Oven Fried Chicken and String Beans with Shallots (3/30/2010)

Ok, so this is a dinner I made for my husband and his family a while back. It went over pretty well. I loved finishing off the chicken in the oven, it came out really crispy and yummy. I also served mashed potatoes and some cheddar biscuts (the recipe for the biscuts can be found here) because it ought to be illegal to serve fried chicken without mashed potatoes. Period. I feel like a fried chicken dinner screams: "I love you" slash "make yourself at home, kick off your shoes and stay a while."

Oven Fried Chicken
Cook time: 55 min (plus ten hours to marinade)
Serves: 6

Recipe from: Barefoot Contessa, Family Style
By: Ina Garden

Ingredients:

- 2 chickens (3 pounds each), cut in 8 serving pieces
- 1 quart buttermilk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening

Directions:

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don't crowd the pieces.


Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan.
Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees F before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.

String Beans with Shallots
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6
Recipe from: Barefoot Contessa, Family Style
By: Ina Garden

Ingredients:
- 1 pound French string beans, ends removed (I used the fresh green beans from my grocery store’s produce section)
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon good olive oil
- 3 large shallots, large-diced
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Blanch the string beans in a large pot of boiling salted water for 1 1/2 minutes only. Drain immediately and immerse in a bowl of ice water.
Heat the butter and oil in a very large saute pan (12-inch diameter) or large pot and saute the shallots on medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned. Drain the string beans and add to the shallots with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper, tossing well. Heat only until the beans are hot.If you're using regular string beans, blanch them for about 3 minutes, until they're crisp-tender.