French Fried Chicken with Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut
Veuve Clicquot gave carte blanche to a group of ‘New Makers’ to create bold new food pairings for their champagne. Alix Lacloche’s (@alixlacloche) French Fried Chicken blends crunchy, tender fried chicken and a seasonal herb salad with the sparkling bite of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label champagne. She brought international flavour to her exclusive dish for Veuve Clicquot, with a contrast of tastes and textures emblematic of her cooking style
Feeds 2
INGREDIENTS
- Free-range boned chicken legs
- Flour
- Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper
- Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label champagne
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
- Like mixed radishes, fennel, mini beets, mini cucumbers, salad leaves
- Fresh herbs, salt, pepper, olive oil
METHOD
- Season the chicken legs, then dip them in champagne. If you have more time, you can leave them to chill overnight in a bowl of fermented milk and a glass of champagne.
- Coat each leg in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon zest, pressing with your fingers so that the flour is absorbed by the skin.
- Leave to dry for 30 mins to allow a crust to form, sprinkling with more flour if necessary.
- Heat a generous amount of sunflower oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Once ready, fry one or two legs each time – the less meat in the pan, the higher the temperature and the crunchier the coating.
- Cook without touching for 4 mins, then turn. The meat should be golden and cooked through after 7 mins.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Serve with a raw salad of finely chopped red, white and black radishes, green fennel, mini beets and cucumbers on freshly picked leaves, seasoned with fresh herbs – try mint, purple asil, parsley and cilantro – seasoned with Maldon sea salt, good olive oil, champagne vinegar and freshly cracked black pepper. Mix with your hands.
