Cooking Lesson #894: Tennessee Hot Chicken Dunkers

…from the Perspectives’ Kitchen

photo credit: King's Hawaiian

How you doin’? Two of our favorite clients over the years were King’s Hawaiian (breads and rolls) and Hidden Valley (dressings)—two exceptional consumer products. Actually, King’s Hawaiian was the main stay of my breadbasket at the Custom House Restaurants. In the late ‘80s that sweet, yellow, yeasty pillow loaf was one of the food items that sent our restaurants over the top. And what restaurant didn’t offer Ranch dressing with their salad offering?
 
Now, all these years later, these two companies are still on the top of their game not only with their original products, but with new great tasting offerings that are every bit as quality driven as the originals. So, it’s fun to marry the two together as part of these zippy Tennessee Hot Chicken Dunkers
 
Hot chicken dishes are said to have originated in Nashville. They were  bone-in chicken pieces, marinated in a water-based blend of spices and seasonings, floured, fried, and sauced using a paste with cayenne pepper, served on slices of white bread with pickle chips. Anecdotal evidence suggests that spicy fried chicken has been served in Nashville's African American communities for generations.
 
Hot chicken may have been introduced as early as the 1930s; however, the current style of spice may only date back to the mid-1970s. It is generally accepted that the originator of hot chicken is the family of André Prince Jeffries, owner of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. She has operated the restaurant since 1980; before that time, it was owned by her great-uncle, Thornton Prince III.
 
Although impossible to verify, Jeffries says the development of hot chicken was an accident. Her great-uncle Thornton was purportedly a terrible womanizer, and after a particularly late Saturday night out, his girlfriend at the time cooked him a fried chicken breakfast with extra pepper as revenge. Instead, Thornton decided he loved it so much that, by the mid-1930s, he and his brothers had created their own recipe and opened the BBQ Chicken Shack café.
 
My recipe for Tennessee Hot Chicken Dunkers utilizes a similar spice profile and Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing as a cooling flavor extender and dunker.
 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Marinade time:  1-4 hours
Cook time:  8 minutes
Assembly time: 5 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
 
Ingredients 
8 each King's Hawaiian® Original Hawaiian Sweet Pretzel Pre-Sliced Slider Buns
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 large chicken thighs
10 ounces buttermilk
11 tablespoons bottles Nashville-style hot seasoning, divided
(I prefer Frank’s)
1 large bottle canola oil
1 cup corn starch
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 cup melted butter
1/3 cup water
16 dill pickle chips
3 cups coleslaw (vinegar profile)
3 tomatoes cut into 16 slices  
Original Hidden Valley Ranch®Dressing
 
Directions

1. Spread the butter on the inside top and bottom of the Pretzel Slider Buns and griddle until a light golden brown.
2. Butterfly each of chicken thighs into 2 thin portions.
3. Divide each portion into 2 equal pieces, so that you have 16 cuts of chicken.
4. Soak the chicken in buttermilk and 3 tablespoons of Nashville-style hot seasoning for at least 1 hour (up to 4 hours) refrigerated.
5. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven to 360°F.
6. Mix the corn starch, flour, panko and 2 tablespoons of Nashville-style hot seasoning.
7. Dredge chicken in dry mixture until well coated, then fry to golden brown.
8. The chicken is well cooked when it reaches 165°F internal temperature.
9. Mix the melted butter, water, and 6 tablespoons Nashville-style hot seasoning together to make a sauce.
10. Brush the fried chicken pieces generously in Nashville-style hot seasoning sauce.
11. Place 2 pieces of Nashville Hot Fried Chicken on the bottom of each bun and top with 2 pickles, coleslaw, and 2 tomato slices.
12. Pour 2 ounces of ranch dressing into 8 ramekins.
13. You are now ready to dunk it to cool it down and eat it.

ChefSecret:  Most recipes call for chicken breast meat, I like to use chicken thigh meat because it is juicer and more tender for this type of sandwich and it is a lot less expensive to buy. .

Quip of the Day:  Q. What do you call a country song about Nashville’s famous hot chicken? A. A cluckin’ good tune!”
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#Entree #Lunch #Dinner #NashvilleHotChickenDunkers #KingsHawaiian #FranksHotSauce #HiddenValleyRanch #2024Recipes #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
 
                                                                             ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024

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