The Chicken Dish Andrew Zimmern Says Almost Made Him Faint
Andrew Zimmern fainting from food is a pretty outlandish concept. The former Bizarre Foods host has eaten everything from jellied moose nose to rotten tomato ketchup, without so much as a stomachache.
So when Zimmern took to Twitter to share a recreation of an Italian dish that he "almost fainted when [he] tasted," fans expected another, well, bizarre food. Ironically enough, Zimmern's dizziness wasn't from rancid food — it was from one of the best dishes he's ever had. The dish in question? Butter fried chicken, topped with lemon, cheese, capers, and, well, more butter. Aka, all of life's greatest things, and thankfully, no moose nose in sight. According to Zimmern, it's the kind of dinner that "makes everyone happy."
The receipts don't lie, either; Zimmern has long gushed about this dish, thanks to its flavorful citrus notes and the chicken's butter-drenched comfort food crust. He first shared the recipe with Food & Wine back in 2012, explaining that he "first ate this dish 30 years ago... in Florence where [he] was a stagiaire." He echoed what he told his Twitter followers, and warned readers that the dish is absolutely faint-worthy, so "please put pillows on the floor the first time you make it." Noted.
One reviewer said that they cut back on the amount of butter the recipe calls for, since it equals out to be half of a stick per person. This one's definitely not for the faint of heart (or at least, the heart health-conscious).
Zimmern doesn't hold back on the butter with this dish
In his tweet, Zimmern shared a link to a YouTube video walk-through of the dish, and we have to agree: This butter fried chicken looks worthy of any good cheat day meal.
He starts with the dredging, explaining that it's all in the seasoning — season your flour, season your chicken, season your sauce. The thin slices of chicken go into flour, an egg-wash, and then into breadcrumbs for the perfect, crispy coating.
You'll want to heat up two entire sticks of butter until the water content starts to boil off. Just before the butter browns, toss the chicken in and fry it, flipping halfway through. Zimmern explains that this butter-fried chicken is a hit because it has the "crispy elements we love with chicken fingers, [but] with the lemon, brown butter, shallot, caper, awesomeness of a classic piccata-style cutlet." Faint-worthy, indeed.
Once the chicken is cooked to perfection, remove it and replace it with some capers, lemon slices, and shallots. Let them simmer in the brown butter before pouring the mixture over the chicken — this is the most crucial part, says Zimmern, since you want to tilt the dish to get all of the good bits of sauce onto your plate. If there's any left over, he suggests serving it table-side for your guests to ladle on top of their own serving. With a dish like this, the more butter, the better, right?