Ok, so I’ll probably date myself quite a bit here but how many of you remember Pioneer Chicken? It was THE BEST fried chicken, in my opinion. When I was a child, if anyone should suggest grabbing a bucket of chicken, Pioneer was my choice, tho I know most preferred the Colonel.
My mom never made fried chicken. If we ever had anything similar to a “fried” chicken, it was shake-n-bake. So grabbing a bucket was a huge treat for us. When I moved out and prepared my own meals, frying chicken was so daunting to me! I just hated the mess/clean up. Oil splatting everywhere just made me cringe and I couldn’t enjoy the meal as I was so preoccupied with cleaning up my stove! Anyone else out there with me on that? Is the mess worth it? I always ended up sitting down with a cold meal as I just had to clean up first! And then of course as I started going down a healthier path of life, frying was out of the question! It was all about BBQing, broiling or baking – without breading.
I recently started eating the dark meat …..and when I say recently, I mean in the past few years. I was a white meat girl, even as a child. For some reason the dark meat was too gamey – if you will. I didn’t know what “that taste” was but I figure that it was just a little more gamey in flavor than the breast or even the wings. When I started eating paleo, I saw so many posts on instagram using legs and thighs. I finally broke out of my box and tried a chicken leg and I was pleasantly surprised! I then tried a recipe using chicken thighs and though that was a little harder to appreciate, I slowly began loving them and are pretty much what I grab when I do my grocery shopping now.
I tried a few recipes using almond flour to “shake-n-bake” some chicken to give me that fried chicken feeling but then one day, I decided to actually toss a few pieces into a pan with coconut oil and I am glad I did! It wasn’t quite as messy as I remember it being when I first started cooking on my own and perhaps that’s because I spend so much time in the kitchen creating messes, that this was nothing in comparison! It could also be due to the fact that I finish the chicken off in the heated coconut oil, not cook the entire time in it. Either way, it was worth whatever mess it made! My son even came in and grabbed a piece and asked, “Is this actually paleo?” and that made me smile because as I’ve mentioned before, if he likes something I make, it’s gotta be good as he tends to think I cook a little too healthy for his taste!
I used chicken legs for this recipe but I’m certain you can use any part of the chicken – just be sure to adjust the time a little depending on the pieces you choose. It’s a perfect weekend meal to make during the summer as you munch on your pieces while enjoying the outdoors. It would also be a great lunch to take on a picnic or beach day!
- 5 chicken legs
- 1 cup finely chopped plantain chips
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp spicy seasonings*
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 tbsp coconut oil
- Fill a large pot with water, add chicken legs & bring to a boil.
- Once water comes to a boil, let legs hang for about 10 minutes.
- Drain legs and let cool a bit.
- In a large pan, melt coconut oil and keep on med-high flame.
- Whisk egg in a bowl and place plantain chips/seasoning in another bowl.
- Drench one leg at a time in egg & then gently roll in crushed plantain chips.
- Slowly add each leg to the pan, making sure to leave room between legs.
- Let "fry" 3-5 minutes...then turn each leg to other side. Cook another 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer to paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Eat!
- *I use Flavor God 'Spicy Everything' but any spicy seasonings will do!
