Sponsored by Kitchen Studio of Monterey Peninsula
VIDEO: Scores of Test Tastes Later, Fried Chicken Nights Finally Here
December 6, 2012
After brining, sizzling, pressure frying and dipping through 75 different types of fried chicken, dozens of sauces and literally months of prep for his Fried Chicken Nights at Restaurant 1833 (643-1833), Levi Mezick got a phone call.
It came after word emerged FCNs would start 6-9:30pm Sunday of this week.
“You ready for the moment of truth?” I asked.
“We’ve learned the truth,” he said quickly. “Now we just gotta make some chicken.”
The truth he found:
Brine the bird 12 hours with cilantro, honey, salt, water, coriander, bay leaf, garlic.
Soak in buttermilk for 12 more.
Poach in duck fat with aromatic bay leaf, rosemary, thyme and peppercorn.
Dab in buttermilk again and dust with herb-garlic-onion-parsley-chives-cayenne flour.
Then fry in fresh canola oil.
If there's a better fried chicken recipe—and, vitally, the chef to execute it—I'm open to trying it. Don't think you'll find Thomas Keller doing the poultry at Ad Hoc, however.
The very-shareable portions of a half a chicken (leg, thigh, wing and breast) plus corn bread and bacon butter will run $24. The bacon butter, BTW, is absurd indulgence in a classy ramekin—might be worth $5 or $10 for a shot of that on its own.
And Sunday service will be full of religious experience.
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