. . .well, except for being horrifically bad for you.
Last night we roasted a whole chicken with a lot of salt & pepper on him. We also made mashed potatoes.
While picking the bird clean after eating, I had a little bit of inspiration: I took a strip of that salty, crisp, chicken-skin and wrapped up a glob of mashed potatoes in it.
Then I popped in my mouth. It was like a super-pierogie or a french-fry, but with chicken skin instead of the fried exterior of a potato.
The contrasting textures made for perfect “mouth feel”. The saltiness of the skin with the butteriness of the mashed potatoes was delectable. I think at my next party, I’m going to wrap a bunch up, stick a toothpick through them and serve them on a tray.
I can feel my capillaries screaming for mercy now…
I cant wait to try this=) I think next time I make something that calls for boneless skinless chicken [like fricasse] i will freeze the skins until i have enough to make a batch. I bet you can bake the skin plain on a cookie sheet…
Isn’t that part of the definition of ‘perfect snack’?
Though, I’m not sure how well the skin will stay crispy. My experience is that cooked crispy chicken skin is very efficient in drawing water back from its environment. (Don’t ask how I know this…)
And for avuquan - next time you’re thinking of chicken salad, use chicken thighs for the meat - and you’ll get nice crispity chicken skins for other uses later.
If you like that you’re gonna have to try this one…
If you ever roast a duck save the carcass and the next day pick it clean so you have about a cup of shredded meat. Mix with an equal amount of cold leftover mashed potatoes and form into little patties. Fry these suckers in the duck fat rendered from the roasting.
We came up with something similar a few years back on the way to the beach.
Needed something to eat on the road. Stopped at KFC. I wanted popcorn chicken 'cause I can eat it while I drive, Hubby had a craving for mashed potatos and gravy. Of course when we get to the car I want potatos and gravy too. A light bulb went off over Hubby’s head and he dumped the popcorn chicken in the taters and gravy and fed me while I drove. It was insanely good.
Not big fast food folk but we didn’t feel like cooking last week and while trying to figure out what we wanted, Hubby decided on KFC. We looked at each other and grinned.
The best thing KFC has done in years is to introduce the Snacker, a mini chicken sandwich. I get a few of those and dip them in the mashed potatoes and gravy before every bit. Fucking epic!
Chicken skin isn’t bad for you anymore unless you have elevated cholesterol?
How about the butter in the mashed potatoes. And the salt in the mashed potatoes and chicken skin?
Personally, I don’t think fat, salt and butter are bad for you if you include them as part of healthy eating, but I can’t believe eating chunks of chicken skin isn’t bad for you.