Faux KFC?

Short Answer: No. At least not without some work.

Several months ago, the Chicago Tribune claimed to have gotten their hands on the recipe for Col. Sanders secret blend of eleven herbs and spices. At the conclusion of their own taste tests, they said:

All we know is the recipe we tested certainly tastes like KFC. And whatever it is, it’s finger lickin’ good.

I decided to find out for myself, and I already had all eleven of those herbs and spices in my pantry.   U dutifully mixed up the ingredients per the Chicago Tribune article.  I grabbed two chicken breasts out of the freezer and thawed them out.  After thawing I sliced each chicken breast in half horizontally (making the chicken pieces half as thick) so they would cook more quickly.

I should mention that I love my little Cuisinart Deep Fryer. It uses only a quart of oil and is perfect when deep frying for just Sweet Lady Wife and I.

As you can see from the photo, the results looked pretty good.  THe first bite however revealed a problem: Too much pepper – WAAAY to spicy. I went back and checked the recipe:

• 1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
• 3 Tablespoons Ground White Pepper

FOUR tablespoons of pepper!!!  WOW.  The next time I make this I will start with NO pepper and add it to taste. I’m guessing that one tablespoon of pepper will be plenty.  I’m also a little puzzled about the use of white pepper.  Normally white pepper is used only when you are serving something light colored and want to avoid little black specks of black pepper.

Getting past the spiciness, I could taste that familiar KCF flavor, but it wasn’t quite right.  I’ll have to keep experimenting.