Thursday 16 June 2016

Is He HOT?


Gordon Ramsay. Is he? Hot as in hot tempered? Or hot as in hot hot? My mum professes her fear of Gordon Ramsay. He makes her nervous. All that yelling and swearing and cursing. She cannot watch Gordon Ramsay because he is very scary. So mum quickly turns off the telly when Gordon comes on. Me?

This is where I fess up. I have a thing for Gordon Ramsay. I think he's hot. Hot as in hawt baybeh, ummmpphhhh!!! What, you think I am nuts? OK, let's not go there.

I've watched him on The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares, Masterchef US, Master Chef Junior US (no shouting here), Hell's Kitchen and a few more.

I'd sit on my sofa in my tee shirt and sarong (sometimes with bedak sejuk on my face), lapping up every word old craggy face says (and yells). I don't know, I like the authoritative type, a man who takes charge. But no, I do not like to be yelled at. 

You gotta admit, the man has personality, a magnetic one and I am riveted. OK, chain me up and send me to Siberia.



Then I watched Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. That's where he cooks at home with his kids and this is the time when you find him so fatherly and so mellow. He smiles, he laughs, he teases and not a single f-word comes out of his mouth. Gawd, he's so charming!

I was smitten, so I bought this book. Cost me a princely RM99.00.



When the book arrived from mphonline, I quickly tore the wrapping apart and flipped the pages in a frenzy. Bah! I thought most of the recipes don't suit me. Like Chip Butty. That's a sandwich filled with potato chips. 

But later on when I browsed the book at a more leisurely pace, I found that there are quite a number of recipes that I would be keen to try. One of them is this Buttermilk Fried Chicken. Yes, I've done a Buttermilk Fried Chicken before, but this one is from Gordon's book, so.


Chicken soaked in buttermilk and then coated with seasoned flour.
It so happened that I had a expired carton of buttermilk. So I got down to work. I soaked 8 chicken legs in the buttermilk overnight in the fridge.

Then the next day, I drained them and left them to come to room temperature. In the meantime, I made the seasoned flour. I find that Gordon's recipe uses very scant amounts of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper.

For 300g of flour, only 2 teaspoons each of paprika and cayenne pepper and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder is added. That's way too little for me.


My Dutch oven doubled up as a deep fryer.
So I took the liberty of adding one tablespoon of each. I actually wanted two tablespoons. But that was all I had.

I also ran low on garlic powder, only about a teaspoon left. And that to me is a very sad thing because the seasoned flour needs lots of garlic for loads of flavor. But I made do with what I had.



As you know, deep frying is a major pain. Gordon's method is shallow frying where he asks you to add about 1.5cm depth of oil into the pan. But no. If I am going to have fried chicken, it has to be deep fried.



It seemed to take forever for the chicken to brown. I had excess seasoned flour which I tossed into the bin without a thought. And I regretted it.

You see, the chicken pieces that had been pre-coated with flour (the ones lying in wait while the rest are frying away) will ooze liquid. So it is best to coat them one more time before frying. So wait until you are done with the frying before tossing out the excess flour.



When I was finally done, it was time to sink my teeth into these fine looking fried chicken. Oh wah! Crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. The flavors were very good too, though it could be improved (with extra spices). These fried chicken can stand proudly beside KFC and Texas Chicken.

The fried chicken is best eaten while it's hot/warm because the batter goes limp once it cools down. I ate 3 pieces and kept the rest in the fridge. I reheated some the next day and though it was no longer crunchy, the chicken still tasted very good.













Buttermilk-Fried Chicken
Recipe source : Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking (page 176)

Ingredients :
- 4 chicken legs, thigh and drumsticks separated
- 600ml buttermilk
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (can increase to 2 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper (can increase to 2 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- Lots of salt and pepper to taste
- Oil for deep frying

Method :
1. The day before, put the chicken legs in a big bowl and pour in buttermilk. Make sure the chicken pieces are submerged. Leave in the fridge overnight.
2. The next day, remove  the chicken pieces and drain off excess buttermilk.
3. In the meantime, make the seasoned flour. In a mixing bowl add flour, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Whisk the flour to combine all the ingredients evenly.
4. Coat each piece of chicken with the seasoned flour, pressing the flour firmly to ensure that the flour sticks to the chicken. Set aside on a tray.
5. Heat oil in a deep pot and when the oil is hot enough (test by dropping a bit of batter into the oil, if it sizzles, the oil is ready) gently drop the chicken into the oil. Do this in batches. I fried 3 pieces at a time.
6. When the chicken is evenly browned (it took me about 25 minutes) remove and drain on a wire rack (or paper towels).
7. Serve while still hot/warm.

