Fried Chicken (Maryland Style)

Recipe No. 376 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Meat. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Chicken, New York dressed* — 80 pounds
• or — as needed
• Chicken, full drawn* — 60 pounds
• Flour, sifted — as needed
• Salt — 6 ounces (¼ mess kit cup)
• Pepper — ¾ ounce (3 mess kit spoons)
• Milk, evaporated — 2 — 14½-ounce cans
• Water (for milk) — 1 quart (1 No. 56 dipper)
• Eggs, slightly beaten — 20 eggs (1 No. 56 dipper)
• Bread crumbs, dry — 4 pounds (4 No. 56 dippers)
• Fat, melted — as needed
• Water, boiling — as needed

Directions

Key ingredients

Evaporated Milk

1. Clean chicken; cut into suitable servings.
2. Mix flour, salt, and pepper together; roll chicken in flour.
3. Mix milk and water; add beaten egg and mix well. Dip floured chicken in milk and egg mixture. Roll in bread crumbs.
4. Place in well-greased baking pans. Pour small amount of melted fat over chicken.
5. Bake in moderate oven (350° F.) 1 to 2½ hours or until tender depending upon size of chickens. Baste with mixture of hot fat and water several times during cooking.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Chicken, New York dressed — 6 lb 6⅓ oz or — to taste Chicken, full drawn — 4 lb 12¾ oz Flour, sifted — to taste Salt — ½ oz Pepper — about ⅓ tsp Milk, evaporated — ½ can (14½ oz) Water (for milk) — 5 tbsp Eggs, slightly beaten — 1⅔ eggs Bread crumbs, dry — 5 oz Fat, melted — to taste Water, boiling — to taste

Broilers or fryers.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 376, Meat. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.