Fried Buttermilk Beer Chicken Salad with Sriracha Honey Vinaigrette
If there is one type of book that I will always want in the print version, it’s a cookbook. I want to feel the pages, make my own notes, and someday pass it down to future generations. It becomes a conversation between decades, an engagement among generations, that connects people in a way that nothing other than food has the ability to do.
Maybe it’s the end of a brutal year that was illuminated by the writing of my second book, a lifeline to stability, that makes me want to defend the print cookbook. Maybe it’s the ghosts of the past that seem to haunt the holidays. Maybe it was a small moment over the weekend while standing in the middle of a book store in Portland and finding a note card written 50 years ago wedged in the middle of a antique Sunday Suppers cookbook. It doesn’t matter, I have an analog soul, I like things that I feel with my hands. I love the smell of old books. As much as I love innovation and the sexiness of new technology, my heart will always belong to what I can pass down, or what I can receive from those who have gone before me. Like old cookbooks and fried chicken recipes. Somethings are just made to be shared.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbs kosher salt
- ½ sweet white onion, sliced
- ¾ cups buttermilk
- 6 ounces pale ale
- 2 tsp sriracha
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tbs brown sugar
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- canola or peanut oil for frying
- 2 heads red leaf lettuce, chopped
- 1 large avocado, diced
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- 8 wt oz Burrata Cheese (or goat cheese)
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbs olive oil
Directions
- Arrange the chicken in an even layer in a large baking pan.
- Sprinkle evenly with kosher salt, top with sliced onions.
- In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, beer and sriracha, pour evenly over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
- In a medium sized bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, chili powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
- One at a time remove the chicken pieces, dredge in the flour mixture then gently re-dip in the buttermilk/beer marinade and recoat with the flour mixture (double coating of the flour mixture will give you a crispier chicken), set on a wire rack that has been set over a baking sheet.
- Allow the coated chicken to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200.
- Add the oil to a large pot until about 6 inches deep, heat to 350 degrees using a cooking thermometer clipped to the pan, adjust heat to maintain that temperature.
- Working in batches fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through (between 4 and 8 minutes each, depending on the thickness of the chicken)
- Once each piece is done, place on a wire rack over a baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Slice the chicken.
- In a small bowl whisk together the honey, sriracha and vinegar. While whisking vigorously, slowly add the olive oil until well combined.
- Add chopped lettuce, pomegranates, and avocado to a large bowl, toss to combine.
- Top with burrata cheese and sliced fried chicken, drizzle with dressing.
Comments
grant December 24, 2014 um 2:35 am
i love how you write! and this recipe looks fab
Jordan Armstrong December 24, 2014 um 10:42 am
I also have that same cookbook that I got from my grandmother and I have found to be very useful when I’m preparing meals for friends and family.
Maggie December 29, 2014 um 10:24 am
I am with you…books with paper pages always. This looks like something many people in my life would swoon over.
Sandy Stevenson January 6, 2015 um 5:50 am
You nailed this! Hot spicy & sweet!
I’ve made many of your recipes and have enjoyed each I’ve made (husband & coworkers Included).
Thank you