Spanish Inspired Fried Chicken

I love fried food, which is really bad. I try to limit myself to a specific amount and will fight the bad with something healthy, such as a salad or grilled foods. The other night I had an intense craving for fried chicken, so my roommate and I decided to make some. It was finals week and I think we deserved it. We ate the fried chicken with a delicious side salad and a bit of stuffing. We don't really have a recipe for fried chicken, so we crafted our own. Actually, the wet and dry batter we used for this recipe, we have used twice in the past already when we made chicken tenders. So yes, you can use this recipe to make chicken tenders instead, which are also delicious.

This recipe is special because we love Spanish food and including a product from Goya to give it a delicious flavor. (I need to learn from my boyfriend how to cook Dominican food, yum.) We invented the recipe by experimenting for our first group dinner. It was a very successful experiment. I'm craving some right now. Unfortunately, I don't have the ingredients at home and it's snowing out. The recipe below will make extra batter, but I feel that it's better to have extra batter than not enough batter :). This recipe includes two different batters for extra flavor and crispyness.

 Fried Chicken

2 servings.

Ingredients

- 2 chicken drumsticks (you can use chicken breast and cut them into tender pieces)

- 3 packets of Sazón Goya (with Garlic and Onion)

- 4 cups of flour

- 3 tbsp. minced garlic

- 2 tbsp. garlic salt

- 2 tbsp. onion powder (you can use fresh onion if you want)

- 2 tbsp. oregano, chopped finely

- 2 tbsp. rosemary, chopped finely

- 2 tsp. basil, chopped finely

- 1 tbsp. lemon pepper seasoning

- 3/4 cup of skim milk (You can use whole or 2% if you please.)

- Pepper

- Salt

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine together 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 packet of Sazón, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, 1 tbsp. garlic salt, 1 tbsp. onion powder,  1 tbsp. oregano, 1 tbsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. basil, 1/2 tbsp. lemon pepper seasoning, a healthy dash of pepper (as much or as little as desired), and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly.

2. Add the milk to the mixture from above. Mix thoroughly. The batter should be very much like a liquidy dough. If mixture is too dry, add 1/4 cup of milk and mix. This is your wet batter.

3. Place the chicken in the mixture. Make sure chicken is covered in this batter. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. In a different bowl, combine together 2 1/2 cups of flour, 2 packets of Sazón, 2 tbsp. minced garlic, 1 tbsp. garlic salt, 1 tbsp. onion powder, 1 tbsp. oregano, 1 tbsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. basil, 1/2 tbsp. lemon pepper seasoning, 3-5 dashes of pepper, and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly. This is your dry batter.

5. In a medium saucepan, heat up some frying oil (we save our frying oil in a jar) that is enough to cover most of the chicken in. Dip the marinated chicken in the dry batter. Cover the chicken pieces completely, making sure there is enough flour throughout the chicken pieces. When the oil is hot enough (place a wooden spoon or another utensil in it and if bubbles form, it's hot enough), place the chicken pieces in the oil.

6. Cook for 20-25 minutes. Be sure to turn frequently when outside of chicken is cooked, otherwise it will burn.

Serve and enjoy!

We served our fried chicken with some stuffing that my roommate made and a delicious salad. The salad was comprised of romaine lettuce, 1 boil egged, garlic croutons, baked french onion, Zesty Italian dressing, and a dash of lime juice. The salad made me feel less guilty with the exception of the croutons and french onions.