Phil's southern fried chicken
With the fast-food chain KFC closing hundreds of its outlets across the UK after they ran out of chicken, Colonel Phil is here with his alternative homemade bargain bucket!
Serves: 4Preparation time: 25 minutesCooking time: 45 minutes in total
Ingredients
8 large chicken thighs, bone in and skin off220mls buttermilk or yogurt1 level tbsp table salt2 tbsp dried oregano2 tbsp dried thyme1 tbsp cumin2 tsp ground white pepper1 level tsp cayenne pepper225g plain flour4 medium eggs150ml cold water, approximatelySunflower oil, to fry
Method
Place the chicken legs into a bowl and add the buttermilk or yoghurt and salt and mix well, leave for 1 hour or ideally, leave overnight
Preheat the oven to 220°C gas 6
Place the oregano, thyme, cumin, peppers and flour into a medium bowl and mix well
Whisk the eggs together with the water
Take the chicken thighs out of the buttermilk and wipe off the excess. Place the left over buttermilk into eggs and water and whisk well.
Dip each thigh into the flour and spice mixture to lightly dust, remove from the flour and place on one side
Then dip each piece of floured chicken in the egg mixture, shake off any excess then put back into the flour mixture to coat - it’s best to do this stage one piece at a time, otherwise you’ll get very messy!
Heat a pan of vegetable oil about 2-3cm deep to about 175°C, or test with a small piece of bread – when it browns within 30 seconds you’ve reached the right temperature
Add 4 chicken thighs and fry for a 4-5 minutes then carefully turn over and cook on the other side until golden brown - the oil should only come just halfway up the sides of the chicken
Place a wire rack onto a baking tray, then place the browned chicken on the wire rack
Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 15-20 minutes
The smell will be really tempting, but try to resist because they’ll burn your mouth if you eat them straight away!
Build your own bucket
Serves: 4Preparation time: 20 minutesCooking time: none
Ingredients
¼ white cabbage sliced really finely¼ red cabbage, sliced really finely1 large carrot, sliced really finely1 large onion, very finely sliced on the diagonal6 tbsp mayonnaise1 tsp Dijon mustard1 tbsp vinegarGround pepper
Method
Mix the chopped vegetables together well
Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar and pepper together and add to the veg
Mix and leave for 30 minutes before serving