PHIL'S NORTHERN FRIED CHICKEN
No, we don't
lick our fingers up here...that's disgusting!
But the chicken's good anyway!
Here's a recipe for an all-American Sunday dinner treat. Why
"Northern fried chicken"?
I was born in New Jersey and have never lived anywhere south of
New Jersey or Pennsylvania. That makes me a dyed-in-the-wool
Yankee.
COATING MIX
1 cup flour
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Bell's Seasoningâ
1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
1 chicken, cut up, with the skin removed
2-3 eggs
Sufficient cooking oil to deep-fry the chicken.
Place the oil into a large saucepan and preheat. Break the eggs into a medium bowl and beat them thoroughly. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces and dip them into the beaten eggs, then roll the pieces in the bowl of coating mix, coating them thoroughly. Although the skin tastes good on fried chicken, the coating will stick better if the skin is removed. Drop the pieces of chicken into the hot oil, cover the saucepan, and cook them until the coating is a rich, golden brown. Approximate cooking time is 15 minutes at medium heat.
For an all-American summertime side dish, get several ears of sweet corn. Break off any remaining stem at the end of the ears, pull off the brown part of the silk, and remove the outermost part of the husk. Rinse the ears and place them into a microwave oven. Cook them for 5 minutes at high power (7-8 minutes for three or more ears). Cooking the corn in its husk seals in all of the flavor and preserves the vitamins. Wait several minutes before removing the remaining husk...the corn will be very hot. Season with butter and salt to taste, or try the corn unseasoned. Cooked in its husk, the corn tastes good even without seasonings.
If you use corn that was picked at the end of the season (September in New Jersey and Pennsylvania), be sure to check the corn for insect larvae by peeling back about 2 inches of the husk. Late-season corn is often infested with corn earworms, which are small caterpillars that eat the kernels near the silk end of the ear. If any are found and they did not tunnel too far into the ear, just cut off and discard the bad part, rinse the ear, wrap it in the remaining husk, and cook it.
I am aware that people in some countries, especially France, look askance at us Americans for eating corn on the cob, as that is what they feed their livestock. Don't knock it until you've tried it! At least most Americans don't eat snails, nor do we eat cheese that smells like dirty feet!
â Bell's Seasoning is a registered trademark of the William G. Bell Company, East Weymouth, MA