NASHVILLE-STYLE HABANERO HOT CHICKEN

hhThis recipe is provided by multi James Beard Award nominee and Food Network’s Extreme Chef Anthony Lamas and James Beard Award nominee food and travel writer Gwen Pratesi from their newest cookbook SOUTHERN HEAT.  Learn more about Chef Anthony Lamas on his Chef’s Roll profile.

Nashville is known for country music, a full-size reproduction of the Greek Parthenon, the Tomato Art Festival, and hot chicken. Gwen, Roger, and I went to a famous hot chicken shack in Nashville for lunch after a late night of celebrating that included just a little bit of bourbon. Spicy food was just the thing we needed. While I can eat hot foods, this stuff was just too hot and we found that it really didn’t have any flavor, just heat. With that in mind, I was determined to create a hot chicken that was really moist, with just the right amount of heat and a complexity of flavor throughout.
Each bite is more than just hot—it is packed with flavor. The brine creates the moistness, with seasonings that penetrate the meat. The crispy skin is achieved by double dipping in flour with spices and using a buttermilk base. Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce adds another layer of flavor and complexity of heat with a little sweetness. Papa is a member of my culinary team at Seviche and more like family after working with me in the industry for over
15 years. We developed this recipe for hot sauce several years ago and it has been one of our “secret sauces” in several dishes. When you’re not sure what the spice is, it just might be Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce.
While the chicken is best prepared after 24 hours in the brine, you can leave it for as long as 48 hours for an even hotter version, and you can brush on more of Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce before baking to achieve a “burn your shorts off” version. For details on how to achieve different levels of heat and spice, see the tip on p. 143.

SERVES 3 TO 4

One 31⁄2- to 4-pound whole chicken,
cut into 8 pieces

FOR THE BRINE

2 quarts water
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
3⁄4 cup kosher salt
4 habaneros, cut in half, with seeds
1⁄4 cup Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce (p. 143)

FOR THE COATING

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons smoked
Spanish paprika (pimentón)
1 tablespoon ground habanero
11⁄2 teaspoons ground cayenne
1 tablespoon Homemade Sazón (p. 248)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon celery salt

FOR THE BUTTERMILK DREDGE

1 quart low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon habanero powder
11⁄2 teaspoons ground cayenne

Canola oil
Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce (p. 143)
White bread and sliced homemade or
store-bought sour pickles, for garnish

MAKE THE BRINE

Combine all of the ingredients in a nonreactive pot and bring to a boil, stirring to
dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until cold, 4 to 6 hours. Once the brine is cold (the chicken and brine should be the same temperature), add the chicken pieces, cover, and
refrigerate for 24 hours.

PREPARE THE CHICKEN

Position a rack in the center of a convection oven and heat the oven to 350°F. In a
medium bowl, mix together the flour and spices for the coating, then transfer the mixture to a large plastic zip-top bag for dredging. In a shallow glass dish, combine the buttermilk with the spices for the dredge and whisk to blend well.
When ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the brine and pat dry with paper
towels. Put a couple of pieces at a time in the bag with the coating mixture and shake to coat well. Remove the chicken, shaking off excess, and set aside on a plate while you coat the remaining chicken pieces.
Add the chicken, one piece at a time, to the buttermilk mixture. Coat well and then return it to the plastic bag with the flour. Coat well, shake off the excess, and set aside on a wire rack. Continue until all chicken pieces are dredged.
Place a clean ovenproof wire rack on a baking sheet and set aside. In a large cast iron skillet or large Dutch oven, add enough canola oil to come about 11⁄2 inches up the side (just to cover the chicken pieces) and heat to 325°F on a candy or deep-frying thermometer. Place the chicken, skin side down, in the pan, frying in batches to avoid crowding the pan, until golden brown, turning once, for a total of 5 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the temperature at a constant 325°F. →
Transfer the chicken to the clean rack. If desired, use a pastry brush to mop each piece of chicken with Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce (see the tip below for how much to add based on your desired heat level), lightly covering the crispy skin on top. Place the chicken in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature in a breast reaches 165°F.
Serve the chicken with slices of white bread and garnish with pickles. For a little more kick for any heat level, serve with Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce on the side.

PAPA’S FAMOUS HOT SAUCE

MAKES 11⁄2 TO 13⁄4 CUPS

3 whole habaneros (11⁄2 ounces)
1⁄2 cup organic or homemade vegetable stock
1⁄2 onion, roughly chopped (1 cup)
41⁄2 tablespoons tomato paste
1⁄2 cup white vinegar
1⁄2 cup canola oil
1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light
brown sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic

Place the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir well and reduce the heat, but keep the mixture at a rolling simmer for 30 minutes (or longer), until it’s thick and syrupy, stirring often. Do not put your face near the pot and use good ventilation. The habaneros should be very soft. Cool the mixture and then purée in a high-speed blender. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. The sauce will hold for several weeks.

CHEF’S TIP ›    Make the dish as hot as you want by following these guidelines:

Medium: Brine the chicken for 24 hours and do not brush Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce on the chicken before baking. › Hot: Brine the chicken for 36 hours and use Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce for light dipping or mop on after finishing in the oven (don’t brush the sauce on the chicken prior to baking). › Burn-your-shorts-off hot: Brine the chicken for 48 hours and brush Papa’s Famous Hot Sauce over the chicken prior to baking. Serve with white bread and mayonnaise or a mayonnaise-based side dish (like
Mama’s Potato Salad on p. 216), as the fat will reduce the burn from the hot chicken.