KFC Grilled Chicken*

By RJamoralin

By Todd Wilbur

It took chefs several years to develop what would eventually become KFCs most clucked about new product launch in the chains 57-year history. With between 70 to 180 calories and four to nine grams of fat, depending on the piece, the new un-fried chicken is being called "KFCs second secret recipe," and "a defining moment in our brands storied history" in a company press release. The secret recipe for the new grilled chicken is now stored on an encrypted computer flash drive next to the Colonels handwritten original fried chicken recipe in an electronic safe at KFC company headquarters. Oprah Winfrey featured the chicken on her talk show and gave away so many coupons for free grilled chicken meals that some customers waited in lines for over an hour and a half, and several stores ran out and had to offer rain checks. Company spokesperson laurie schalow told the Associated Press that KFC has never seen such a huge response to any promotion. "Its unprecedented in our more than 50 years," she said. "It beats anything we've ever done."

When I heard about all the commotion over this new secret recipe I immediately locked myself up in the underground lab with a 12-piece bucket of the new grilled chicken, plus a sample I obtained of the proprietary seasoning blend, and got right to work. After days of nibbling through what amounts to a small flock of hens, I'm happy to bring you this amazing cloned version of the latest fast food phenomenon so that you can now reproduce it in your own kitchen. Find the smallest chicken you can, since KFC uses young hens. Or better yet save some dough by finding a small whole chicken and cut it up yourself. The secret preparation process requires that you marinate brine your chicken for a couple hours in a salt and MSG solution. This will make the chicken moist all of the way through and give it great flavor. After the chicken has brined its brushed with liquid smoke-flavored oil that will not only make the seasoning stick to the chicken, but will also ensure that the chicken doesn't stick to the pan. The liquid smoke in the oil gives the chicken a smoky flavor as if it had been cooked on an open flame barbecue grill. The grilled chicken at KFC is probably cooked on ribbed metal plates in specially designed convection ovens - that's how it gets those grill marks. I duplicated that process using an oven-safe grill pan, searing the chicken first on the stovetop to add the grill marks, then cooking the chicken in any large oven safe saute pan. If you have a convection function on your oven you should definitely use it, but the recipe will still work in a standard oven with the temperature set just a little bit higher. After baking the chicken for 20 minutes on each side, you're ready to dive into your own 8-piece bucket of delicious indoor grilled chicken that's as tasty as the fried stuff, but with out all the fat.

Ingredients

• Marinade
• 8 cups water
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 teaspoons MSG (see Tidbits)
• 1 small whole chicken, cut up (8 pieces)
• Brush with
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• Seasoning
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (Knorr brand is best)
• 1/4 teaspoon beef bouillon powder (Knorr brand is best)
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse grind black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon dried Oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Details

Servings 4
Cooking time 60mins
Adapted from topsecretrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Dissolve the salt and MSG in the water to make the marinade (brine). Add the chicken, cover and chill for exactly 2 hours.

2. When the chicken has marinated, rinse each piece of chicken with water and blot dry. Whisk together the oil, liquid smoke, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Brush oil over one side of each piece of chicken.

3. Combine all of the ingredients for the seasoning in a small bowl. Sprinkle the seasoning over the oiled side of each piece of chicken, then flip each piece, brush with oil again and sprinkle on more seasoning.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, or 325 degrees F if you have a convection oven. Brush some of the leftover oil solution onto an oven-safe grill pan or grill plate. Set the pan over medium heat, and when the oil begins to smoke, place the chicken skin-side-down on the pan. Cook the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes or until the skin begins to brown and grill marks form on the chicken, then flip the chicken and cook it for another 1 to 2 minutes. Pop the grill pan into the oven for 20 minutes, then flip each piece of chicken and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the surface of the chicken is golden brown, and the chicken is cooked through.

Tidbits: MSG is monosodium glutamate, a natural amino salt. It can usually be found where herbs and spices are stocked in your market. Accent Flavor Enhancer is one popular brand. If you can's find the chicken and beef bouillon powder for this recipe, you can use bouillon cubes. Just crush the cubes into fine powder before measuring.