Deep frying like it was nobody's business
I've lately been slightly obsessed with oil and deep fried things in general. It all started with the French fries the other day. And since I had some oil left from that procedure, I figured why not continue deep frying things that comes in my way. Chicken for example. Chicken cooked and submerged in oil always gives a nice flavor, and here it was a confit type of taste I was looking for. Let's see how I proceeded.
For chicken I'm like most other people, rice suits the best. My favorite way of preparing rice is to first panfry red onion, salt and cumin in olive-oil before tossing in the rice to cook in the mixture. Gives such a great flavor to the otherwise dull taste of solid rice. I always use basmati rice, except for this time as I had run out of it and couldn't find it in the store. Bummer. Regular white rice will do too.
Prepare some veggies. Cut green and red paprika/bell pepper, tomatoes and garlic in whatever shape you fancy.
In canola or vegetable oil, panfry veggies and garlic till soft and sweet. It should take a while. Season with salt, black pepper. Add dried or fresh basil, parsley, thyme and or whatever herbs you've got at home. And nutmeg of course. Don't be scared to use nutmeg, I add a lot to obtain the sweet and nutty flavor.
When vegetables are done, remove them from the heat and let them cool down on a plate. Now time to semi deep fry the chicken. Pour a generous amount of (canola or any vegetable) oil into the already hot pan. Toss in your separated pieces of chicken. They should almost be submerged but not completely. I've cut two large legs in smaller pieces and thus got a nice mixture of whitish meat, skin and some more greasier parts of the chicken. No bones in this one. Add salt and pepper. Make sure to mix often so the chicken pieces doesn't stick together or so that not only one side burns. If the pan is hot enough, it goes rather quickly to obtain a crispy golden hue which is what we're after. Taste in between and add more salt, pepper or why not some more herbs.
When chicken's done, lower the heat, throw in the vegetables, mix well and leave it all to simmer for a while.
Rice and stew done.
Go ahead and serve.
The mixture of deep fried chicken, the sweet peppers, tomatoes and garlic with nutmeg and herbs combined with the flavorful rice is absolutely divine. It might seem as there's a lot of grease and fat into this meal and yes it might be just so, but every once in a while it should be ok. My deep-fry obsession hasn't lessened as yet so perhaps I'll come up with another greasy dish before we go back to a more healthy sort of diet again.
