Fried Chicken Pizza
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Some people shouldn’t be allowed to drive down Lamar. Those people are us. We’re always tempted to stop and try things that we honestly know we should probably avoid for multiple reasons. But they’re all right there, and sometimes you just have to go with your gut on these things. Right now there’s a flashing sign at the Citgo for their Chicken Baby restaurant. We’ve been debating the meaning of this cryptic sign for days. First, it flashes “FRIED CHICKEN”, and then below it, in faster flashes, “PIZZA”. Do they have both fried chicken and pizza at the Chicken Baby? Or have they created something new, something different: Fried Chicken Pizza? Papa and I have pretty much decided that if it’s not fried chicken pizza, then it ought to be. Of course, we also had to plan meals to feed the Squad this week, so we just had to develop the Official Squirrel Squad Fried Chicken Pizza. And here it is in all it’s glory:
Fried Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
For the Buttermilk Biscuit Dough Crust:
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup Bulgarian style buttermilk
For the chicken:
- 1 lb organic boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch strips
- 1 cup Bulgarian style buttermilk
- 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
- 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Sonny Salt or other seasoned salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
For the gravy:
- 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Bulgarian buttermilk
- 1 cup milk
- salt and pepper to taste
To put it all together:
- 1 cup Fontina or other nice melty cheese, shredded
Instructions
For the Buttermilk Biscuit Dough Crust:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Stir together dry ingredients and cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add buttermilk and stir just until moistened.
- Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until nearly smooth.
- Roll dough to 1/2 thickness.
- Grease 12" cast iron skillet and shape dough into bottom.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until top is lightly browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set crust aside.
For the chicken:
- Melt 2 tbsp Crisco in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a shallow dish.
- Dredge chicken strips in buttermilk then in breading mixture.
- Allow to rest while Crisco heats to frying temperature (just short of smoking).
- Fry chicken strips in batches for 2 minutes on each side, allowing Crisco to reheat between batches and adding more Crisco as needed.
- Drain chicken strips on paper towels.
For the gravy:
- Combine flour with grease and browned bits left in skillet from chicken over medium heat.
- Cook flour, stirring constantly until all flour is incorporated in grease and mixture is a light brown.
- Reduce heat to low and add buttermilk slowly, stirring constantly.
- Add milk slowly, stirring constantly until gravy reaches desired consistency.
- Season to taste and remove from heat.
To put it all together:
- Spoon gravy onto crust and spread into an even layer almost to edge.
- Place chicken strips on top of gravy and top with cheese.
- Place under broiler for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
That’s it. I demand an invitation to dinner at your house!
It looks yummy. What kind of wine would go with that?
Dear Madame and/or Sir:
In inventing fried chicken pizza you have done the world a great service. It is long past time that three of the greatest words in culinary world were combined in a single dish. And you nobly uphold the finest tradition of Southern cooking, namely “There is nothing that can’t be made better with gravy.” I salute you, and God bless.