You can not mess with my mom’s fried chicken and french fries. PERIOD. It aint happening. Don’t waste your time. Don’t get your feelings hurt. It’s consistently amazing and untouchable. Since Greg and I do not eat a lot of fried foods (I hate the smell in the house for the 3 days following, we sneak and eat more fast food than we should already and I’M TERRIFIED of popping grease, lol) he insisted that my mom make this for his birthday. So after we spent the afternoon at Zoinks (a neighborhood kids playhouse) we came home and she prepared that for us. I tried to pick her brain as much as possible because she is so modest about it and doesn’t think it’s a big deal but I’ve seen people come from great distances JUST for this meal. Here are the tips for perfect fried chicken according to Big Zina:

1. Use fresh chicken. (She buys whole chickens from Publix and have them cut it while she’s in the store)

2. Clean your chicken thoroughly. I watched her go under the thigh skin with a knife removing excess fat, and she even removed some fat from the wings. I used to think those were the one pieces I DIDN’T have to clean, lol.

3. For crispy skin, pat chicken dry before seasoning and flouring.

4. Season your meat - Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or Adobo Seasoning, or All Seasoning), Black Pepper and Garlic Salt. 

5. Toss chicken in all purpose flour, shake excess off.  

6. Use a heavy bottom pot to prevent the chicken from burning.

7. Use fresh grease. Her preference is Wesson’s Vegetable Oil.

8. There needs to be enough grease for the food to float so you can know when it’s done (She put one whole 48 oz bottle the pot). 

FOR THE FRENCH FRIES:

Same applies as far as the grease specifications.

She used 1 potato per person, and cut them fresh herself. Unbeatable taste in those fresh fries.

Season with salt immediately after removing from grease.

                                      

Dish Ingredients:
8 chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 bunch thyme
1 bay leaf

Dumpling Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tbsp baking powder
1 ½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons salted butter
1 ½ tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
1 ½ teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups onions
3 cups carrots, big chunks
3 cups ribs celery, big chunks
3 cloves finely chopped garlic

Directions:
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
In a skillet, pan fry breasts in Olive oil, remove from pan, and set aside.
In a very large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine chicken broth, thyme, and bay leaf to cover. Turn on heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. (Usually, this meal is done with a whole chicken and the chicken is cooked with the stock but since I did boneless white meat, I decided not to risk overcooking or drying out) After it cools, cut into large bite-sized pieces. Add broth from pan to dutch oven.
Discard the thyme and bay leaf.

Homemade Dumplings:
Add flour, salt and pepper, to taste, and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk together. (You should be able to see the pepper. It makes a HUGE difference in the flavor of the dumplings. ) In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, butter and herbs to a low simmer then add to the dry ingredients. Stir with a rubber spatula until combined. Using your hands, form dough into dumplings.

Reheat skillet used for chicken over medium heat and add oil. Once oil is hot, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Season veggies with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft, 7-10 minutes. Add vegetables to dutch oven. Add dumplings 1 at a time into the simmering soup. Cover pan with a lid and cook for 30 – 40 minutes. Add chicken to soup (just to reheat) and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste, if necessary. Garnish with parsley flakes.

Note: I’ve done this once with skinless chicken thighs (at the request of my diners) and I recommend baking it rather than poaching it. It retained that good juiciness that only the pleasure of thick thighs can give you. : )