Chicken worth the oil dilemma
Fried chicken is one of those foods I usually leave to the experts. And by experts I mean cooks with vented range hoods in their kitchens and ample ways to reuse/recycle cooking oil.
My kitchen, though decidedly more modern than my 100-year old house’s original, lacks a ventilation system. So fried anything often results in my whole house taking on a funky fried-food odor for several days. But even when I can get away with simply opening a window, I’m still left with the dilemma of what to do with all that grease.
Most of the time it’s easy enough to cool, strain and rebottle it. As long the oil is stored in a dark, cool place it should be fine for at least a couple more uses.
But even with several uses, it will eventually reach the end of its usefulness. So what to do with it then?
I’ve heard stories of people converting diesel engine cars to run on used vegetable oil, but I don’t drive a car with a diesel engine and I don’t know anyone who has done it. So giving it a second life as auto fuel isn’t in the cards.
Leaving it to cool on the stove and forgetting to put the dog gate in the kitchen doorway and thus allowing your extra-tall, 165- pound dog to wander into the kitchen is not recommended.
And pouring it down the sink is not an option.
According to Little Rock Water Reclamation (formerly Little Rock Wastewater) grease and oil buildup in sewer lines is responsible for 70 percent to 80 percent of dry-weather overflows. And in many places pouring cooking grease or oil down the drain is against the law.
Little Rock Waste Reclamation Authority’s Can The Grease program advocates letting the grease cool, then pouring it into a can lined with a heat-resistant bag. When
the bag is full, simply tie it off and place it in with your regular garbage for curbside pickup. Many cities in Arkansas have similar programs. If you live in an area where garbage pickup is not available, your county could offer cooking oil disposal services.
This recipe is an amalgam I came up with based on the ingredients I had on hand. The soaking mixture is from Ashley English’s Southern From Scratch (Roost Books, $35) and the coating is from Turnip Greens & Tortillas: A Mexican Chef Spices Up the Southern Kitchen by Eddie Hernandez with Susan Puckett (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30).
Extra-Crispy Buttermilk Fried Chicken
1 ½ cups buttermilk 4 teaspoons Worcestershire
sauce
4 teaspoons smoked salt,
divided use
2 teaspoons smoked paprika ¼ to ½ teaspoon sriracha or
other hot sauce to taste ¼ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon ground black
pepper
2 ½ pounds chicken pieces (I prefer boneless breasts and thighs, so that’s what I used)
1 cup panko bread crumbs ½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup masa harina (instant
corn flour)
¼ cup cornstarch Vegetable oil, for frying