My family is obsessed with fried chicken sandwiches. If we eat at a restaurant that has one, at least one of them orders it. I have a few homemade versions too. Our favorite is a Nashville hot chicken version which I will share at some point. Today I decided to try making spicy chicken sandwiches using the amazing candied jalapenos I posted about in this post.
I used my usual pounded out chicken breasts for these. Then I brined them overnight as I usually do in buttermilk mixed with salt and spices. I used quite a bit of cayenne here to add heat, as well as garlic and onion powder, pepper, paprika and celery salt.
Next they are coated with spiced flour and deep fried. A little trick I use to get amazing breading on my fried chicken is to drizzle a little buttermilk into the dredge first and toss with a fork to make some flour crumbles. These then stick to the chicken and create more texture in the breading.
I served these spicy chicken sandwiches on a quick version of brioche rolls with spicy mayo and the above mentioned candied jalapenos. Yum!
For the homemade french fries, I have a few tricks to make them delicious. First, peel, cut and soak the potato pieces in a big bowl of water for a few hours before frying. Change the water once or twice. This rinses off the extra starch and helps them get nice and crispy.
I also use the double fry technique. Dry the potatoes well (hot oil + water is a big NO). Fry the potatoes first at about 300 degrees for 3-4 minutes until the potatoes are somewhat cooked but not browned. Drain onto paper towels. When you are ready to serve the fries, heat the oil to 360 and fry them quickly again to brown them and crisp them. Drain on paper towels again and season.
Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Candied Jalapenos + Homemade Fries
Ingredients
For the Sandwiches:
- 8 buns
- candied jalapenos
- 1/4 cup mayo
- hot sauce
- Kosher salt
For the Fries:
- 4-5 russet potatoes peeled, sliced and soaked
- oil for frying
- season salt or kosher salt
For the Spicy Chicken:
- 1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp celery salt
For the Dredge:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- ground black pepper
- few tbsp buttermilk for making clumps
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Slice the chicken breast in 1/2 separating the thinner end from the thicker end. Then horizontally slice the thick end into two thinner pieces. You will get 3 pieces from each breast. Pound the pieces out to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Place them in the buttermilk and spices mixture and brine overnight.
- Mix the dredge ingredients and drizzle a little buttermilk while tossing to make some clumps.
- Heat oil to 350 and remove a few pieces of chicken from the brine and coat in the flour mixture, pressing the adhere the clumps.
- Place a few pieces (not too many at a time) into the hot oil and maintain the 350 degree temp. Fry about 5 minutes until deeply golden brown and cooked through. The noise of the chicken frying will reduce a lot when it is fully cooked.
- Drain on paper towels.
For the Fries:
- Heat oil to 300. Drain the soaked potatoes on paper towels and pat dry. You don't want to put water into the hot oil or it will pop and explode on you.
- Fry at 300 for about 4 minutes until the fries are getting soft but not browned.
- Drain on paper towels. Once you have cooked all the potatoes, heat the oil to 360 and refry the potatoes briefly in batches until crisp and golden.
- Drain on paper towels and season.
To Assemble:
- Slice the buns and put some spicy may on both sides. Add a piece of the fried chicken and some candied jalapenos and some of the syrup from them. Close up and serve!
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