Southern Fried Chicken with Saute Bananas
Submitted by Drew
Pan-fried chicken rubbed with lemon and cinnamon, served with sauteed bananas and a creamy pan gravy. A Southern classic with an unexpected sweet-spiced twist.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minFried chicken with bananas sounds wild until you take the first bite. Then it just makes sense.
Whole chicken pieces get rubbed with lemon juice and powdered cinnamon, dredged in seasoned flour spiked with paprika and bay leaf, then pan-fried in shallow oil until the skin is shattering-crisp and the meat is cooked through.
The bananas get sliced, dusted in the same seasoned flour, and sauteed quickly in the hot chicken drippings until golden and slightly caramelized.
Then comes the gravy: the remaining seasoned flour stirred into the pan with milk or cream until smooth and silky.
Cinnamon on chicken, bananas alongside, creamy gravy tying it all together. Trust the process.
Chef Tips
- Use not-quite-ripe bananas. They hold their shape when fried instead of turning to mush. Look for bananas that are still slightly firm and just barely yellow.
- A quarter inch of oil is all you need for shallow frying. Deep frying drowns the cinnamon-lemon flavors that make this recipe special.
- Cover the pan after browning and cook on lower heat for 20 minutes. This steams the chicken through without burning the crust.
- The gravy comes together fast. Stir the flour into the hot pan drippings before adding the milk, and whisk constantly to avoid lumps.
Ingredients
Directions
Put three tablespoons of the seasoned flour on a plate and reserve the rest.
Rub the chicken joints with the lemon juice and cinnamon and dip into the three tablespoons of flour so each piece is well coated.
Put just one-quarter inch of oil into a large frying pan with a lid and heat the oil until it is just on the point of smoking.
Put in the chicken pieces and brown on all sides, then turn the heat down.
Cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes, turning once.
When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, put it on to a serving dish and keep warm.
Slice the bananas, dust them lightly with a little of the remaining seasoned flour and sauté quickly in the hot oil.
Put them on the dish with the chicken.
Pour away the oil in the frying pan and add the last tablespoon of seasoned flour to the pan.
Cook, stirring, until it is brown, then pour in the milk or cream and stir again to make a smooth gravy.
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