Bobby Flay's Bar Americain Cookbook - Bobby Flay [42]
2. Pour the remaining 2 cups buttermilk into a bowl. Stir together the flour, garlic and onion powders, paprika, and cayenne in a large bowl, season generously with salt and pepper, and then divide between 2 shallow platters. Drain the chicken in a colander and pat it dry. Dredge the pieces a few at a time in one platter of the flour mixture, pat off any excess, then dip in the buttermilk and allow any excess to drain off. Dredge in the second platter of flour and pat off the excess. Put the chicken pieces on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
3. Pour about 3 inches of oil into a deep cast-iron skillet; the oil should not come more than halfway up the sides of the pan. Put the skillet over medium-high heat and heat the oil to 375°F on a deep-fat thermometer. Add the chicken to the hot oil, 3 or 4 pieces at a time, and fry, turning the pieces occasionally, until evenly golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a rack to drain; repeat to cook the remaining pieces.
4. To make the waffles, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
5. Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and oil in a separate large bowl. Pour over the flour mixture and whisk until the mixture just comes together. Add the wild rice and fold until just combined. Let rest for 10 minutes.
6. While the mixture is resting, heat the waffle maker. Brush the waffle grates with some melted butter and cook the waffles according to the manufacturer’s directions.
7. Serve the fried chicken with waffles and drizzle both with some of the honey–pink peppercorn sauce.
HONEY–PINK PEPPERCORN SAUCE
Makes 1 cup
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons pink peppercorns, toasted and coarsely chopped
Grated zest of 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Stir together the honey, peppercorns, lime zest, and juice in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or refrigerate for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.
HERB ROASTED TURKEY
Thanksgiving is hands-down my favorite holiday. Bar Americain is open each year for Thanksgiving, and we typically serve about six hundred people before the day is over. No matter how many wonderful selections we offer on the abbreviated holiday menu, without fail turkey is the biggest seller—partly because people love it and partly, I think, out of a sense of tradition. This is the turkey that I serve at Bar Americain, with only the dressing and sides changing from year to year. This year I am pairing the all-American bird with all-American ingredients: wild mushrooms and Pinot Noir from the Pacific Northwest, figs from California, cranberries from Maine, bacon from Kentucky, and sweet potatoes from Georgia.
Serves 8
1 (17-pound) turkey, rinsed well and patted dry
10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock, homemade or store-bought
3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 large stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large onions, quartered
1. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
2. Combine the butter, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
4. Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
5. Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with half of the carrots, celery, and onions. Rub the entire turkey with the herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper.
6. Scatter the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Fit a rack over the vegetables and put the turkey on top