Flash Fried Chicken Mash-Up & Reverse OZ-mosis – October 14, 2011's The Chew Recipe Redo

Carla Hall did a great job reducing the calories in her Grandma Thelma’s fried chicken, but she didn’t get it down as low as Rocco diSpirito's flash-fried chicken that he made on GMA last summer. Carla's recipe still looked good to me, so I did a mash-up of both their techniques for healthy fried chicken that’s also delicious – probably because it’s actually fried and not baked. Her tip of leaving the chicken to sit in the flour for 15 minutes made a huge difference.

• Simmer the chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken breast) in some low sodium chicken broth. I added some fresh garlic for more flavor.  
• When the chicken is just cooked through, put it in a paper bag with seasoned whole wheat flour, I used cayenne, smoked paprika and black pepper. Let it sit for 15 minutes the way Carla did. You can add flaxseed meal to the flour mixture if you want. 
• Heat some oil in a skillet, preferably cast iron. The oil is ready when the handle of a wooden spoon bubbles after being dipped into the hot oil. (Thanks for the great tip, Mario!)
• Flash fry the chicken until golden brown, about a minute. Because the chicken is already cooked through, all you’re doing is creating the crust. This method drastically cuts the amount of fat absorbed into the chicken because it isn’t in there long enough to soak up vast quantities of oil.

The chicken went well with Daphne Oz’s baked sweet potato fries, but I have to admit that I did a little Reverse OZ-mosis. Normally I try to make The Chew recipes healthier by following Dr. Oz’s guidelines, but instead I made it a little tastier by using coconut oil instead of olive oil. Coconut oil has a flavor profile more compatible with sweet potatoes than olive oil.  

I also used fresh-grated nutmeg and a little cayenne in place of the salt & pepper. I'd like to say it's healthier because I omitted the salt and added heart-healthy cayenne and nutmeg, but since I used a less healthy oil - coconut oil is solid @ room temperature (in places north of Arizona, anyway) I'm calling it a wash. While it isn't as healthy as what Daphne made, it's certainly a whole lot better than regular French fries.

Follow Daphne’s directions except use coconut oil in place of the olive oil and nutmeg & cayenne in place of the salt & pepper. Don’t crowd them in the pan – sweet potatoes tend to steam and your “fries” will be mushy instead of crisp. I'm happy to report that these fries came out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside - there were no leftovers!