33 comments:

  1. The drumstick looked good and hot!!! I love it to be crispy outside and juicy inside.

    Gordon?? He is a difficult guy from how I see it. Very hot tempered! hahaha!

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    Replies
    1. This fried chicken is so good! Next time, I will double the spices and it will be even better.

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  2. I think he's hot too....so we'll be on the same ship to Siberia! :D I watch all his shows too (not every episode lah) and that foul mouth of his is just a put on for some of his shows (it's good TV)....deep down he's a very sweet guy. He's got such a charismatic personality, he draws people in...that's why he helms so many shows. I've got two of his books too.

    As to these buttermilk chicken....KFC & Texas Chicken can't hold a candle to yours! ;)

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    Replies
    1. hah..hah...you made me LOL! I bet there are a few more women joining us on that trip :D

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  3. Hi Phong Hong, your fried chicken is finger licking good. I think sekali gus eat 3 or 4 sure no problem. Thanks for sharing this tornado temper guy's recipe. LOL Beside his temper he is an excellent chef. Nice book.

    Have a nice day, regards.
    Amelia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Amelia! I also sekali gus can eat 4 or even 5 lah. But must self control a bit hah..hah...

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  4. So you bought his book but end up not really doing as his recipe said huh...

    I like watching his shows where he f**ks other people, but not really his cooking shows. To a lazy man, his methods are worse than Jamie Oliver. "This is fast and easy", and he proceeds to do steps 1 2 3 4 5 ... 99 100, and then says in the end "see, only 3 steps needed!". >.<

    Also, you know, apparently he is a serial womanizer, according to gossip tabloids. :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. His one, the spices too little lah. Take boleh rasa.

      I think I was looking at him too much to notice the 100 steps :D

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  5. WOW! I love this 'HOT' fried chicken! Look so finger licking good!

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    Replies
    1. I will make it hotter next time with more cayenne pepper!

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  6. That reminds me of the broasted chicken I had - post on that coming up but not that soon, lots on my schedule, all lined up waiting for their turn.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, so many posts and I am struggling to keep up with mine :) Looking forwards to your post. Anything to do with chicken gets my attention.

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  7. Your fried chicken looks really good! The only marinade is buttermilk? Will the chicken tasted bland? I always marinate my chicken with soy sauce, sugar, pepper and sesame oil for overnight but still the taste my chicken will came out quite bland >_<

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    Replies
    1. No, not bland at all because the flour is well seasoned. The chicken in itself is moist and tender and tastes very good.

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  8. I have taken my dinner, but drooling at it and craving at it, hehe...

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  9. Hi Phong Hong,
    GR has his charm and mellow side... hee.. hee.. Yummy crispy and crunchy fried chicken !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karen! Yes, very yummy. Like GR. Ooopss!!

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  10. I watched him in Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef, he is kinda garang, but he is also the main attraction of the shows.

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    Replies
    1. Ya lor, garang but I like lah.... :D

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  11. i have a confession that i've actually never watched any of his shows before, so i only know about his reputation for fierceness, but i've never actually watched it. the only thing i've watched is some of his interviews on talk shows, where he seems nice and normal, heh ;) btw, now you've got me craving fried chicken at midnight! terrible! i wanna reach out for a slice of the thigh you photographed :D

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    Replies
    1. Really?? heh..heh... The moistness and tenderness of the chicken is quite close to Texas Chicken's but this one has got more in terms of flavor.

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  12. I cannot watch nim too but i read one his book and it was quite interesting!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, like my mum :D His book is well written.

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  13. I used to watch his tv shows when I was living in UK ten years ago but not when I came back to KL. I guess you have made his fried chicken recipe your very own with the adjustments to it but you know you so just cook whatever / however way that suits your taste!

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    Replies
    1. I just thought that his seasoning is too little and I won't be able to taste, so I added lots more.

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  14. Replies
    1. Once again, I love reading this post, because it is so well written, you are able to put your thoughts into words very well, thumbs up!

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    2. Reading your post is like reading a novel

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    3. No No No, I think yours is better than KFC

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    4. Thank you, Libby. You made my day :)

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