RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Beth Greenfeld Chicken, Fried for Hanukkah #1: Pollo Fritto per Chanuka - meat
The recipe which follows is from "Italian Jewish Cooking," by Mira Sacerdoti, edited by Rita Erlich. (Archivist's note: A review of the book can be found in the Cookbook Review section of the archive.) I thought I would let y'all know what Italian Jews served on Chanukah, since that's the closest holiday. It seems, I found out, that Italian Jews celebrate one holiday that no other Jews do, called Shabbat Beshalach, on the Shabbat that we read the portion about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. If someone reminds me, I'll post it right before the pertinent Shabbat. You'll like it--it has something in it to remind you of the heads of the drowned... Anyway, back to Chanukah (spelled Hanuckah in the book). In the introductory section, it says that two appropriate main dishes are meat alla Shimson and Fried Chanukah chicken. I have no idea what Meat alla Shimson is; it's not in the index, and I skimmed the whole book and couldn't find it anywhere. But I did find the chicken recipe, even though it's not CALLED Fried Chanukah Chicken in the index. It's just called Fried Chicken, and then you have to go look at it and see from the blurb that it's indeed for Chanukah, but you can have it any time. So, here it is: Fried Chicken 1 chicken size 12 cut into 4 or 4 chicken Maryland pieces [I will not comment on the fact that although I live in Maryland I have no idea what that means, but I will be sure to enquire about it the next time I'm in Italy.] 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 eggs juice of one lemon flour olive oil freshly ground pepper salt Put the chicken pieces in an earthenware or glass container in which they fit completely. Put the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper into a shallow dish and beat with a fork until well amalgamated; then pour it over the chicken. Turn the chicken pieces once or twice to make sure that they are well coated on all sides, cover the dish, and allow to stand for at least one hour. Remove the chicken pieces from the mariande and pat dry with a paper towel. Break the eggs into a soup plate, season with salt and pepper, and beat lightly with a fork. Coat the chicken pieces with flour, dip into the egg, and fry in hot oil. When the chicken is golden brown on all sides remove it from the oil and put it on a rack to drain in a moderately hot oven leaving the oven door open, until you are ready to serve.
