La La Land: Jazz, Beer, and Chicken

La La Land: Jazz, Beer, and Fried Chicken Recipe

You don’t get it. Charlie Parker got the name “Bird” because he loved chicken. So my club’s gonna be old-school jazz and beer and chicken.

SEBASTIAN, LA LA LAND, 2016

The second recipe for my La La Land food series is fried chicken inspired by Sebastian’s idea of serving chicken in his dream jazz club.  I rarely make fried chicken because I generally hate frying food but this recipe really made the entire process worth it.  Soaking the chicken in buttermilk really takes the chicken to a whole other level.  The crust was incredibly crispy and the inside was juicy.  I can already taste it now…

As with most recipes, you can adjust the seasoning to your taste.  If you prefer a bit more spice, add more cayenne or a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce while it’s soaking in the buttermilk.  I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I did.  Also, if you’re making a batch of these for friends or family, read my note at the end of the recipe to see the best way to reheat fried chicken.

To pair with the fried chicken, I recently found a beer that my dad really loves called Brother Thelonious.  It’s a Belgian style beer that is described as rich and robust.  Find their beer on North Coat Brewing Co. or at your local Bevmo.  What’s even better is that for each bottle they sell, they will donate money to Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.  The institute was started in memory of pianist and composer Thelonious Monk and the institute provides college level training for amazing young musicians and jazz education programs in public schools.  If you’re considering on serving or having beer while watching the Oscars, I can’t suggest this beer highly enough.

La La Land- Jazz, Beer, and Fried Chicken Recipe

La La Land: Brother Thelonious Beer

La La Land: Jazz, Beer, and Chicken

A recipe for southern style fried chicken inspired by the 2017 Oscar nominated movie La La Land, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 5 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Servings 8 pieces

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
• 2 cups buttermilk (16oz | 454g)
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup evaporated milk (8oz | 226g)
• 2 whole eggs

Dredge

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

 

• Place the chicken in a large bowl and pour enough buttermilk to cover the chicken pieces. Mix in the one tbsp of salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 hours.
• Set up the dredging stations by whisking the evaporated milk and eggs in one bowl and all the dries in another.
• Heat the oil (1 1/2" deep) in a deep cast iron pan over medium high heat until it reaches 325F. Drain the chicken of the buttermilk and place piece by piece first into the evaporated milk mixture then the dries. Repeat coating each piece in the wets and dries again to create a double coating.
• Dust off an excess flour on the chicken and immediately place it into the hot oil. Fry the chicken in two batches if there is enough room in the pan. Be sure to not over crowd the chicken. Turn the chicken over every 4 minutes. Fry until the internal temperature reaches 180F and the chicken is golden brown, approximately 20 minutes. Let the chicken drain and cool on a rack while you fry the rest of the chicken. Serve warm.

Notes

To reheat the fried chicken, heat your oven to 375F.  Place the chicken on a cooling rack on a baking sheet.  Reheat it in the oven for about 10 minutes until heated through.