Maryland Fried Chicken

Maryland Fried Chicken
From: Taters

Taters says: "Swampy, you asked for the recipe. Mine is kind of a hybrid of one that I have in cookbooks and that I've seen on the internet."

The recipe:

Basically season some flour with paprika, salt, pepper. Mix it all up and dredge your chicken pieces in it.

Shake off the excess flour and dip in a beaten egg mixture. I add a couple tablespoons of milk to it the egg mixture (usually two eggs), more if you're making more chicken.

After dipping in the egg, roll it around in dried breadcrumbs or crushed saltine crackers that you've seasoned. I seasoned mine with thyme, old baby (OK...Taters meant Old Bay, but I have to leave the original in.:D), parsely, salt and pepper.

Next, throw in pan that you've added vegetable oil to and brought up to cooking temperature. Brown the chicken pieces for 10 minutes or so, turning to facilitate even browning. Cooking temp should be on medium to medium high.

Drain most of the drippings and fat from the pan, reserve some for later use in this recipe, put the chicken and pan back on the heat, and add a cup of milk to it. (Some people use water, and some people use chicken stock. The stock would be good too). Turn it down to a simmer, cover the pan tightly, and let it simmer for 35 minutes.

Take the lid off the pan, and let it go for another 10 minutes to firm up the crust.

Remove the chicken from the pan, cover to keep it warm. Add about three tablespoons or so from your reserved drippings to the pan. Add about two tablespoons of flour and make a roux. Next, dump in about one and two thirds cup of cream or milk and whisk. Bring it to a boil, whisking, turn it down, and let it simmer until it thickens, whisking occasionally. I cut mine down to one cup of milk and 2/3 cup of cream.

I then put a little touch of Better than Boullion chicken paste in the cream mixture, adjusted the seasonings and served.

I made mashed taters to go with the chicken.

If you look on the internet, you'll see variations telling you to use stock or water in the pan. You'll also see variations telling you to use ONE CUP OF OIL. I use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. I'm not deep frying the stuff for pete's sake.