Jayne: I fell in love with grilled chicken at an outdoor grill shack in Dewey Beach, Delaware. On Saturday nights, my beach friends and I would start our evenings at Ed’s Chicken. You got a piece of salty, grilled chicken, with pickles, roll and silver queen corn for under $5. It was heaven in a paper basket. We were always trying to figure out why Ed’s Chicken tasted so good and now I think I know. It must have been pickle-brined.
Fast forward a bunch of years and we have Chic-fil-A – the pinnacle of poultry! …guess what’s pickle-brined?
This week’s food dive into Delaware is…the Blue Hen Chicken Sandwich.
Makes 4 chicken sandwiches
- 4 chicken thighs – boneless (or breasts)
- Pickle brine from a jar of dill pickles (enough to cover the chicken in a Ziploc bag)
- 1 pint of buttermilk
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 4 teas drained capers, chopped
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Canola oil – alot – about 4 cups plus
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 Tbs onion powder
- 1/4 teas MSG (optional)
- More salt and pepper
- 1 1/3 cup thinly sliced green cabbage (about 4 oz)
- Thinly sliced red onion (for serving, optional)
- Texas Pete hot sauce (for serving, optional)
- 4 brioche buns
- 2 Tbs butter
- Place chicken in a Ziploc plastic bag and pour in the pickle brine. Place chicken in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. Remove the brine and pour in the buttermilk. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
3. While the chicken marinates, prepare the pickle mayonnaise: Finely chop 8 dill pickle coins. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, capers and chopped pickles: season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4. When ready to cook the chicken, place the flour, cornstarch, onion powder, MSG and 1 teas (or more) salt and pepper, each. Whisk to combine.
5. Heat about 2 inches of oil to 325 deg. in a Dutch oven (use a deep fat fryer thermometer). When ready, remove chicken from bag and let buttermilk drain off the piece. Dredge in the flour mixture and make sure it is covered completely. Transfer to a plate and repeat with all the chicken.
6. Working in a couple of batches, if needed, add the chicken to the hot oil and cook turning every 1 – 2 minutes, until crust is deep golden and chicken is cooked through, about 6 – 10 minutes in total. Repeat with remaining chicken (check temperature as the thickest part of the thigh should reach 165 deg.).
7. Melt 1 T. butter in a large skillet over medium. Add 2 buns, split-side down, and cook until warmed and toasted, about 2 minutes (it’s fast). Repeat with remaining butter and buns.
8. Make the coleslaw by tossing the cabbage with half of the pickle mayonnaise and season lightly with salt and pepper. Slather the remaining pickle mayonnaise on the bottom of the buns and top with the chicken, red onion, remaining pickles and coleslaw. Serve with Texas Pete, if using.
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