Buttermilk fried chicken with whipped potatoes and braised greens

Ingredients

2 whole fryer chickens (3 1/2 lb. each), cut up into 8 pieces
1 1/2 gallons buttermilk
2 lb. assorted mustard greens, kale and chard (braising greens)
1 gallon rice bran, canola or grapeseed oil, for frying
3 lb. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups garlic powder
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1/4 cup ground white pepper
2 tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. course ground black pepper
3 lb. russet potatoes
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 lb. unsalted butter
1 bulb garlic, roasted

Directions

For chicken:
Soak chicken in a covered dish in buttermilk overnight (a full 24 hours, refrigerated). Blanch greens in a pot of boiling water; drain, cool and reserve. Put oil in a large pot and preheat to 350 degrees. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients into flour to make “seasoned flour.” (You’ll have leftovers.) Piece by piece, remove chicken from buttermilk and coat with seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour and drop chicken pieces into hot oil one at a time. You need to work fast! Fry until golden brown. Remove one by one and place on a baking rack on a sheet pan. Finish cooking in oven until done, about 10 minutes.

For potatoes:
Place peeled and cut potatoes in a pot of cold water; bring to a boil and cook until tender. Heat half-and-half and butter in a saucepot. Drain water from potatoes. Pour hot half-and-half mixture into potatoes and whip by hand using a potato masher. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

For greens:
Heat a large sauté pan with butter and a little water. Add cooked greens, roasted garlic cloves and salt to taste.

To serve:
Assemble plate with whipped potatoes, greens and fried chicken and serve. Of course, this is the perfect meal to serve family style, too!

Serves 6

Chef’s wine tip
“I would serve this with a Matchbook Chardonnay from Dunnigan Hills 2007. A local chardonnay, it has just the right amount of toastiness, good crisp fruit—not too big nor too wimpy.”