SUNDAY'S BEST CHICKEN

“I’ll just get us a bucket of Kentucky Fried.” That’s what I told Kyle one day at the diner.

Sunday mornings started at 4 am at the diner.  We had a nice breakfast crowd on Sundays but that was not what dragged me out of bed so early, good weather or bad.  It was that chicken!  Baked chicken.  Those people loved it.  Except Kyle and me.  

Our opinion of baked chicken ran low, but he concurred with me that the Colonel was onto something!  Now, I can fry a pretty top notch pan of chicken.  But it is no easy feat to accomplish and to do it on a large scale is rather, well scary, unless you are in the chicken frying business. That is a lot of Crisco melted at 375 degrees. I soak or brine most of the chicken that I fry or bake. Fried chicken goes into the buttermilk (don’t say yuck, you can’t taste it after it’s fried, it only serves to make it juicy - think Southern). You flour and season it once and let it stand, then flour it again and give it time to make a nice breading before you send it into a pool of quality liquefied “fat” to crisp and pop and sizzle.  The breasts cook quicker than the thighs and you have to watch the wing tips. No doubt it is worth it for family and friends, but to feed a room full of hungry folks fresh out of Sunday worship services, it is just far too tedious and time consuming. Besides, they liked the baked stuffed better anyway with homemade mashed potatoes, noodles in chicken gravy and “cooked to death” green beans studded with bits of ham or bacon. Every Sunday.

So on that particular Saturday morning when my regular customers came in to eat before 8 am, I asked Kyle if he was bringing his wife for lunch the next day.

“What are you having,” was always his question.  “Baked chicken,” was always the first answer. “I don’t like baked chicken,” he would respond with his nose and face twisted into a semi-sneer. “I’ll just get us a bucket of Kentucky Fried,” I challenged. “I’m serious. If you bring her tomorrow, I will get Kentucky Fried for you and me.”

And I did.  I put potatoes and noodles on his plate and regaled it with two pieces of the Colonel’s original recipe.  I had more in the kitchen for myself when serving was over and that was a treat. Best Sunday chicken I had the whole time I worked there!

Now it’s not that I am saying the baked chicken isn’t good, my tastes just run more toward fried. It is one of the best baked chickens I have tasted. Preparation is really not that hard and if you preplan and have time for the baking, anyone can do it.  Here is the Sunday Baked Chicken recipe.

Sunday Baked Chicken

6 to 8 chicken pieces (leg quarters or breasts)
1 gallon warm water

1 cup kosher salt or ¾ cup table salt

1 lemon

1 or 2 fresh thyme sprigs or 1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon peppercorns (use the cheap kind, we aren’t grinding them)

¼ cup butter (1/2 stick), melted

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

The night before you are cooking - Stir to dissolve salt in warm water. Cut lemon into 4 wedges, squeeze into water and drop the skin in too. Add thyme and peppercorns.  Place chicken into 2 one gallon zip lock bags. Place in a bowl or container upright with tops open.  Add enough water to cover chicken and seal. Place bowl in refrigerator overnight.

When cooking - Preheat oven to 350°.  Remove chicken from bags, discard water and pat chicken dry with paper towels. Spray a 9 x 12 inch baking sheet with cooking oil or line with aluminum foil. Arrange chicken into pan skin side up.  Brush chicken with melted butter. Sprinkle each piece with seasoning, garlic and salt and pepper (it’s not an exact science, don’t be scared).  Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 1 ½ hours. Uncover chicken and bake an additional 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

*You may want to make a couple extra pieces because the leftovers make the best chicken salad (more on that another time) or chicken sandwiches.

*If you don’t have peppercorns, shake some pepper into the water, no problem.  If you don’t have Italian seasoning, use a combo of oregano and basil.

*You can make a really nice Rosemary chicken by replacing the thyme in the brine with rosemary, fresh or dried, and placing a few sprigs of fresh into the baking pan before cooking. That’s really yummy with quartered redskin potatoes brushed with olive oil and tossed in garlic, salt and pepper then roasted in the oven. If you like that idea, you can get a bag of those baby pearl onions and maybe some little carrots, season and toss them right in with the potatoes and roast too! Put them in about 45 minutes before the chicken is done and check after about a half hour.