BOCCONCINI DI POLLO FRITTI or DEEP-FRIED CHICKEN WITH HERBAL SALT

Deep-fried food has almost become illegal which on one hand is good as itsn’t that healthy but on the other hand I think one could do it once in a while because it tastes so good. I don’t do it very often but here in Tuscany, you are often offered deep-fried vegetables, mushrooms, fish and chicken at meals and who can resist it? The trick to let the chicken marinate for a while in lightly whipped egg together with lemon and herbs is a Tuscan invention but you can skip it if it doesn’t appeal to you. It’s important to roll the chicken pieces in the flour just before you deep-fry them so that they become nice and crispy. And do remember to wash you hands when you are handling chicken, salmonella isn’t fun!


BOCCONCINI DI POLLO FRITTI or DEEP-FRIED CHICKEN WITH HERBAL SALT
3-4 servings

750 g/26,5 oz of chicken, I used chicken thighs and if they are very big I divide them in two pieces
3 eggs
1 tblsp chopped parsley
The juice of half a lemon
½ tsp salt
Black pepper
Flour
Oil, I always use olive oil when I dee-fry because it resists high temperature very well

HERBAL SALT

2 branches of rosemary
8 leaves of sage
50 ml/0,2 cup of coarse salt

-Whip the eggs together with the lemon juice, the chopped parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Then you put the pieces of chicken into the whipped eggs, cover it up and leave it to marinate for an hour in the fridge.
- While you wait you make the herbal salt by putting the ingredients into a food processor and then run it until the salt has the ‘size’ you wish it to have. Put it into a little bowl.
- When it’s time to start cooking you heat up the oil. I usually pour the oil in a casseroule of the diameter of ca 20 cm because in this way I use less oil and you can’t fry too many pieces at once anyway if you want to keep the temperature high. Pour in something like 5-6 cms of oil and heat it well.
- When the oil is hot, you ‘roll’ the chicken pieces in the flour ( see to that they are completely covered) and then put them into the oil; you can fry 3-4 pieces at a time. Turn them around a couple of times and let them fry for about 10-12 minutes, it depends on how big they are. If they get brown too quickly you have to turn down the temperature.
- When they are golden brown, you put them to drip off the excess fat on kitchen paper towels for a little while. Serve the chicken together with the herb salt and eat it straight away.