What makes a chicken devilled? Its horns, obviously.
For whatever reason, when a quantity of mustard is added to a dish, it is often referred to as being “devilled”. I assume that there were not a lot of hot peppers in classic French cuisine, so mustard was the hot spice of choice. While we have moved on to spicier ingredients, I still love the flavour mustard brings to a dish, and this recipe is no exception. Great for a quick and easy weeknight meal, try it with some steamed green beans and plenty of lemon wedges for juicing.
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 boneless chicken thighs, skin on
to taste salt and pepper
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 egg, beaten
8 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups breadcrumbs
6 tbsp vegetable oil (or another neutral frying oil)
Method
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Beat the egg and the mustard together and season with salt and pepper.
- Set up a dredging station (one dish has flour, one dish for the egg/mustard mixture, one dish for the breadcrumbs).
- Coat each chicken thigh in flour, then transfer to the egg/mustard mixture to coat well. Finally, transfer to the breadcrumbs, pressing the chicken thigh firmly into the breadcrumbs to coat well. Transfer the breaded chicken thigh to a tray to await frying.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium high heat. When hot, place two chicken thighs in the pan, cooking until golden brown on one side before carefully turning over. Finish cooking each thigh until an internal thermometer reads 160°F, approximately five minutes. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towel, then repeat with the rest of the chicken thighs.