Lard Fried Chicken

My family and I live on a pig farm where we raise and sell pasture-raised pork so you can probably guess what I fry my chicken in. 

That's right - lard.

Pork fat comes in an abundance around here and so I always have plenty of lard for cooking and frying. Lard has a high smoke point, which means it doesn't oxidize and create harmful radicals. It also creates the perfect crisp!

I've got another trick I like to use as well whenever I'm making fried chicken. Have you ever marinated your chicken in pickle juice? After trying this recipe you won't want to stop!

 

Ingredients:

- 4-5 lbs boneless chicken breast or tenders

- 3 cups pickle juice (dill or sweet, it doesn't matter)

- 2 eggs

- 2 cups milk

- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

- 2 tbsp powdered sugar

- 2 tsp paprika

- 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (up to 4 tsp if you like it spicy)

- 3 tsp salt

- 2 tsp black pepper

- lard for frying

 

Instructions:

1. If using chicken breasts, cut breasts into nugget or tender size pieces. Some chicken breasts don't come with the skin on but if yours do, remove the skin before cutting the breasts into the smaller pieces. 

2. Combine the chicken and the 3 cups of pickle juice in a bowl and cover. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour but the more the better. I like to marinate my chicken in pickle juice for 4-6 hours. You can even marinate it overnight.

3. After marinating, strain the pickle juice from the chicken and add chicken back to bowl.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups of milk and 2 eggs. Once combined, pour this mixture over the chicken.

5. Add the 2 1/2 cups of flour, 2 tbsp powdered sugar, 2 tsp paprika, 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 3 tsp salt and 2 tsp black pepper to a gallon size ziplock bag. Seal the bag and give it a shake to combine all of the ingredients.

6. Drain the milk/egg mixture from the chicken and then add the chicken to the gallon ziplock bag. Seal the bag again and shake it up so that the flour gets coated onto the chicken.

7. Start heating up the lard in a large pan over medium high heat. I like to use a cast iron skillet for frying. Add enough oil to halfway cover the chicken.

8. Add the chicken to the skillet after the oil is hot. Don't overcrowd the pan. Cook the chicken until both sides are golden brown and look nice and crispy. This usually takes me about 5 minutes per side.

9. You don't want soggy chicken nuggets so once the chicken is done frying, add the pieces to a cooling rack with a paper towel underneath to catch any drippings.

10. Allow to cool slightly and then dig in!