Pollo dorato Rosemary-scented, extra-crispy fried chicken
/Ingredients:
- 1,5 Kg chicken
- 300 gr flour
- 2 quarts peanut oil
For the marinade:
- 4 fresh sprigs of rosemary minced
- 10 fresh sage leaves minced- 2 cloves garlic minced
- freshly-ground black pepper 20-30
- turns pepper mill
- 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp salt
To serve:
- 1-2 lemons cut in wedges
- sprinkling of salt
Procedure:
1. Skin the chicken (optional) and cut it into small serving pieces using a heavy cleaver. Trim tips of wings. Disjoint thighs, wings, and drumsticks. Cut thighs and drumsticks in half. Split breast in half. Cut each half into 4-5 pieces. You should end up with 18-20 pieces. Place in a large bowl. If using a whole chicken keep neck, head, feet, back and innards for your stock pot.
2. Add all of the ingredients of the marinade to the chicken and rub them into the meat well. Let the chicken sit in the fridge for 4-6 hours (if you're in a hurry, just an hour).
3. Place the flour in a tray (a lot of flour will be wasted in this recipe, but to dredge the chicken pieces well you need a surplus of flour). Dredge your chicken pieces in the flour until they are well coated, then press the flour against the chicken pieces (very important if you want an extra-crispy and flaky crust).
4. Heat the peanut oil in a deep pan or fryer (I use a wok or an iron cast pot). The oil is ready when you toss a piece of dry bread into it and it starts to sizzle immediately or when your thermometer reads 350°F (180°C). Using tongs, place the chicken pieces in the hot oil. Fry it in
two to three batches so as not to clutter the chicken pieces and to prevent the oil temperature from dropping. Do not fuss with the chicken pieces, let them be (the flour could come off). You can check up on them and move them around after about 5 minutes, by that time the crust will have formed. The chicken should be ready in about 10 minutes (or less). Do not overcook the chicken or the meat will lose its moistness. Take chicken out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Fry next batch of chicken pieces.
5. Cut lemons into wedges, arrange the fried chicken pieces on a platter and serve.