"Better than KFC!" Southern fried chicken with Caesar style dip

The immediate Christmas festivities are over but the holiday season continues.  I love the fact that the house still regularly fills up with family and friends.  After a recent day in town, my daughter brought home a gang of friends for an evening of DVDs, snacks and wall-to-wall sleeping. Crisps and snacks are fine for a while but eventually everyone craves hot, tasty food that’s hassle free to eat (preferably without shifting from settled slothfulness in front of the TV!).  An absolute house favourite is chicken and a certain finger licking recipe is a real crowd pleaser.  This one’s for Jas who declared the recipe “Better than KFC!”. 

Southern Fried Chicken with Caesar style dip

Chicken breasts slicked into strips (cooks quicker than chicken on the bone)

Plain flour

Egg

Paprika

Tumeric (optional but makes for a nice colour)

Oregano

Salt and pepper

Caesar style dip

Tub of crème fraiche

Parmesan style hard cheese

Milk

Black pepper

Slice chicken breasts into strips of any size. Try not to make them too thick otherwise they’ll take longer to cook.

Heat about a centimeter of neutral flavour cooking oil (rapeseed, sunflower, etc) in a large frying pan.

Meanwhile combine the flour and seasoning in a bowl.  Quantities of each are very much open to personal preference.  If using about a couple of mugs full of flour, use about a teaspoon of flavourings but it really is up to you. 

Lightly beat the egg in a bowl then add the sliced up chicken; combine well.

Take strips of egg coated chicken and toss in the flour until well covered then fry in the oil, You are looking for the oil to be at a temperature whereby the chicken sizzles nicely when added. If the sizzling is too fierce, take the pan off the heat for a moment or too, the chicken will burn and not cook thoroughly otherwise.

When the edges of the chicken strips begin to look cooked, turn it over.  Check after a few minutes. 

Transfer chicken onto a sheet of kitchen roll to absorb any excess oil, then transfer chicken to a shallow dish and, when all cooked, you can transfer to the oven to keep hot. 

Caesar style dip

Finely grate about 100g of Parmesan style cheese and add to a tub of crème fraiche.  Use milk to thin the dip down a little.  If you like, add a little lemon juice and black pepper.

Serve chicken in a large bowl with a smaller bowl of dip on the side. 

This makes a fabulous filling for wraps or baguettes; add a handful of rocket or watercress, top with chicken then a generous dollop of dip; Yum!