Nuna Chicken Recipe

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This fried chicken recipe works quite a bit differently than any I have ever come across. Called Nuna Chicken by our family (after my grandma--"Nuna" meaning Grandma), it's a rather time-consuming recipe! And it IS work. But the results are well worth it, as long as you use only REAL butter. Margarine is just plain bad for this recipe.

This recipe works in 2 stages, and the total preparation time is 2 1/2-3 hours. We use it on special occasions.

NUNA CHICKEN RECIPE

The chicken is boiled, and then fried

Chicken breasts, boned and skinned--a little less than 1and a 1/2 per person

Water

One onion, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Cracker Meal

Eggs

BUTTER, and lots of it! About a stick and a half for 4 servings!

Skinning the chicken is about the worst part of the job. Buy it already skinned if you can, it's well worth the investment. What makes the skinning so hard is that it needs to be done while the chicken is RAW, or there will be an overwhelming amount of grease taste once the final stage is done. Stage 1 should be as grease-free as possible. You'll more than make up for it in stage 2.

Stage 1:

Use a big enough pot so you don't have to babysit it to keep it from boiling dry. Fill with water. Add the chopped onion. If you are making 2 servings, the pot will probably be smaller--so use 1/2 an onion in that case. You don't have to pay too much attention to how you chop it--this part is discarded after cooking. Put in LOTS of salt and pepper, since most of it will just dilute in all that water (but don't coat the water with it, either). The more water, the more s & p you need.

Put in the chicken and boil it for 2 hours. Start timing once it starts boiling. Do cover the pot.

NOW FOR THE GOOD PART--Stage 2:

Carefully take out the chicken. A slotted spoon works well. Let it cool off until you can handle it comfortably.

Depending on your preferance, leave the chicken pieces whole or break them up into smaller pieces. This is purely a matter of individual taste: Preferences were about evenly split in my family. Big pieces will give hardly any crust taste, while little pieces have a lot of yummy crust flavor.

Break at least 2 eggs into a bowl. 2 servings takes a bit less than 3, but more than 2.

Dip the chicken pieces into the eggs. It's easier to do with little pieces. If you use big pieces, make sure your bowl's big enough to accomodate the chicken.

Roll in cracker meal.

Turn your frying pan up really hot or the chicken won't get crispy. It should be SMOKIN'! Open a window...this one kicks out a lot of smoke. About 425° should do 'er...and yes, it will end up soggy & yucky if the pan's too cool!!!

Let it get blasting hot and then drop in about 1/2 stick of butter. Move the piece around so the bottom of the pan is WELL coated (okay, swimming in it.).

Put in the cracker-coated chicken. There won't be time for timing it! It'll drink up that butter and brown up REAL fast!!!

After a few seconds--about 10 if you've got it the right temperature--turn over. When the other side's done, grab it out with a fork (or two forks, depending on size of chicken) and put on a paper towel.

You'll see that most of the butter is gone from the bottom of the pan...make sure to get it swimming in more butter before you put in the next batch!

If only a micro-part of the chicken seems to cook, and the rest of the crumbs are staying white, it's a clear sign that not enough butter is in that pan. Load it up!

When done, eat up and enjoy! If you have more than 2 servings to do, you may want to keep the first batches hot by putting them in a warm oven.

By the way, no, I don't know how much fat or cholesterol is in it, and I couldn't care less!! Life's too short for that!!!