Fried Chicken Biscuits with Sweet Apricot Mustard

Yield: 12 servings


Apricot Mustard

¼ cup mustard seeds

½ cup dried apricots

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup apple cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Herb Fried Chicken

peanut oil

6 cloves garlic, slightly smashed with skins intact

6 sprigs hard herbs: thyme, oregano, and rosemary

4 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3 pieces

½ cup Greek yogurt

1cup milk

1 teaspoon hot sauce/chili sauce (optional)

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper


Apricot Mustard

1. Soak mustard seeds and apricots in a glass bowl along with wine and vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak for 3 days at room temperature.

2. Transfer mustard seeds, apricots, white wine and apple cider vinegar to a food processor. Add salt, brown sugar and nutmeg and blend until the mustard reaches your desired coarseness and consistency.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour until it’s the size of small peas. Add buttermilk in a pool in the middle, then mix until just combined. Turn out the biscuit dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently by folding it in half, rolling out the dough, then repeating the fold and roll two additional times. Cut out biscuits using a 2-inch cutter, place on parchment-lined baking sheet, then brush them with melted butter.

3. Bake at 475 degrees fahrenheit for 12 minutes. Remove biscuits from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Herb Fried Chicken

1. Fry chicken in three batches using a medium skillet. Add 1½ inches of peanut oil to the skillet and set the heat to medium-high. Add garlic and herbs immediately so that they infuse while the oil comes to temperature.

2. Meanwhile, pat dry the chicken and set aside. Whisk together greek yogurt, milk and chili sauce (if using) in medium bowl. Sift together flour, salt and black pepper in a separate medium bowl. Drench the chicken first in the flour, then in the milk and again in the flour.

3. Begin frying chicken. The oil is ready to start frying when it sizzles from a drop of water. Fry the chicken for 3 minutes on each side. Check for doneness by cutting into the center of a piece, then adjust heat and cooking time accordingly. It’s better to keep the heat in the medium to medium-high range and cook longer than to crank the heat and end up with burnt chicken. Trandsfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined plate, then serve with biscuits and apricot mustard.