Recipe: KFC Copy Cat Chicken

Scott's mom got a book with copy cat recipes of restaurant foods (Top Secret Recipes Step By Step by Todd Wilbur).  Scott decided to borrow it, and we took a day over Christmas break to go grocery shopping to pick up the odds and ends we would need to try some of our restaurant favorites!

The first recipe we decided to tackle was KFC's Original Recipe Fried Chicken.

There were four ingredients that we changed.  Two of the spices the book listed, we couldn't find in our local grocery stores.  The recipe also calls for MSG and suggests Accent seasoning, which is what we used.  Since we couldn't completely adhere to the recipe from the book, we decided to go ahead and use gluten free flour (Scott is supposed to avoid gluten) instead of regular all-purpose flour.  So here's how we made it!

(Don't let the huge list of ingredients scare you.  This was actually really easy to make....)

Ingredients

• 8 chicken legs*
• 5 Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts*

*The original recipe also called for a whole roaster chicken cut into 8 pieces.  We used the chicken that we had on hand.  We had more than 8 pieces total, and we had more than enough breading, dredge, and brine.

Brine

• 1/2 c. salt
• 1 T Accent Seasoning
• 8 c. water

Breading

• 1 3/4 c. Krustez Gluten Free Flour
• 1 T. plus 1 tsp. salt
• 1 T. Accent Seasoning
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper corns
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground marjoram
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

Dredge

• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups skim milk

1. Make the brine by dissolving salt and Accent seasoning in the water.  Add the chicken pieces and marinate for 3 hours.  Remove chicken from the brine, rinse with water, and blot dry.
2. Heat oil in the deep fryer to 300* F.
3. To make the breading, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the milk.
5. Dip each piece of chicken in the dredge and then put into the breading.  Toss the chicken pieces to coat completely.  Toss a few times to ensure good coating.  When the oil is ready, shake off the excess breading and add to the fryer two pieces at a time (or more if your fryer can hold more.  I made ours two at a time.).  

6. Fry for 16-20 minutes (16 worked for me) or until the chicken is golden brown.  Drain chicken on a rack for 5 minutes before serving.

Those are breading crumbs in my sink.  I promise my sink is not actually gross...

**You can keep chicken pieces warm in a 220* oven until all pieces are ready to serve.

I made corn and mashed potatoes to serve with our chicken since that's what I would eat as sides at KFC! :)

Maple Grilled Chicken with Rice

I actually have a recipe to share with you all today!  Quite some time ago, my mother-in-law gave us a cook book with meals that have 5 ingredients or less.  Despite how easy that sounds, I've had yet to use it.  One of my big things in regard to cooking is that I go a little crazy when a recipe calls for ingredients that I don't have on hand.

Since I pretty much fail at meal planning, this happens a lot.

Even this 5 ingredient cook book has recipes with stuff that I just don't keep "in stock."  That's not to say that they're obscure ingredients or anything--just things I don't happen to have.

Fortunately, that did not happen this time.

I've gotten the idea in my head that I need to start marinating chicken before cooking it.  I love chicken, but I would say that 98% of the time when I cook it on my own, I just don't care for it.  While this recipe doesn't specifically ask you to marinate the chicken, I decided to do it anyway.  (And this one only has 4 ingredients!)

Maple Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. maple syrup*
• 1/2 c. barbecue sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
• 4 chicken breast halves

*I had this little container of maple syrup from a fall-themed  bridal shower.  It was probably only about a 1/4 c. so I used regular old Mrs. Butterworth's syrup to make up the difference.

1. Mix marinade in a container.

2. Split chicken breasts in half with a sharp knife.

3. Place chicken breast into a bag, and pour in the marinade.  Reserve about a 1/2 cup for basting during cooking.  (This is  your preference.  I saved less than a 1/2 c.)  Toss around in the bag to coat the chicken.

4. Refrigerate the chicken and extra sauce for 3-24 hours.

5. Grill for 6 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.  (I cooked ours on our George Forman grill.)  Half-way through grilling, add some of the remaining marinade to the chicken.

I decided to make rice to go along with this.  We have white minute rice here, but white rice alone is just so...blah.  I Googled some recipes, and sort of pieced ideas to come up with this:

Not-So-Boring White Rice
Ingredients

• 1 c. dry minute rice*
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1/4-1/3 c. chopped onion
• 3 T butter, divided
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & pepper, to taste

*The rice I use is equal parts rice to liquid.  So if I'm making 1 cup of rice, I need 1 cup of liquid, etc. etc.

1. Add water and chicken broth to a pan, and bring to a boil.  Add rice, stir, cover, and remove from heat for 5 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.

2. Meanwhile, in a larger sauce pan, add 2 T. of butter, and melt over low heat.  When it is melted, add the onion and garlic powder, and saute.

3. Add in the rice, remaining T of butter, salt, and pepper.*  Stir until heated through.

*I added a little more chicken broth at this time, too.  Just to keep the rice from burning to the bottom of the pan.

Verdict?

I REALLY enjoyed the rice.  I think next time, I'd like to add something green...like frozen peas.  I think this would make it look pretty, but add even more interest.

I liked the sauce on the chicken.  I can't decide if I just really only like chicken that's breaded and bad for me, or if I just don't care for the kind of chicken we get.  I typically prefer chicken breast, but this didn't taste any better to me than the last time I made a chicken recipe using chicken thighs.

Does anyone else have issues with chicken??

I know red meat isn't "as good" for you, but it seems that these days I prefer beef to chicken.  I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if you give either of these recipes a try, let me know!! :)