Food Fix: Gluten-Free Southern Fried Chicken

Sep 30, 2015
3 min read

I'm not a big fried chicken fan. Well, let me clarify, I luvs me some wings, hot, teriyaki, etc. but deep fried dark meat like legs and thighs aren't on my menu. Well, I had some chicken legs left over from making chicken cacciatore for my son and I had to do SOMETHING with them....so I diverged from my usual food choices and thought, why not fry them? I pondered that I hadn't fried chicken [other than wings - remember] for umm... maybe a few years.

Well these were a nice lookin' bunch of legs and I had plenty of oil and seasonings, so I went for it. I thought I'd surprise my daughter. Little did I know how surprised she'd be.

What You'll Need

1-2 lbs Fresh Natural Chicken [all-natural, free range, or halal if you can find it or afford it]

coarse sea salt [for cleaning]

fine - medium sea salt

natural poultry seasoning

onion powder [not onion salt]

garlic powder

allspice [substitute black pepper]

Aunt Fannie's Seasoning an [alternative for easy short cut - one stop seasoning]

cayenne and/or chili powder [for spicy]

Sunflower or coconut oil

corm flour [Maseca is a good brand]

medium to large frying pan or deep fryer

unbleached coffee filters

and

a good appetite...

After a good cleaning of the chicken. These pieces weren't of the slimy variety, but if you have some that are, try rubbing some coarse sea salt, then rinsing. Instead of crisco, lard, soybean, or canola, choose the healthier alternative with sunflower oil. No cholesterol and it is high in Vitamin E (great for the skin inside and out). If you're pan frying, instead of deep frying, make sure to put enough oil to cover your legs or thighs [or wings]. I wouldn't recommed frying full breasts in a shallow frying pan, though I always grill the boneless skinless variety in a stove top pan. For a gluten-free fried chicken coating, try corn flour like the latin masa meant for tortillas, tamales and other latin staples. It is lightweight and works well for frying. It has a consistency likened to regular old white flour, but without the grittiness of cornmeal. It's very economical also. I used to mix rice flour in with corn flour, half and half, but evry time i would run out of the rice flour and still have corn flour left. Eventually I have found myself weaning off the rice flour, though it is still mandatory for staples like pancakes or any bread-like recipes. I use corn flour to fry shrimp, oysters, fish, etc. Maseca is one of the brands I have in my pantry.

So you can season up your chicken with a little sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning. Depending on your level of spiciness, you may want the cayenne, we don't touch black pepper, that's a digestive nightmare. Allspice is what I've been using as a pepper substitute for quite a while now. Of course if you have guests that like it hot, have some hot sauce out for them or some banana peppers as garnish.

I believe I gave each batch about 15 minutes give or take in the pan. Always practice safety first in the kitchen especially when cooking with hot oil, and especially with kids and/or pets around. Your first batch will take a few minutes than your second or third, because once the pan has been cooking awhile, the pressure inside the pan has built up, as well as the heat. Set your timer and just watch them. Have your plate with paper or my favorite - coffee filters, to allow the chicken to drain.

So when my 'fried chicken surprise' for my daughter was ready, I called her down. She's like "Huh, Um tha smells good. What is that?". It was so funny. She didn't have any idea what it was. She knows and loves wings and many other chicken dishes and I remember I did slip up and pick up a chicken bucket maybe a year ago, but she really didn't know what regular fried chicken was. That shows you how rare we eat it, but we were glad for this little summer's end reprise. We added a salad of spinach, tomato, onion, and italian seasonings to complement - ah neutralize some of the oil and calories. I promised myself I 'd start a diet as penance but nah, not yet.