Less labor day
bill’s chicken will bring the family home for the holiday
By Erica Wayne 09/02/2010
Way back when, as a “cub” food critic for the Weekly, I did a column comparing store-bought fried chicken. A Maryland native, I ate enough of the stuff (home-made, of course) growing up to self-qualify as a true expert. That summer of 1985, I gathered chicken from KFC, Louisiana, Church’s and Pioneer (replaced by Popeye’s in the early ‘90s) as well as Bill’s Chicken, a singularity at the corner of Mentor and Washington. I won’t bore you with the details, but the clear winners were Church’s and Bill’s.
For several years after that, when I didn’t feel like dusting off the deep-fat fryer, I’d head to one or the other. Bill’s changed locations, and I couldn’t find it when it moved around the corner to Lake Avenue. So, there I was with just Church’s on Fair Oaks Avenue, Popeye’s (almost as good) on Lake and, occasionally, for batter pig-outs, the East Colorado Boulevard Colonel’s extra-crispy, which may or may not actually have chicken hidden beneath the crusting. All three are good, but none taste like home.
Anyhow, Bill’s recently turned up again on Lincoln Avenue, north of Woodbury Road, and I must say I’m grateful. Now, when I want to host a slew of people for summer suppers, say on Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day, I can do it without heating up the kitchen or my temper. And, if I can get the chicken from Bill’s to my house before the crisp is lost, it’s home-fried enough that I can even take credit for it, if I weren’t so honest.
Bill’s isn’t perfect. The chicken pieces are smallish, with no coating “enhancements” to make them look larger. But they are home-fried without excessive fat. (You can tell by microwaving a piece for a minute or so to heat it up. There’s hardly any grease on the plate.) I’ve never been blown away by their sides, but they’re good enough to serve as the foundation for a truly fine holiday meal. And the desserts — well I’ll get to that later. Right now, for lazy cooks like me, here’s a recipe for an almost completely unlaborious Labor Day feast for six to eight guests:
• One 15-piece assorted chicken meal, with two pint-size sides ($22.95)
• Two to four additional pint-size sides ($3.95 to $4.95). These include potato salad, coleslaw, BBQ baked beans, macaroni salad, greens, green beans, cucumber salad, chicken salad, macaroni and cheese, red beans and rice, yams and mashed potatoes with gravy
• Corn muffins, as desired (50 cents each)
• Six to eight BBQ hot links ($2.50 each)
• Six miniature sweet potato pies ($2 each), slabs of chocolate or lemon cake ($1.90 each)or peach cobblers ($2.95 each)
When you get home, take a last deep breath of the marvelous aroma of fried chicken before removing yourself and the purchases from your car. Then, distract or remove all pets and mates from the kitchen and get started.
The chicken can be laid out directly on a serving plate, but do it quickly. Unlike certain franchise chicken recipes, Bill’s will lose its crisp if it swelters in the bag they pack it in for very long. Stick it in your oven to keep it from the aforementioned family members while you attend to the sides.
If you ordered potato salad, you obviously like it. We don’t. But Bill’s potato salad is average, if a bit sweet. To jazz it up, try chopped green onion for color and tang. If you want to work harder, a little prepared mustard would be nice as well. Bill’s mashed potatoes just need some heating up and a pat of butter.
Coleslaw? Again, Bill’s offering is average. The easiest fix: caraway seed. Very classy. A more traditional approach would be a sprinkle of celery seed. You can also put in raisins or peanuts. I think of shredded cabbage as a blank canvas for inventive culinary artists. (No, I’m not that creative, but I can look up recipes!)
Bill’s macaroni and cheese is for babies. It’s way too fluid and bland. Stick it in a bowl and microwave it till it dries out a bit. Then, add a touch of cayenne or nutmeg, sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs or some grated sharp cheddar and nuke it some more before serving. The baked beans are good, but also a little too runny. Again, it’s time for Mr. Microwave.
Among the soul food and southern offerings, Bill’s greens are worth trying. The red beans and rice and the yams are favorites, but Bill’s was out last time. We settled for extra corn muffins. There’s nothing wrong with the muffins at room temperature, but warm them up, let your guests spread them with butter and honey, and you’ll get raves.
The BBQ hot links are exactly that — fat, spicy sausages swimming in sauce. Cut them into chunks with toothpicks or provide knives and allow diners to hack them up themselves. If people are loading paper plates and balancing them on their laps while they hold beverages, do them a favor and pre-carve. Beside, these are so good that, if they’re not cut, two or three connoisseurs might make off with the whole lot.
Now for the desserts. Luckily, the cakes, deeply colored and flavored, don’t need a thing. Nor do the miniature pies, since the dense, sweet potato filling is nutmeg-laced and so delicious. I love the flavor of the cobbler; but, frankly, it’s pretty pallid, and the ratio of peach to dough is a bit off. To keep labor down, I’d stick with pies and cakes. But, if you must, dump several cobblers in a baking dish, bake till hot while everybody’s polishing off chicken and hot links, serve with ice cream and congratulate yourself on entertaining for Labor Day without any excess labor.
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