Saturday Night Naked Fried Chicken

Today on the National Front, it’s Indian Pudding Day. While I’ve shared Indian Pudding in the past, frankly it’s not one of my favorite dishes. Basically Indian Pudding is cornmeal, molasse and milk. Not even authentically Native American.

So I think we’ll skip the whole National Whatever Day. In other words, no Indian Pudding. If you insist, and don’t mind a long read packed with all sorts of recipes, by all means check out Beyond Just the Turkey. Want Indian Pudding with a much shorter read, try The Battle of Greasy Grass. Or just search the internet.

Still here? Great. Let’s talk poultry. We’ve been trying to eat a whole lot more chicken recently. In part chicken is better for you than red meat. But that’s only part of the reason. Beef, beyond the ground stuff, is getting more expensive every day. Chicken is more reasonable. Depending upon the cut, beef prices have risen as much as 80%, pork as much as 70%, while chicken has increased about 20%. Packing plant shutdowns, slaughter house closures and labor shortages have all contributed to the rising cost of meats, especially beef. So it’s chicken to the rescue.

Recently I thought I’d try a semi-healthy way to make chicken. This recipe has no flour or breading. It’s cooked under pressure, then only the skin needs to fry in oil for a crisp, smoky flavor. So while not amazingly healthy, this recipe is a little healthier than deep fried chicken. Oh, except for one tiny detail – the use of bacon grease. But hey, how else can you get that deep fried flavor?

Pressure Cooked Naked Fried Chicken
Pressure Cooker
1 large Chicken Fryer
Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Chicken Stock

Cut fryer into 8 pieces. Discard or save wings for another purpose. Sprinkle salt and pepper over legs, thighs and breast pieces, pressing to adhere. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes.

Place trivet inside the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Pour water and chicken stock into cooker. Place chicken on trivet (it’s okay to stack chicken pieces on top of one another).

Close cooker with lid, and lock in place. Select MANUAL PRESSURE COOK setting. Select HIGH pressure for 15 minutes. Press START.

Once cooked, release pressure by venting the pot. Once steam has released, remove lid from cooker. Carefully place chicken, skin sides up, on paper towel-lined plates to drain. Let stand until ready to fry.

For Frying
6 strips Bacon
3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Cook bacon in skillet. Once crisp, remove from skillet, retaining all the drippings.

Heat 3 tablespoons of bacon drippings with 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet. Oil will spit when you drop water in it when hot enough.

When the oil is hot enough, carefully place the chicken in the pan skin-side down.

Cover and simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Using tongs turn chicken. Cover and continue to cook for 5 minutes more.

Uncover and raise the heat, continue to fry until skin in golden brown and crisp, turning every 5 minutes.

Arrange on a serving platter.

This simple chicken is great with Wedge Potatoes and Buttery Corn. Crumbled bacon and a dollop of sour cream added to the potato wedges are really a nice touches.