RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesI tried a fried-chicken sandwich recipe from Ina Garten. Ted Berg
I tried making Ina Garten's recipe for fried-chicken sandwiches.
The sandwiches were delicious, but I didn't think the buttermilk-herb mayo added much.
I loved that the leftover chicken reheated beautifully in the air fryer.
I'm a big fan of fried-chicken sandwiches. But because I can easily order them when I'm at a restaurant or fast-food chain , I rarely make them at home.
I set out to change that recently when I came upon a promising recipe for fried-chicken sandwiches from Ina Garten .
Garten's "Barefoot Contessa" books make up roughly half of my household's cookbook collection, and I know her as a trustworthy source of tasty and easy-to-follow — if not necessarily easy-to-make — recipes.
The photo of Garten's fried-chicken sandwiches make them look fairly simple, but the recipe — originally from her 2018 cookbook, "Cook Like a Pro" — calls for a multi-stage, multi-day process and a fairly vast list of ingredients.
Here's how making them went.
First, I gathered the ingredients for the marinade.
Ted Berg
The first step was making a marinade — made of buttermilk, a jalapeño, a shallot, two cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper — for the chicken breasts.
This step was simple, as nothing was more difficult than smashing the garlic or slicing the shallots.
Then, I flattened the chicken breasts.
Ted Berg
I was more nervous about the next part — flattening three 6-ounce chicken breasts into wider, flatter cutlets.
My local supermarket offered a variety of chicken breast cuts, and since I generally try to avoid doing too much involving raw chicken in my cramped kitchen, I found myself wishing Garten had called for a pre-prepared cut like thin-cut breasts or tenderloins.
Instead, I followed the recipe, laying the chicken breasts between two pieces of parchment paper and pounding them with a rolling pin until they were evenly half-an-inch thick.
This proved surprisingly easy and not nearly as messy as I feared — just a minute or two of whacking at the chicken yielded three flat, evenly sized pieces.
I added the chicken to the marinade and let it sit overnight.
Ted Berg
Once the chicken breasts were flattened, I cut them in half and added them to the marinade.
Garten's recipe said to cover the marinade in plastic wrap, but I transferred it to a reusable container because it seemed like it would be neater and more environmentally friendly.
The chicken marinated overnight in my refrigerator until I was ready to make and eat the sandwiches the next day.
In the meantime, I made the mayo spread.
Ted Berg
Next, I made Garten's buttermilk-herb mayo, a mixture of mayo, buttermilk, vinegar, scallions, parsley, chives, and thyme.
The next day, I was ready to fry the chicken.
Ted Berg
With the chicken fully marinated and the herb mayo complete, it was time to batter and fry the chicken.
Using a Dutch oven and a thermometer, I heated 2 inches worth of canola oil to 350-degrees Fahrenheit.
While the oil heated up, I mixed the flour dredge for the chicken.
Ted Berg
The flour mixture was easy to make, and included baking soda , smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, celery salt, salt, and black pepper.
Then, I double-dredged the chicken breasts.
Ted Berg
The recipe calls for double-dredging: each piece of chicken alternates between the marinade and the flour mixture twice before being placed in the oil to cook.
Here, my choice of reusable plastic container made things more difficult. The container was fairly shallow, and as flour from the first dredge thickened the marinade, it got harder to submerge the chicken before the second dredge.
Finally, it was time to fry the chicken.
Ted Berg
The recipe called for frying each piece of chicken for five minutes, turning once. I followed the instructions and kept my oil at 350 degrees throughout.
However, I found that five minutes of frying produced a darker crust than what was shown on the chicken in Garten's photos. I could have tried pulling it sooner, but I was concerned the chicken inside wouldn't be fully cooked.
Putting the sandwiches together was easy.
Ted Berg
Once the chicken was out of the fryer, I constructed the sandwiches by slathering potato buns with the herb mayo. Then, I added lettuce, sliced pickles , and the finished chicken cutlets.
The sandwiches were delicious and the chicken reheated well.
Ted Berg
As a whole, these sandwiches were very good, but the chicken itself was the clear highlight. There wasn't a ton of spice to it, despite the jalapeño in the marinade and the cayenne in the dredge, but there was just enough to make it tasty and to balance the sweetness of the potato bun.
The texture of the chicken was fantastic — the breading was nice and crispy and the chicken was incredibly moist. Plus, the lettuce and pickles gave the sandwich some crunch and some tanginess.
I had leftover fried chicken cutlets afterwards, and I was pleased to find they maintained both their moisture and their crispness when reheated in the air fryer .
However, both my wife and I agreed the buttermilk-herb mayo mostly just tasted like mayonnaise. While we were eating the sandwiches, we found ourselves speculating about other sauces that would go better with the chicken and require less effort.
The only other downsides were that the double-dredging and frying left my kitchen a mess, and my whole apartment smelled strongly of oil for about the next 24 hours.
So, although I enjoyed the sandwiches, I can't imagine preparing them for guests unless I somehow come into a much larger home with a much airier kitchen.
But since the chicken cutlets themselves were a hit, I will likely use that portion of the recipe again. Next time, I'll skip the mayonnaise and double the chicken, since I know it keeps and reheats fairly well.
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