I REPEAT, GUS’S WORLD FAMOUS FRIED CHICKEN IS BEST!! Well, I concede that you may have a fav fried chicken place too, so let’s praise the concept as well as the locale.
Origins. Wikipedia notes, “The first dish known to have been deep fried was fritters, which were popular in the European Middle Ages. However, the Scottish were the first to have been recorded as deep frying their chicken in fat with breadcrumbs and seasonings, as evidenced by a recipe in a 1747 cookbook by Hannah Glasse and a 1773 diary entry describing fried chicken on the Isle of Skye.”
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy – Excelling any Thing of the Kind Ever Yet Published, by Hannah Glasse, Vintage Cookery Books, 2008.
Wikipeda continues, “The American English expression ‘fried chicken’ was first recorded in the 1830s, and frequently appears in American cookbooks of the 1860s and 1870s. The origin of fried chicken in the southern states of America has been traced to precedents in Scottish and West African cuisine.
Today’s Cuisine. “Fried chicken,” Wikipedia says, “has been described as being ‘crunchy’ and ‘juicy,’ as well as ‘crispy.’ The dish has also been called ‘spicy’ and ‘salty.’ Occasionally, fried chicken is also topped with chili like paprika, or hot sauce to give it a spicy taste. This is especially common in fast food restaurant chains such as KFC.” Or in more exclusive ones like Gus’s.
Gus’s Half-Chicken Plate with Greens, Mac & Cheese, and is that Fried Green Tomatoes in the background? Image from Gus’s.
Evolution of Our Gus’s Family Ritual. Yes to all of the above. And actually, with all due respect to Gus’s slaw, KFC’s is part of our Gus’s ritual along with Red Robins Steak Fries.
Here’s a typical Gus’s chez nous: There’s a KFC large Cole Slaw complementing Gus’s Breast, Baked Beans, and Seasoned Fries.
Gus’s Original, sorta.
We purposely over-order the 3 Piece White (2 Breasts & Wing) to have leftovers.
A Leftover option.
Our favorite fries are Red Robins Steak Fries, a bag handy in the freezer to augment any leftovers. In time, matters evolved into ordering Gus’s Breasts and Wing A La Carte. Here’s another leftover option, this one on an international kick with Trader Joe’s Korean Pancake on the side.
Gus’s, KFC, Red Robins, and Trader Joe’s.
And Then There’s the Leftover Leftovers. This option evolved from one of those supermarket Broiled Chickens in a Sack bought to make a salad when our kitchen was sans chicken. Trisected it consisted of shredded chicken, skin, and bones. Cleaned up and crisped in the toaster oven, the skin became tasty crouton strips for the salad. And the bones yielded a pot of rich chicken stock, freezable with lots of uses.
Aha. What with all these leftover skin crisps and broth, why not use a leftover shredded Gus’s breast (and some of the broth) for the next batch of chicken vegetable soup?
Why not indeed. It freezes well and is yummy.
And Daughter’s Suz’s Chicken Salad. I didn’t even know I liked this combination of shredded chicken, orange slices, onion, celery, salt and (lots of) pepper, and Kewpie mayo on toast.
Daughter Suz’s Chicken Salad.
This is what I’m having for dinner. Thanks, Suz, Gus, Kewpie, and all those other variations. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024