Sunday, June 16, 2024

Buttermilk fried chicken, a dad’s gift to himself

My five-star recipe yields a crisp crust and luscious interior.
Cooking

June 16, 2024

Buttermilk fried chicken is shown on a cooling rack set on a metal baking sheet.
Sam Sifton's buttermilk fried chicken. Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Buttermilk fried chicken with an easy, no-recipe gravy

Good morning. It's been slow out here in the shallow water, looking for fish on pancakes of sand, by muddy banks, in rock piles where the tide sluices in and out, at spots with names known only to those who fish them: Cheney's; Manny's Place; Ethan Allen; Left Side; Derr's Flat.

We stand on the boat, on a platform at the stern or on the softening deck in the bow, and we look. We stare. We see. Sometimes the fish come, sliding around happy in the middle of the outgoing tide: Cast! Other times they don't, and eyes move up: an osprey, a wisp of cloud, a bald eagle, a flapping flag on a pole a mile away, an oystercatcher, a jetliner inbound from Europe, terns, oak trees, a congregation of glossy ibises flapping into a wedge above the marsh.

All this but my thoughts run, mostly, to dinner: the chicken I've got resting in a buttermilk bath for fried chicken (above), a father's gift to himself, my favorite fried chicken recipe, hard-won over time.

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Buttermilk Fried Chicken

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I'd like it with mashed potatoes, green beans and a river of gravy. The gravy's easily made: Just swirl a few tablespoons of the oil you've used to fry the chicken into a pan set over medium-low heat and, when it's hot, add an equal amount of flour. Stir this around vigorously to rid the mixture of lumps, then cook until it's just beginning to smell nutty. Add a splash of stock or white wine, stir again to combine, and then add milk or half and half, stirring all the while, until you've got something that looks like gravy, that coats the back of a spoon. Season aggressively with salt and black pepper, then thin it out if you need to with more stock or wine.

Maybe strawberry shortcakes for dessert? That's a nice Father's Day meal on the nicest of Father's Days, even absent a fish.

As for the rest of the week. …

Monday

There's something deeply comforting about Colu Henry's recipe for creamy white beans with herb oil, a 15-minute pantry meal that pairs brilliantly with a simple green salad and a hunk of bread. Did someone once crumble cooked bacon over the top? He did!

Article Image

Linda Xiao for The New York Times

Creamy White Beans With Herb Oil

By Colu Henry

15 minutes

Makes 2 to 4 servings

Tuesday

What a cool recipe from Jan Scannell, adapted by Sheela Prakash: the South African grilled cheese sandwiches known as braaibroodgies, made with sweet fruit chutney and cooked over coals, or a medium-low gas grill, or even a cast-iron pan in a pinch. Scannell believes that "the correct way to slice braaibroodjies is diagonally, and the correct time to serve is immediately."

Article Image

Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Chris Lanier.

Braaibroodjie (Grilled Cheese and Chutney Sandwiches)

Recipe from Jan Braai

Adapted by Sheela Prakash

35 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Wednesday

It's Juneteenth, a wonderful day to make Millie Peartree's roasted garlicky chicken sandwiches with red cabbage slaw. With her strawberry ginger limeade to go along with them? Yes, indeed.

Article Image

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Garlicky Chicken Sandwiches With Red Cabbage Slaw

By Millie Peartree

55 minutes

Makes 8 sandwiches

Article Image

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Strawberry-Ginger Limeade

By Millie Peartree

15 minutes

Makes 8 servings

Thursday

Ali Slagle's recipe for green curry glazed tofu is fragrant, sweet and spicy, a weeknight win worth repeating again and again. And there's no need to press the tofu. A warming stint in the pan lets it crisp right up.

Article Image

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Green Curry Glazed Tofu

By Ali Slagle

25 minutes

Makes 2 servings

Friday

And then you can head into the weekend with Nargisse Benkabbou's 40-minute chicken tagine, made with boneless chicken thighs, olives, preserved lemon, melted onions and a big hit of ginger, ground turmeric and garlic. So good.

Article Image

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.

Weeknight Chicken Tagine

By Nargisse Benkabbou

40 minutes 

Makes 4 to 6 servings

There are many thousands more recipes waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. To answer a question I get quite a lot: Yes, you need a subscription to read them. Subscriptions make this whole enterprise possible. I hope, if you haven't taken one out yet, that you will consider subscribing today. Thanks.

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Now, it's nothing to do with rosemary or thyme, but you're going to want to read Ian Parker on a wild story of home renovation, starring Kanye West, in The New Yorker.

Michael Adno went to Florida to investigate the concept of worm grunting, for the Oxford American.

Do you listen to The New York Times Book Review podcast? Y'oughta. Elin Hilderbrand is this episode's guest.

Finally, here's Neil Young to play us off: "Old Man," live in 1971. Happy Father's Day. I'll be back next week.

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