There’s never a bad time for fried chicken, but there are ideal occasions for digging in. Like during summer picnics, whenever cold beer is present and — most importantly — when you’re holding a recipe from 2022 James Beard Outstanding Chef award winner Mashama Bailey.
Bailey runs the Grey in Savannah, Georgia, and its offshoots, the Grey Market and the Diner Bar, which opened earlier this year in Austin with Chef de Cuisine Kristine Kittrell in the kitchen. The Grey Market serves a dish called Sunday Fried Chicken that’s worth planning your week around. It features five pieces of free-range chicken seasoned with house-made blackening spice (chili powder, herbs and spices), and it’s served with pullman bread and pickles. It’s available beginning at noon every Sunday until it sells out. So, set your watch.
“The Sunday Fried Chicken at the Grey Market is a Savannah tradition that we wanted to replicate here in Austin,” says Kittrell, adding that the dish is inspired by weekend picnics.
When you’re making it at home, start with high-quality chicken, and don’t skip the brining process. “The brine is key,” she says. “At the Grey Market, ours is vinegar-based and really delivers a nice brightness.”
Also key is what to drink alongside your delicious fried chicken. Kittrell suggests champagne, rosé or some ice-cold beer. We won’t argue there.
The Grey Market’s Sunday Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (cut into 10 pieces; divide the breasts into two pieces each, then two wings, drums and thighs)
- 2½ cups White Lily all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 cup and 2 Tbsp. blackening spice (homemade or store-bought)
- Salt, to taste
- 5 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
Directions
- Add 1 cup blackening seasoning to a bowl, then add apple cider vinegar until the mixture becomes the consistency of paste. Cover the chicken in the paste and let marinate overnight in the fridge.
- Dredge the chicken in White Lily all-purpose flour. Leave in the dredge, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
- Right before frying, prepare a seasoned dredge: 2 cups flour, ½ cup cornstarch, 2 tablespoons blackening spice, ½ tablespoon salt. Dredge your chicken in the mixture, then fry at 325 degrees until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Serve with thick-cut slices of pullman bread, bread and butter pickles, and the hot sauce of your choice.
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