Almond Herb Fried Chicken

That’s right – Fried Chicken.  Not those frozen mystery meat nuggets baked on a cookie sheet or the fast-food chain stuff with the “11 herbs and spices,” but real home-made fried chicken.  Chicken made without special industrial pressure fryers or cooked in soybean or peanut oil.  Chicken made the good old-fashioned way, fried in a heavy pan with real fat.  Of course, we’ve made a few adjustments to the traditional southern fried chicken (like replacing the buttermilk and flour used in the breading) to keep things aligned with our primal meal plan. 

Gather up:

• 4 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tbsp minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
• coconut oil as required for frying (or you can use good pastured pork lard if you have a source)

Mix the almond flour, oregano, rosemary, sea salt, and black pepper well in a wide shallow bowl.  Set aside.  Crack the eggs into a separate wide shallow bowl and whisk to blend well.  Set this aside also.

Remove the “tenderloin” part from the breast pieces and flatten with a mallet to about 1/2″ thick.  Butterfly cut the rest of each breast in half, and pound out the thick parts to about 1/2″ thick as well.  You can trim any smaller loose pieces and use them as “chicken fingers” for the kids if you like.

Dredge each piece through the eggs, and then coat with the almond/herb mixture.  Collect them all on a plate.  In the meantime, get a heavy skillet heating up on medium-high heat.

Melt about 1/4 cup coconut oil in the skillet, then lay in the first pieces of chicken.  Leave some room around the pieces and make sure they lay flat on the bottom so the oil touches the whole bottom as you lay them in.  You want the oil hot enough to seal the chicken right away and keep things from sticking.  Cook until just golden brown on one side, then turn and continue the same on the second side (which should only take a few minutes each side).  The advantage of the thinner pieces here is that they will cook through before the almond flour starts to burn, leaving it bitter tasting.

Work in batches using tongs to lift and turn the pieces.  You’ll notice that some bits of the breading will come off as you cook – minimize this by adding more oil if needed to keep things truly frying rather than sticking to the bottom of the pan, and scraping the pan with a metal spatula to clear the sticking bits between batches.  Place the finished pieces on a paper towel as you cook the next batch, or onto a stoneware pan and keep it warm in the oven.  If you’re doing a lot of chicken (like a double batch or more), then I’d also recommend changing the oil out altogether halfway through to keep it from producing a burnt taste in the later pieces.

Serve while still warm, along with a good side salad, some roasted summer squash, or some mashed cauliflower.  Enjoy!