Sesame Seed Chicken & Gravy Dinner

Remember those days when families used to cook on Sundays and all get together in the afternoon and early evening to gather around the table, talk about life, laugh together and just enjoy each other’s company?

Well, this fried sesame seed chicken, served up with mashed potatoes, white gravy and green beans (or even fried okra if you are luckier than us and have access to okra on a regular basis) is the epitome of those traditional Sunday dinners.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that this recipe is a modified recipe out of my 30 Years of Southern Living cookbook. It’s never steered me wrong before. And food really doesn’t get much more Southern than this in the end.

I was a bit skeptical about the sesame crust on the chicken, because neither of us are huge fans of sesame seeds…but it was really delicious with the gravy. It provided a long lasting crunchiness that you just don’t get with normal frying. And because you’re doing breasts, it’s all quite easy and clean to eat.

We used chicken from the local chicken man, and I love that place just a little bit more each time I go in. This fried chicken was juicy and absolutely delicious, even on the second day, which was not something I expected at all from fried chicken. Most of the time, the store bought chicken tends to dry out pretty quickly, especially when you’re frying boneless chicken breasts.

We halved the recipe to only make 4 chicken breasts — but still made the full amount of gravy. We had way too much gravy in the end (which I did something extreme with — I froze it to try on chicken fried steaks when I finally remember to buy some steaks at the butcher) but better too much gravy than too little. It’s so good you seriously want to bathe everything on your plate in gravy.

Coating the chicken pieces in the plastic bag was a bit strange because it seemed like there would never be enough flour in there to coat everything — but as it turned out, there was.

This was a big two thumbs up in our house. And the simple southern gravy was to die for! One of the best meals we’ve cooked together in a while…hopefully it will not be too long before we do it again!

Fried Sesame Seed Chicken

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
• 4 large eggs, lightly beanten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• White Chicken Gravy (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Combine 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and 1/4 cup flour in a zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken and shake to coat.
2. Combine eggs and milk in a small, shallow bowl (sufficient to dip the chicken breasts in); set aside
3. Combine remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt and sesame seeds in a small, shallow bowl.
4. Pour oil to a depth of 1 inch into a heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet; heat to 350°F (180°C) OR use a fryer. (Our fryer would only hold 2 breasts at a time.)
5. Dip each chicken breast in egg mixture, coat with sesame seed mixture. Fry chicken in hot oil over medium heat for 15 minutes or until golden.

Serve with White Chicken Gravy, mashed potatoes and a favorite vegetable like green beans, sugared carrots or fried okra.

White Chicken Gravy

Yield: about 2 cups

Directions

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Ingredients

1. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Gradually add chicken broth; cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.
2. Gradually stir one-fourth of hot mixture into egg yolks; add to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes or until thickened and smooth.

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2 Responses to “Sesame Seed Chicken & Gravy Dinner”

1. Courtey says:

   April 7, 2011 at 2:29 pm

   This sounds and looks really yummy!

   Reply
2. Dana says:

   April 7, 2011 at 9:00 pm

   This sounds like the quintessential southern dinner… I’ve not done much traveling in the South, but I would definitely try something like this if I was there! Or I can just try it at home with this yummy sounding recipe

   Reply