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I got a recipe idea from the fast-food-chicken-sandwich thread, to use chicken thighs instead of white meat.

I buy 6-packs of various chicken cuts from Costco. You get 6 pouches of breasts, or legs, or thighs, or boneless/skinless thighs. A single packet makes a good serving for two, so those are convenient portions of which to buy. I already had the boneless/skinless thighs because I use it for stir-fry, so I defrosted a package today and tried it out.

4 thighs, out of the package. I stirred up a couple eggs from my henhouse, and then I mixed up the breading mix that I always use for fried chicken.

Straight flour, for the base.
Mix in, to taste:
Cinnamon
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Coarse black pepper
Salt
Dried onion flakes

The kid and I like our stuff spicy, so a little heavy on the cayenne than a normie would prolly enjoy

But again, mix to taste. I rarely measure anything when I mix something up from scratch.

ANYWAY... yeah, I didn't do a thing to the thighs. Out of the package, in the egg wash, and make sure plenty of the dry breading sticks to it. I didn't cut them first, or trim them. A couple were odd-shaped, so I sort of just tucked it together, and made sure it cooked in a fashion that the breading would keep it vaguely bun-shaped.

Fry them up in a cast iron skillet, toast the buns on the toaster, and prepare to taste. He had his with a slice of tomato, I had mine with (homemade) pickles and ketchup, chic-fil-a style.

They were fucking outstanding. My picky kid ate both his sandwiches, which shocked me.

Nice. Yeah, when I saw Popeyes was using thighs in was like 'oh damn, no wonder they are so popular'

I'll have to try that.

Just hit costco. They're completely out of all raw chicken products, except for drumsticks.

GORDON wrote: Just hit costco. They're completely out of all raw chicken products, except for drumsticks.

We have been unable to procure chicken.

Trying this today, except no cinnamon or cayenne, and using paprika. My kids + I don't love spicy food because we don't hate ourselves.

I made these, and they were pretty awesome. I used this as a cross-reference: https://topsecretrecipes.com/popeyes-ch ... ecipe.html

Why cinnamon? Is that in the original Popeye's recipe? Seems weird to me on chicken.

I did pound the thighs to make them flat for more even cooking. I used ~350 degree oil (obviously changes temp as you remove/add chicken stuff). 4 minutes per side.

Everyone in the family loved it.

I double-breaded some of them.. but that was mostly overkill, though tasty.

Cinnamon because in my imagination it would be a good counterpoint to cayenne. I wasn't following any particular recipe.

No idea what my oil temp is. In the cast iron skillet, just make sure it's hot enough to start sizzling immediately when you drop the chicken, and don't let it get so hot that it spits oil all over the stove-top.

And I didn't time them at all... just flipped them when the breading was the right shade of tan. It was maybe 7 minutes per side, ish.

I think a lot of my cooking practices come from just having done it so much, I know when done is done.

I double-breaded ONCE.... turned out to be overkill. I just bread them nice and thick the first time.

GORDON wrote: I double-breaded ONCE.... turned out to be overkill. I just bread them nice and thick the first time.

Do you rest them after dipping? I rest 10 to 20 minutes, which seems to help the breading stick.

Also, I marinated them in buttermilk + spices for 4 hours beforehand.

TheCatt wrote:

GORDON wrote: I double-breaded ONCE.... turned out to be overkill. I just bread them nice and thick the first time.

Do you rest them after dipping? I rest 10 to 20 minutes, which seems to help the breading stick.

No. A good well of my own fresh chicken eggs, enough to roll the thigh several times, really get the egg whites wrapped around it. Then directly into the breading, flip it once or twice. Pat the flour into the breading, and get it in all the nooks and crannies. Really, when you do it like that, once is enough. I have enough (currently 5 dozen, and they JUST. KEEP. COMING) eggs to be generous with the egg bath.

Straight egg wash, no buttermilk or anything added.

Buttermilk really helps the chicken texture. Imho.

I tend to be minimalist, when it comes to my food. Steak on a high flame, no seasoning, I want to taste the flesh. Homemade marinara sauce with tomatoes from my garden, as little seasoning as possible to make it still taste "like spaghetti sauce" I want to taste the tomatoes. I don't think I've ever purchased buttermilk in my life.

Made a beef roast in the slow cooker last night, 5 hours on low. A couple potatoes, a couple carrots, just a little salt and pepper on the meat. Kid hated it, heh. Don't blame him, it was mediocre. But I need to change things up, sometimes. Last made a roast about 4 years ago.

I made these again, with some mild changes.

1) peanut oil instead of canola

2) I ran out of corn starch, which was very sad for frying. It just isn't the same. But, it wasn't too far off. I ended up double breading to compensate.

3) Poked holes in the chicken before marinating.

D-fucking-licious.

GORDON wrote: They were fucking outstanding. My picky kid ate both his sandwiches, which shocked me.

My wife hates cooking for the family all the time cuz the kids are so picky.

They eat the fuck out of these sandwiches.

TheCatt wrote: My kids + I don't love spicy food because we don't hate ourselves.

Spicy foods have health benefits, and make your food taste better because it opens up your flavor receptors or something.

That being said, I like just the right amount of spice. I don't want my lips and tongue burning for 10 minutes after a bite of something. I don't understand people who eat shit like that. Making me sweat is good though.

I'm also not into pain in bed.

As long as you accept those who do. We don't kink shame, here.

GORDON wrote: As long as you accept those who do. We don't kink shame, here.

I don't shame for that. I'm just not a pain = pleasure kind of person.

Spicy chicken, riding crops on bare asses, same, really.