Pickle Brined Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Ed Humptress Aioli and Summer Slaw

Popeye's will never look the same after this beauty!

This was one for the record books. We paired 48 hour brined extra crispy chicken thighs with the sweet smoky goodness of Ed Humptress aioli, crisp dill pickle chips, and a super finely shaved summer slaw- all on a buttery brioche bun.

This recipe has 3 parts. We started with the added step to brine our chicken thighs in leftover pickle juice for 2 days prior to cooking. Pickle juice is a fantastic brine for all kinds of chicken- and it keeps from having waste! Pickle juice is a mix of vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic, spices, and water. A 12 hour brine will put great flavor into the chicken but we went for a 48 hour brine because we didn't want to lose those flavors to the breading.

Chicken Thighs Ingredients:

6 large Chicken thighs, boneless/skinless

2-3 cups Pickle juice

------------------------------------

1 cup Corn starch

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper

------------------------------------

2 cups Buttermilk

3 Eggs

1 Tbsp Salt

2 Tbsp Ed Humptress Hot Sauce

-------------------------------------

2 cups Flour

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

Slaw Ingredients:

1 Medium red cabbage

1 Medium Carrot, shredded

3/4 cup Mayonnaise

2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

3 Scallions, diced small

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

Sweet and Smoky Ed Humptress Aioli (click to recipe)

-Start by putting your chicken thighs in a ziploc with the pickle juice- and wait....for a day or 2.

-Start with the slaw: Use a vegetable peeler to shave the head of cabbage into super thin shreds. It takes a smidge longer but is worth the work. Mix with the shredded carrot, mayonnaise, scallions, mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix well until cabbage is thoroughly coated.

-Lay out 3 large bowls, this is your 3 step chicken breading station. In each bowl mix:

Bowl 1: Corn starch, salt, and pepper

Bowl 2: Buttermilk, eggs, salt, and Ed Humptress Hot Sauce

Bowl 3: Flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder

-Remove chicken from the pickle juice brine and pat dry. Start by completely coating in corn starch. Give it a good rub down- a REALLY REALLY GOOD RUB DOWN. Massage the corn starch into the chicken so that it gets into all the little nooks.

-Optional but highly recommended: whisper sweet nothings to the chicken while massaging it.

-Coat the chicken in the buttermilk mixture.

-Drip off the excess buttermilk and coat thoroughly in the flour mixture. Massage again.

-Repeat the buttermilk and flour steps.

-Heat 4 inches of oil in a large dutch oven or thick bottomed pot. Heat slowly over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees.

-Carefully drop 2 thighs into the oil at a time. Fry for about 6 minutes per batch, until the internal temperature of the chicken is 160 degrees.

-Compose the sandwich by spreading a very generous amount of aioli on both the top and bottom bun. Lay 1 crispy chicken thigh on top, top with slaw and dill pickle chips (optional but amazing).