| Cooking With The Davis Family
Nothing more classic
and delicious than great fried chicken and great California
Chardonnay. So if you have an old family recipe…pull it out…
but if not this may start a new “Davis Family” tradition. I
got this recipe from Scott Peacock, an amazing Southern
culinary master and chef at the Horseradish Grill in
Atlanta. Chill some Chardonnay and you are all set! Note:
To make this correctly you need to start some soaking 2 days
ahead, so read the recipe quickly so you know how to plan.
(This recipe is worth following at least once, just to see
how decadent fried chicken can be!)
Real Pan-Fried Chicken
1
whole chicken cut into 8 pieces for
frying
½ cup cornstarch
2 quarts
water
¼ cup potato flour
4 ½ Tbs Sea
salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-quart
buttermilk
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp ground sage
Combine water, 3 tablespoons of salt and
chicken in a bowl and refrigerate
overnight.
Remove chicken from the water brine and cover with
buttermilk and 1 tablespoon of salt, and refrigerate
overnight.
Mix well the flours, 1 ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ tsp pepper, and
dry sage. Remove chicken from buttermilk, allow remaining
buttermilk to drip off, but leave the chicken coated, dredge
the chicken in the flour mixture, take care to cover
thoroughly but shake well to remove excess. Heat oil
(special recipe follows) to 350 degrees in a frying pan,
electric fry pan or best of all a cast iron skillet. Fry
chicken pieces skin side down first, approximately 5 to 6
minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked
throughout.
Yummy! Yummy! To go all the way and do a southern mother
justice use this Special Chicken-Frying-Fat recipe. If not,
use your choice of vegetable oil, but yawl be missin’ out.
½
pounds fresh high quality lard.
½ pound unsalted butter
2 thick slices country ham
Melt fats and cook ham over medium heat, remove meat once
cooked completely, skim and clarify as butter. |
Our 2000 Davis Family Vineyards Dutton Ranch
Chardonnay marks the third vintage of sourcing fruit from
our friends at Dutton Ranch. This is a combination of 2
different vineyards, one at the Dutton headquarters in
western Sonoma County and one even farther west in Green
Valley near the town of Occidental. Both these vineyards are
always our last to be picked, even after all our reds, which
is unusual, but not for us...we have become enchanted by
these very cool coastal vineyards that create and hold
wonderful citrus and floral qualities. These very cool
Russian River exposures leave great acidity in the wines
too. This allows us to put the wine through full malolactic
fermentation, which adds to the rich body of the wine, and
still keep the brightness that the crisp natural acidity
brings. Fermented and aged in the best French Oak barrels
available, to subtly season the wine with an element of
spice and toast. The aromas start out as lemon custard, with
light floral hints; the flavors are also full of citrus,
with spice and an impression of cream in both flavor and in
rich texture. The finish of the wine is mouth coating and
continues to linger with fresh lemons and spice. We only
produced 186 cases of this treasure, so try not to spill!
Enjoy!