Crispy Nashville Chicken Skins Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN

Steps:

• Toss chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Transfer chicken to a bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Whisk buttermilk, pickle brine, hot sauce, and egg together in a mixing bowl. Pour marinade over chicken and stir to ensure each piece is thoroughly coated. Cover and let chicken marinate in refrigerator 2 to 4 hours.
• Mix flour and salt together in a shallow flat dish. Remove chicken from marinade and blot with paper towels. Reserve marinade. Toss chicken in flour until thoroughly coated. Return chicken to marinade, coating all sides; remove chicken from marinade allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Coat the chicken once again in flour mixture. Place on a rack. Repeat with all chicken pieces. Allow to sit out about 15 minutes to allow coating to dry out a bit.
• Place butter and lard in a large pot. Add cayenne pepper, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper. Place over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until fats melt. Remove from heat; keep sauce warm.
• Fill cast iron skillet about 1/3 of the way with vegetable oil. Heat oil to 350 degrees F over medium-high heat. Carefully place chicken into hot oil, skin side down. Maintain an oil temperature of 325 degrees F, adjusting heat as need. Fry until instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
• Transfer chicken to a rack to drain. Brush with the sauce on both sides.

CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN SKIN

Steps:

• Place chicken skins in a large stockpot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, scrape off excess fat and cut skin into 1/2-inch wide strips.
• Place skin on a baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours.
• Heat oil in a large stockpot to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lower a handful of skins carefully into the hot oil. Fry until crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining chicken skin.

CRISPY CHICKEN SKINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Gently pull the skin off the chicken breasts (reserve the breast meat for another use), pat dry and cut in thirds lengthwise. Place them skin-side up in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
• Mix the salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary together in a small bowl, crushing the spices with a spoon. Sprinkle the chicken skins with some of the spice mix; it makes more than you need, but you can keep it for another day. Cover the skins with a layer of parchment and top with a baking sheet to weigh it down, making sure the top sheet presses down on the skins.
• Bake until the skins are browned and crisp, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and parchment and transfer the skins to a plate lined with paper towel to cool and crisp up.

NASHVILLE CHICKEN

Steps:

• For the house hot sauce: Put the water, vinegar, dried chiles, cayenne pepper, garlic and crushed red pepper in a large pot over high heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the chiles are re-hydrated and the garlic is slightly soft, about 30 minutes. Puree in a blender until smooth. Strain through a sieve and a let cool. Yield: 8 cups.
• For the mild lard: Render the lard in a large pot over low heat until liquid.
• Mix the cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and garlic powder in a large bowl.
• Slowly whisk the brown sugar into the lard until smooth. Make sure to not let the temperature exceed 135 degrees F or the sugar will burn. Once the sugar is incorporated slowly whisk in the dry ingredients.
• For the chicken brine: Combine the milk, buttermilk and house hot sauce in a large bowl and whisk together. Add the chicken, slightly covering it. Refrigerate 4 to 6 hours.
• For the chicken dredge: Heat a deep fryer to 325 degrees F (or a large pot with oil). Combine the flour, kosher salt, onion powder, dried thyme, garlic powder, black pepper, seasoned salt, cayenne pepper and paprika together in a large bowl until completely incorporated. Coat your brined chicken in the dredge mix and fry, in batches, until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees F. Generously brush your fried chicken with the mild lard to coat. Serve.