The perception may be that fried chicken is a uniquely American dish given it’s ubiquitous presence at picnics and kitchen tables from sea to shining sea.   But the Tuscans  love a good  “pollo frito” just as much as Americans, including the Colonel. In fact, it is on the menu of a lot of traditional style restaurants in Tuscany.  The side dishes vary a little from the American preferences as well, but not by much.

One amazing difference here is the freshness of the chicken, so if you are able to find locally grown chicken that is nice and fresh you will enjoy the dish even more.  Truly fresh chicken has an actual pinkish tint to it, even when fully cooked.   This pinkish tint is not the same as a raw center, a raw center is delineated by a change in texture while the fresh meat will have the same rosy hue from edge to edge.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken pieces (I prefer skin on) roughly two per person

Flour

Butter (enough to coat the bottom of the pan very lightly)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Take your chicken pieces and rinse them in tepid water and pat them dry.  Dredge through the flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Coat the pan with a thin layer of butter.  Turn your flame up and fry both sides of the chicken for 1 to 2 minutes.  Lower your flame and add a drizzle of olive oil and cover the pan and continue to cook for roughly 25 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces then add the remainder of the pan drippings over the chicken, being sure to scrap the pan to get any little chicken pieces that are trying to escape.

I like this with a baked potato slathered in olive oil a crispy green salad with a hint of lemon and a clean white wine, unoaked Chardonnay or Poilly Fume.