A Cooking Fat Primer

• Cooking fats are processed as either solids or liquid and can generally be used interchangeably in recipes. Vegetable-based oils can be used for both shallow- and deep-frying chicken. Shortening is vegetable oil that has been solidified by whipping air into it and remains solid until heated, at which time it melts into a liquid. Solid fats, such as butter and lard, are derived from animals, and while they are higher in saturated fat, they can be used in a pinch when oil is not available.

Butter Is Sometimes Better

• You can use butter to cook your floured chicken pieces in a couple of ways. First, you can fry the lightly coated chicken in melted butter, adding seasonings of your choice when you first add it to the pan. To speed up cooking, flatten boneless chicken pieces so that they are of a uniform thickness before dredging them in the flour, and then sear them quickly on the outside to develop a golden crust. Reduce the heat and continue cooking them until their juices run clear. Another method involves baking the floured chicken pieces in melted butter at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 60 minutes, turning them once halfway through to assure even cooking on both sides.

The Empty Pan Gets the Grease

• Lard and vegetable shortening can be melted and used to pan-fry or deep-fry chicken that has been coated with flour. Unlike vegetable shortening, which contributes little to no flavor to chicken, lard supplies a richer meatier flavor. For shallow frying, melt enough fat in a high-sided saute pa so that it just comes up the sides of the chicken pieces. For deep-frying, the fat should be at least 3 to 4 inches deep and should completely cover the chicken during cooking. This eliminates the need to turn it during frying.

Miscellaneous Fats

• Back when convenience foods were still unheard of, it was common practice to keep all fats left over from roasting meats as well as any raw fat trimmed from roasts and birds before cooking. These fats were rendered, or boiled down, and used to prepare subsequent meals. You can make your own by frying pieces of chicken fat along with skin in water to cover and cooking it down until nothing but fat and crispy solids remain. The strained fat can be refrigerated indefinitely.