Lean and lovin' it: Uncovered family recipe leads to leaner version of Colonel's chicken
Recently a newspaper sent one of their reporters to Corbin, Kentucky, to sit a spell and reminisce with Joe Ledington, Colonel Sander's (of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) nephew. Ledington was so pleased to see the reporter that he opened up an authentic family scrapbook and began spinning yarns about his family and famous uncle.
During that conversation, a southern-fried miracle occurred. On the back of Ledington's Aunt Claudia's will (Claudia was Colonel Sanders' second wife) was a handwritten, unnamed recipe that just happened to have 11 herbs and spices in it. And, once mixed is added to 2 cups of white flour. There are no notes about the recipe's use. Nowhere does the word chicken appear.
Once I'd read the article I printed out a copy of the photograph of Claudia's recipe and, no surprise, headed for my kitchen's spice cabinet.
It turned out that the only ingredient I was missing was garlic salt. A web garlic salt recipe solved that problem: 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Once that was made, I stirred together Claudia's 11-spice mixture. A very new bottle of sweet paprika (Penzeys Spices) gave my spice mixture a very reddish color.
This lean guy wasn't about to bread and fry some store-bought commercial chicken. No. Since my refrigerator held a package of newly purchased, bone-in, skin on organic, free-range chicken thighs, I decided to go with them.
Because I didn't want my chicken to be dripping with oil and fat, I decided to roast them coated with Claudia's herb and spice mixture. Sure, not heading to a fryer would alter my faux-KFC chicken's flavor; but that was OK. My leaner version would simply not have the totally authentic KFC taste.
I wanted my chicken thighs' fat to “fry” the spice mixture with which I was coating them. Roasting this way should release the essence of the herb and spice mixture and come closer to duplicating the Colonel's famous flavor.
While my oven heated to 400 degrees, I generously dusted both sides of the chicken's thighs. Claudia's recipe was meant to be mixed flour, which would have softened the seasoning mixture's flavor. Wanting to come close to matching what the Colonel's chicken tasted like, I was careful not to over-season the thighs.
While my chicken roasted and my kitchen began to smell like the Colonel's chicken, I found a second article where the writer had, attempting to make chicken like the Colonel's, fried a batch in a skillet.
The story goes that the Colonel had created his secret seasoning mix to make Kentucky fried chicken his way: in a pressure cooker. Pan frying and pressure frying cannot and do not produce identical results. When that tester tasted the pan-fried chicken, it turned out that sprinkling a touch of Accent (monosodium glutamate) made that chicken taste very close to the Colonel's. According to the article, KFC confirmed they use MSG.
How did my MSG-free chicken turn out? Really good. The bright red color of Claudia's flavoring mixture turned a beautiful brown in the oven and looked really appetizing. I spooned some of the liquid from the pan's bottom over each thigh to improve their looks and tweak their flavor.
In the end, my chicken definitely tasted similar to my memory of the Colonel's chicken. Close enough for me.
Give my method a try and see what you think, you may be surprised at how good Claudia's chicken seasoning is. Thanks, Claudia.
• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at don@ theleanwizard.com.