My take on a delicious homemade "bird in the nest" - which of course has been in the deep fryer.
Recipe for half grilled chicken with french fries
My take on a delicious homemade ‘owl in a nest’ – which has, of course, been deep-fried.
“½ owl with lattice,” “Kentucky seagull,” “Half flyer with sticks,” or “Grilled stork with fence” – there are many names for the wonder that we all know and how it should taste. Whether it’s from the grill bar, the hot dog stand, or the cafeteria, we’ve all had a version of a deep-fried ½ chicken with crinkle-cut fries, cucumber salad, ketchup, and remoulade.
I’m not a GastroGeek for nothing, so I don’t need to write that everything in this recipe is homemade?
I started the dish relatively spontaneously on a public holiday when I was home and could fuss over all the elements, so I had to settle for a beer and a cola with the dish instead of the obligatory Congo beer/Cocio.
But here at GastroFun, things don’t need to be perfect every time, and there should be play and experimentation in the kitchen, which is exactly what happened here:
The portion of fries was split in two, with one half getting “cooling time” in the dehydrator while the other half was in the freezer. The result was actually best using the freezing method – which is also the method I usually use. Nevertheless, it had to be tried, now that I had the gear.
I must admit that I was at a loss as to what to do with the chicken right before it went into the “well,” so two different methods were tried there as well.
Servings: people
Half grilled chicken with French fries
My take on a delicious homemade "bird in the nest" - which of course has been in the deep fryer.
Equipment
- Dehydrator
- Mandoline Slicer
- Deep fryer
- Bowl
- Pot
- Knife
Ingredients
Wave Fritters
- 10 pcs. Potato
- Water
- 30 gram Vinegar stock
- Oil neutral flavor - for the deep fryer
Cucumber Salad
- 0.5 pcs. Cucumber
- Salt to draw the juice out of the cucumbers
- 50 gram Vinegar stock (clear)
- 50 gram Water
- 3 gram Salt
- Pepper from grinder
Remoulade with pickles
- 95 gram Mayonnaise
- 125 gram Pickles
- 0.5 pcs. Pickles
- Turmeric
- Salt and Pepper
"Grillkylling"
- 1 pcs. Whole Chicken
Brine
- 2 l Water
- 150 gram Salt
- 50 gram Sugar
- 6 gram Pepper
- 5 pcs. Bay Leaf
Deep-frying chicken (part 1)
- Salt and Pepper
- Baking Soda
Deep-frying chicken (part 2)
- 52 gram Flour
- Salt and Pepper
Sides
- Ketchup
Instructions
Wavy fries
- The potatoes were cut using a mandolin slicer. My slicer has an option to make waves. Since my potatoes weren't big, the fries naturally didn't turn out too big either.
- The potatoes were placed in a large bowl of cold water. After about 10 minutes, the (now very murky) water was changed to new cold water.
- After a total of 20 minutes, the potatoes were boiled in water with vinegar.
- After 12 minutes in the water, they were taken out and spread in an even layer on a rack/tea towel and placed in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This dries them.
- Meanwhile, heat a deep fryer (pot with oil) to 140 degrees Celsius (284 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Be careful not to add too many cold fries at once - this lowers the oil temperature and you won't get the desired effect.
- Cook your wavy fries in the pot until they take on a bit of color - this typically takes 5-7 minutes.
- Take them out and place them in a clean tea towel and pat them dry of oil.
- Put them back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- They should be finished in the deep fryer at 180-190 degrees Celsius (356-374 degrees Fahrenheit) until they are golden. This typically takes a couple of minutes.
- Take them out of the deep fryer and place them in an ovenproof dish with grease-absorbing paper/tea towel and season with salt.
Cucumber salad
- Slice the cucumber into super thin slices - possibly with a mandolin slicer.
- Place them in an even layer on a plate/platter and sprinkle with salt.
- Let them sit and marinate. If you have plenty of time, they can sit for a couple of hours. This makes them firmer and draws the liquid out of them. Let them sit for at least 15 minutes.
- Put all the other ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil, so the sugar dissolves.
- Drain the cucumbers of liquid and place them in a sterilized jar.
- Pour the brine over and seal the lid.
- Refrigerate them, preferably 30-60 minutes before serving.
Remoulade with pickles
- Mix mayo and pickles together. Use homemade or store-bought, it's up to you (I used this immersion blender mayonnaise and these pickles for the recipe).
- Add chopped gherkin and season with salt and pepper.
- Use turmeric to color it, so it looks nice and yellow. My mayo was made with a whole egg, so it was much whiter than a homemade version where I usually only use the yolk.
"Grilled chicken"
- The name "Grilled chicken" is actually misleading: it has never been near a grill.
- Brining:One of the biggest challenges is getting enough flavor/salt into the chicken, so I chose to brine it for 6 hours. Why not longer? Because that's the time I had. It could probably have brined for 10-12 hours.Place the chicken in a large pot and add salt, sugar, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir well and refrigerate. It's important that the entire chicken is covered with water.
- Boiling:Take the chicken out of the water and rinse it under cold running water to stop the brining.Halve the chicken down the middle, so there is a breast, wing, and thigh per piece. I used a poultry shear. I cut along the backbone, trimming a bit more of the back from both pieces.Boil the chicken for 20-25 minutes - it should be tender but not falling apart. Depending on the size, it may need only 15 minutes.Take the two half chickens out of the boiling water and dry them off - with a clean tea towel.Place them in the freezer for 30 minutes to cool them down thoroughly and stop the cooking process.
- Deep frying:Having no experience with making this before, I chose to divide the "breading" of the chicken into 2 different parts:
- Part 1:1 dl flour was placed in a bag with a lot of salt and pepper.Then the half chicken was placed in the bag and shaken well.The chicken was fried for about 12 minutes at 180-190 degrees Celsius (356-374 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Part 2:The half chicken was seasoned with salt and pepper.Then I put baking powder in a small sieve and from about 40-50 cm height, sprinkled it over the chicken. The idea is that the baking powder helps the skin become crispy - the chemical explanation I can't provide 🙁 The chicken was fried for about 12 minutes at 180-190 degrees Celsius (356-374 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Let both pieces drain on grease-absorbing paper (or a clean tea towel) and give them a good sprinkle of salt before serving.
Serving
- Of course, it's a matter of preference whether you want to serve the dish with ketchup or not. I didn't eat remoulade as a child, so I always had ketchup with my half grilled chicken. Recently, I made my own homemade Heinz ketchup, which I of course ate with the dish.
- Otherwise, it's just about getting a bit of everything on the plate: 1/2 grilled chicken, French fries, remoulade, ketchup, and cucumber salad.
- Enjoy your meal.
Notes
Both versions of the chicken became crispy, but it's definitely the version with salt, pepper, and baking powder that I'll make again next time.