Crispy Smoky Chicken Salad

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken:

1kg Chicken breast, equal size

Brine:
1 Cup Salt
½ Cup Sugar
4 Cups Water
Bradley Smoker Bisquettes – Maple or Special Blend

Crispy Coating:
1 ½ Cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
½ tsp Cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 Tbsp Onion powder

To Cook:
3 Cups canola oil for Deep frying or
Spray Oil for Grilling

For the Salad:

4 Cos lettuce heads, rinsed and rough chopped
2 Carrots, peeled into ribbons
1 Cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch diagonal pieces
1 Fennel bulb, shaved
2 Spring Onions, chopped
1 bunch Dill, picked
½ Cup Blue Cheese, roughly crumbled
1 Lemon, halved for juice
1 tsp Salt

For the Dressing:

1 bunch Dill, chopped
4 Chive stalks, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
2 Tbsp Lemon juice
4 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Cup Buttermilk (alternative – add 1Tbsp of white Vinegar (or 1tsp Lemon juice) to 1Cup of milk, leave to stand 5 minutes and use as buttermilk)


INSTRUCTIONS

For the Chicken:
1. In a large bowl, combine the salt, sugar and water into a large bowl. Add chicken breasts and brine for 2 to 12 hours. Rinse and drain on paper towels.
2. Turn on your Bradley Smoker to cold smoke (smoker side only, leave oven side off), load Bisquettes (Maple or Special Blend are nice with Chicken). Smoke the Chicken breasts for 40 minutes (2 bisquettes), remove from smoker.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, pepper, salt, cayenne, onion and garlic powder. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture one at a time until well coated.
4. Pour canola oil into a skillet and heat to 350 degrees. Fry the chicken in the hot oil until golden and crispy. Transfer to a wire rack to drain. Season with salt.
Or Spray the chicken with oil and grill until golden and crispy.


For the Salad:
5. Clean Cos leaves and rough chop.
6. Slice cucumbers, shave carrots and fennel, chop green onions and pick dill. Set aside ingredients until assembly.
For the Dressing:
7. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together except for the buttermilk. Slowly whisk in buttermilk.


To Assemble the Salad:
8. Cut fried chicken into 2-inch pieces, a little bigger than bite sized.
9. Toss all vegetables together, reserving the dill and scallions for topping. Sprinkle salt and squeeze a little lemon on the salad and toss. Add 2 tablespoons of buttermilk dressing at a time until salad is well coated. Plate the greens on a large platter. Pile the fried chicken throughout the greens. Sprinkle the blue cheese and herbs and serve.