The Soultown! Volume III: Issue 2 FEBRUARY 2019 | Page 6

COOKIN’ FOR DA SOUL Mom’s Fried Chicken SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Fried chicken is my ultimate comfort food and every culture has their version, with many claims to making the best. That can all be well and true but the recipe below has been tried and tested for many generations. I have vivid memories as a child seeing the kitchen lined with paper bags that were collecting all the excess grease from the beautifully browned fried chicken. Watching my mother maneuver two cast iron skillets on our tiny apartment stove mirrored that of watching a magician perform their greatest trick! Follow this recipe and you’ll be calling yourself David Blaine in no time. Ingredients: 3-pound bone-in chicken thigh or your favorite cuts 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup corn starch 1 tbsp pepper ¼ cup salt + 1tbsp ¼ cup sugar 8 cups warm water Enough canola oil to fill your dutch oven half way *Directions: • In a large bowl, combine 8 cups of warm wa- ter, ¼ cup salt, & ¼ cup of sugar and mix with a whisk until salt and sugar are completely dis- solved, this is our brine. • Place chicken pieces into a brine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but no more than 4 hours. If the chicken stays in the brine too long it will become salty and the meat will be tough. • Heat canola oil in dutch oven until the temperature reaches 325 degrees. In a large and wide bowl mix together 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ corn starch, 1 tbsp salt & 1 tbsp pepper. © 2017 Digital & Print Magazine CONNECTING OUR CULTURE TO OUR CYBER & CONSCIOUS COMMUNITIES CHEF DERREK SAN FRANCISCO, CA [email protected] Derrek Brown is an Executive Chef turned Culinary Instructor. Also known as “Chef” he is passionate about educating our youth on the amaz- ing opportunities in the hospitality industry. Chef is a culture creator who leads by example and works as tiressly on a new artisan inspired dish as he does with his students. Chef was an innovator in catering for 15 years and he now applies his knowledge of events to the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula where he is spearheading a groundbreaking student lead catering company. Chef was educated at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and when he’s not busy whipping it up in the kitchen you can find him digging through crates for rare vinyl or out looking for the next culinary trend. *TIPS* If you don’t have a dutch oven use a pan that has a heavy bottom. That will allow for more consistent heat throughout the frying process. And the wider the better, that will provide more space for chicken possibly reducing the number of batches needed to cook. For a healthier alternative, try heating the oil to 350 degrees and cooking for the initial 10 minutes then remove chicken, place on sheet pan with a rack and transfer to a 400 degree preheated oven and cook until the chicken reaches the inter- nal temperature of 165 degrees. My preferred hot sauce is Slap Ya Mama hot sauce but you can use your favorite Louisiana brand or any vinegar-based hot sauce. See what’s happening in thesoultown.com! 6 FEBRUARY 2019 • CELEBRATING 2 YEARS OF CONNECTING OUR CULTURE TO OUR CYBER & CONSCIOUS COMMUNITIES • THESOULTOWN.COM