Current situation – me sitting at the island typing, dog chewing a nylabone; very loudly for some reason, husband washing the round me and daughter still upstairs probably reading something on her phone or possibly still sleeping who knows!

Thought I would share just another day in paradise here in New England. It was supposed to be snowing all day here; which I was actually looking forward to. I planned to write my blog, make a large pot of chili for us and to share; read a magazine or two that have been sitting around and do some laundry all while it snowing outside. Guess I have to do all those things without living in a snow globe for now.

Happy Valentines Day! We are doing our usual VDay routine which is having a nice dinner at home. I picked up some gorgeous ribeye steaks from The Flying Butcher (https://www.theflyingbutcher.com/) yesterday. I am contemplating grilling outside or cast iron cooking inside. It will probably be the latter. Still figuring out the sides.

Back to the recipe I want to share with you all today. I had a fried chicken sandwich at one of our not so local haunts. MT’s local Kitchen and Wine Bar (https://www.mtslocal.com/) I was on the fence only because pickles on fried chicken just sounds weird to me. I have seen the combination dozens of times but it just didn’t appeal to me. Well I am all in now; so much so that I decided we were going to have it during the super bowl half-time show last weekend. There were 7 of us and even though we ate pretty much 10 pounds of wings and a couple of dips before the game even started. Everyone cleaned their plates so here is what I did and will be doing again!

pickle-brined fried chicken sandwich

a crispy very moist chicken sandwich worth making and eating

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Ingredients

  

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs about 4 ounces each
• 24 bread and butter pickle coins dill work too
• 1/2 cup pickle brine
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoon capers drained and chopped
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 4-6 cups canola oil for frying
• 1 1/3 cup green cabbage thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion thinly sliced, optional for serving
• 4 buns brioche sliced, butter and grilled
• hot sauce optional for serving

Instructions

 

• add the chicken thighs and 1/2 cup pickle brine to a resealable bag and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. turning the bag occasionally to marinate evenly
• make the pickle mayonnaise while the chicken is marinating and set aside. Finely chop the pickle coins and the capers. In a medium both together and the mayo. Season with salt and pepper and set aside
• when you are ready to fry, heat 2 inches of the oil to 325' F in a large dutch oven or heavy bottom skillet you can fry in. In a couple of shallow dishes pour the buttermilk into one. the other with flour, corn starch and the onion powder season the flour mixture with salt and pepper.
• remove the chicken from the brine one at a time. place in the buttermilk, allow the excess to drip off and then into the flour, repeat with all pieces. making sure to coat each piece, remove excess and place on a plate.
• working in batches as needed. add the chicken to the hot oil and cook, turning every 1 to 2 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the chicken is cooked through; inner temp should be 165'F. transfer to a paper-lined plate or onto a cooling rack over a rimmed cookie sheet to cool. season with salt and pepper.
• butter and grill your bread of choice.
• Make the coleslaw by tossing the cabbage with half the pickle mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper. Slather the remaining pickle mayo on the bottom of each bun; top with a piece of fried chicken, coleslaw and red onion. Hot sauce if using.