This is our little fried chicken recipe with a local twist!
I dreamt this recipe up recently, when Byron Bay was getting hammered by a huge storm front and I was longing for some comfort food that delivered on flavour. So with an idea formulating in my head, I braved the howling wind and rain, headed to our local butcher Trevor Mead on Jonson Street and picked up some free range chicken thighs and high tailed it back to our test kitchen along with a bunch of other ingredients for a weekend of cooking.
So what makes this fried chicken recipe different to any other? Simple its all about local produce! We’ve marinated the chicken in Stone&Wood Pacific Ale for 24 hours AND used Nimbin Valley Rice Crumbs to coat the chicken for added flavour and crunch :: Oh yeah babe!
(Photo Credit: Connie Puntoriero)
INGREDIENTS:
8 pieces of chicken thighs (skin off :: bone out)
330ml Stone&Wood Pacific Ale
1 cup flour
1 cup full cream milk
2 cups Nimbin Valley Rice Crumbs (you can use bread crumbs if you can’t get your hands on the good stuff)
2 tbs ground cumin
Brookfarm Macadamia Oil for frying
500g Greek firm set yoghurt
2 garlic cloves – chopped and crushed into a mince / puree
1/2 bunch mint – chopped
1 lime – juice only
1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
METHOD:
Overnight:
- place your chicken in a glass bowl – pour in one 330ml bottle of Stone&Wood Pacific Ale – cover in clingwrap and place in the fridge overnight or for a couple of hours if you are pushed for time
- place your yoghurt into a fine sieve colander – place the colander over a bowl (with enough room under the sieve for the excess whey to come out) – then place a sheet of baking paper over the top of the yoghurt – and place in the fridge over night
Next day:
- remove the chicken thighs from the fridge – remove the chicken from the liquid – discard the liquid
- cut each thigh into 3-4 pieces – from top to bottom i.e. not length ways – place cut chicken onto a plate
- line a second plate lined with baking paper – place 1 cup of flour into a bowl and season well with salt and pepper – dunk 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time into the seasoned flour and coat each piece of chicken well – shake off any excess flour and place the coated chicken onto a new clean plate lined with baking paper – repeat until all the chicken is coated – discard the seasoned flour mix
- place your milk into one bowl – in a second bowl place your Nimbin Valley Rice Crumbs, cumin, salt and pepper – mix rice crumbs and other ingredients well
- dunk 1 piece of chicken at a time into the milk – allow excess milk to drip off – roll in the cumin rice crumb mix patting down the crumb mixture into the chicken – ensuring each chicken piece is fully coated – place coated chicken onto a clean plate lined with baking paper – repeat process until all chicken pieces are covered – at the end discard the cumin, rice mixture along with the milk
- preheat you oven to 180 Celsius – line a baking tray with baking paper
- heat a heavy based cast iron or non stick fry pan up to high heat – add enough Brookfarm Macadamia Oil to shallow fry the chicken
- once the oil is hot – gently place the chicken thighs into the hot oil – be careful not to over fill the fry pan as it will make the coating of the chicken soggy
- fry the chicken until it is golden brown – then turn over – once golden on both sides – remove to the baking tray – continue to cook the chicken in small batches
- once all the chicken is fried – place your tray(s) of chicken in the oven to ensure they are cooked through (will take approx 8-12 mins)
- once cooked remove from the oven – season with salt and allow to cool slightly before serving
- garlic labneh: scoop out the yoghurt from the sieve (it will be really thick – but this is perfect!) – discard the whey from the bowl (or use it to marinate a shoulder of lamb) – add your lime juice, chopped mint, oil oil, salt and pepper – mix well to combine – check seasoning and adjust as required
(Photo Credit: Connie Puntoriero)
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
- simply pile up the fried chicken on a plate and serve the garlic labneh on the side – sit back and soak up the compliments coming your way!
- you can also serve this up as burritos and layer with lettuce, tomato and coriander or mint for a quick weekend lunch / dinner
- the chicken is off the hook in a fresh baguette with lettuce and the labneh of course!
- great way to move your kids from fast-food fried chicken to a healthier homemade option
- works a treat with a homemade coleslaw for added crunch
TIPS:
- don’t overcrowd the fry pan when you are frying the chicken as it will make the chicken coating soggy
- season the chicken with salt when it comes out of the oven – this will help the coating stay crunchy
- if you’d prefer not to use beer to marinate the chicken you can use a ginger ale or butter milk – soaking the chicken overnight infuses flavour and also keeps the chicken super moister and tender too YAY!
- not suitable for freezing
BIG thanks to the talented Connie Puntoriero for taking our beautiful images for this recipe. Connie has carved out a name for herself as a fashion photographer, but we think she is pretty darn awesome at taking food pics too!
(Photo Credit: Connie Puntoriero)
I’d love to see your pictures of your Taste Byron Bay recipe creations use hashtag #mytastebyronbay so we can all share the Taste Byron Bay love.
Enjoy!
T x
