Fried Chicken, Coleslaw, and House-fermented Smoked Poblano Hot Sauce

Adapted by StarChefs.com

INGREDIENTS:

Sweet Tea-brined Chicken
(Yield: 8 sevings)
½ gallon water
½ cup salt
¼ cup sugar
1 sprigs thyme
Two 2.5 grams Lipton black tea bags
2 chickens, cut into 8 pieces
1 gallon buttermilk
Smoked Poblano Hot Sauce
(Yield: 1½ gallons)
2½ pounds smoked Poblanos
11 ounces kosher salt
½ gram Bactoferm LHP starter culture
2 cups distilled water
3 quarts white distilled vinegar
½ cup Champagne vinegar
12 ounces sugar
½ cup minced garlic
5 pounds jalapeños
2½ pounds Serrano chiles
Coleslaw
(Yield: 32 servings)
2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons Tennessee honey
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoon celery seeds
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 heads green cabbage, finely shredded
4 carrots, finely shredded
To Assemble and Serve
fryer oil
2½ pounds White Lily flour
⅓ cup salt
¼ cup ground black pepper
1½ tablespoons onion powder
1½ tablespoons garlic powder

METHOD:

For the Sweet Tea-brined Chicken:
In a large pot, bring water, salt, sugar, and thyme to a boil. Remove from heat and steep tea bags in hot liquid 5 minutes. Cool to at least 40ºF in refrigerator. Add chicken to brine, making sure it is completely submerged. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate 24 hours. Remove chicken from brine, rinse under cold running water, and pat dry. Submerge chicken in buttermilk and marinate at least 1 hour and up to a day.

For the Smoked Poblano Hot Sauce:
Prepare a smoker and smoke the poblanos until soft. Remove stems. In a food processor, combine smoked poblanos, jalapeños, Serrano chiles, salt, and Bactoferm. Pulse until puréed. Add distilled water. Place in a large, clean container covered with cheesecloth. In a dark place, ferment 3 days at 90ºF.

In a nonreactive pot, combine vinegars, sugar, garlic, and pepper mash and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and cool. In a blender, blend until completely smooth. Pass through a fine sieve. If you have access to a used whiskey barrel, you can age sauce for 3 months, up to a year. The flavor will develop as it ages.

For the Coleslaw:
In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, ¼ cup Smoked Poblano Hot Sauce, lemon juice, mustard, celery seeds, salt, and pepper. Add dressing gradually to the cabbage and carrots; toss to combine.

To Assemble and Serve:
Heat oil in deep fryer to 280ºF. Combine flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Remove chicken from buttermilk and directly dip it into the flour mixture, coating the entire surface. Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes to get a little bit tacky. Fry until golden brown and the internal temperature reads 165ºF in the thickest parts. Remove from oil and drain on paper towls.
Put Sweet Tea-brined Fried Chicken in an aluminum bucket with parchment paper. Serve with Coleslaw and Smoked Poblano Hot Sauce on the side.