-and-fat base. Joe Cahn, the indomitable founder of the New Orleans School of Cooking, teaches a little trick to speed up the process of making a roux. Spoon some all-purpose flour into a baking pan, place it in a moderate oven (about 350° F), and bake it for a couple of hours, stirring it once or twice as it cooks. The flour will turn a deep golden brown. It will keep indefinitely if it is stored in a tightly covered jar. Substitute it for uncooked flour when you start a roux.
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Chicken Spaghetti
During the Depression, meat was hard to afford, and during World War II, it was seldom available, even in Texas. Most of the substitute dishes disappeared when the hard times did, but this combination of chicken and spaghetti remained popular in the state. It made Texas cookbooks by 1949 and has continued to get good press ever since.
12 ounces cooked spaghetti, still warm
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup minced mushrooms (about 10 to 12 medium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder, preferably homemade ([>]) or Gebhardt's
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1½ cups beer or unsalted chicken stock
3 ripe tomatoes, preferably roma or another Italian plum variety
¼ cup chili sauce, preferably homemade ([>])
¾ cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
½ cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
2 cups grated medium cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
Serves 6
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a large baking dish. In a bowl, toss the spaghetti with the butter, and set it aside.
Warm the bacon drippings in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder together until the vegetables are well softened, about 15 minutes; cover the skillet if the mixture appears to be getting dry. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring to incorporate it, and add the beer or stock, the tomatoes, and the chili sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook the sauce for 30 minutes, until it has thickened slightly and reduced a bit. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the half-and-half and parsley. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti, and toss well.
Layer half the spaghetti-and-sauce mixture in the baking dish. Top with half each of the chicken, olives, and cheese. Add the other half of the spaghetti, and top with the remaining chicken, olives, and cheese. (The casserole can be assembled ahead to this point, covered, and refrigerated overnight. Remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking it.)
Bake the casserole 25 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the sauce bubbles heartily around the edges. Serve the casserole hot.
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West Texas bumper sticker: "Support Beef. Run Over A Chicken."
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The demand for pesticide- and drug-free products led A. M. "Buddy" Lindeman and his son David to start raising Buddy's Natural Chickens. In south central Texas, near Gonzales, the Lindemans nourish their healthy chicks to maturity in airy houses with space to roam, without using growth stimulants or antibiotics. While some companies take pride in their high-tech processing plants, the Lindemans are equally enthusiastic about their unautomated facility, which assures greater quality control and minimizes the chance of salmonella contamination. Call 210-379-8782 for information on stores that stock the chickens.
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Traditionally, in much of Texas, the only meals as big as Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were on days the preacher came to call. Everyone washed up well and put on their Sunday best. Mom brought out a scrubbed and ironed white tablecloth and real glasses to replace the usual jelly jars. You chased down a couple of chickens, wrung their necks, and fried them fresh, to serve with plenty of potatoes, cream gravy, hot biscuits, and probably a gooey cobbler. Since the preacher ate like this regularly, dad always left the table wondering how he had missed his true vocation.
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Peanut-Roasted Chicken
This idea goes back to Virginia, where many future Texas families settled first, and features one of the Lone Star State's favorite legumes. Taking the trouble to rotate and baste the bird rewa
rds you with juicy meat and a crispy skin.
1 3- to 3½-pound chicken
1 tablespoon roasted peanut oil
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
½ medium onion, sliced
½ cup raw peanuts
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
20 garlic cloves, unpeeled
½ cup white wine or additional unsalted chicken stock
Serves 3
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Grease the rack of a small roasting pan.
Slip your fingers under the chicken's skin, and loosen it, being careful not to tear it. Massage the oil into the flesh and inside the cavity. Rub the butter over the chicken's skin. Salt and pepper the chicken generously inside and out. Fill the cavity with the onion and ¼ cup of the peanuts.
Place the chicken on the rack in the roasting pan, breast up, and roast it for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken on one side, add the garlic cloves to the pan, and baste the chicken with a little stock. Reduce the heat to 350° F and cook the bird 15 minutes more. Turn the chicken on its other side, add the remaining ¼ cup of peanuts to the pan, and baste again. Cook 15 minutes longer, and turn the bird back-side up. Pour the wine or additional stock over it, and roast it for another 15 minutes. Turn the chicken breast up again, and baste it with the pan juices and a little more stock. After 15 more minutes, the chicken should be golden brown with a crispy skin. The total cooking time is 1¼ hours.
Texas Home Cooking Page 20