Skillet fried chicken with green beans and leeks with potatoes and gravy

This is a Sunday dinner type thing, but we ended up eating it on Saturday. SO was really jonesing for fried chicken, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm really enjoying the cast iron skillet these days. Some swear by it as their only pan. I won't quite go that far, but still it is good for many things: rib eye steak, corn bread, and yes, fried chicken.

Fried chicken, beans and leeks, and potatoes with gravy

Essentially I dredged the chicken in some seasoned flour, and threw it in a hot skillet. Not much more to it than that. I found some local green beans and was going to do it with parsnips but our grocery didn't have any so I substituted leeks and some red onion. Finally, some good old roughly smashed potatoes with the best gravy ever. I'm not a gravy expert, but you cannot make bad gravy in a skillet after frying chicken - there's just too much goodness in there. Just get the right amount of fat and flour, the rest is stirring and time.

The best gravy ever, from the gubbins' left in the skillet

In the end was a really nice meal. And the best part of all, SO got her fried chicken.

Next Time: maybe asparagus with the beans, and a little less cayenne in the gravy

Me: 8/10
SO: 8/10
SSO: 4/10

Skillet fried chicken with green beans and leeks with potatoes and gravy
Ingredients

• 4 to 6 pieces of chicken, breasts and/or legs, whatever will fit your skillet
• a cup of milk and an egg
• handful of green beans
• thinly sliced red onion
• two sliced leeks, thoroughly washed
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tb dijon
• 1 Tb honey
• enough potatoes to feed your crew, washed and roughly chopped for boiling
• 1 1/2 cups flour (or so)
• spices for the flour and gravy, such as: salt & pepper, cayenne, thyme leaves, paprika, etc.
• extra butter for making gravy, probably up to a stick
• some oil for the frying, such as peanut or canola

Method

1. Preheat your 12" cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. 
2. Mix the flour and your choice of spices. Don't be skimpy with the spices!  Mix well and reserve a few tablespoons for making gravy later.
3. Wash and trim the chicken pieces of any excessive fat. In a bowl, beat the egg and mix in the milk. Moisten the chicken pieces, then dredge thoroughly in the flour and place the pieces in the hot skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cover to keep in the splatter and to help keep the chicken moist.Turn after a while. The chicken will take 20 - 30 minutes depending on the size of pieces. You can always check with an instant read thermometer.
4. When the chicken is probably half done, start the potatoes. When done, mash your favourite way. I just splash in a bit of milk, add a knob of butter, and season with salt & pepper.
5. Meanwhile, wash and trim the beans and leeks, and slice the onions. When the chicken is almost done, heat a bit of oil and/or butter in saute pan and cook the veggies. After they are starting to soften a bit, splash in some red wine vinegar, and add the mustard and dijon. Stir well, and take off the heat a bit before they are done. You'll be fussing with the gravy a bit so the veggies can keep warm in the pan.
6. Remove the chicken to a plate, and make the gravy. Turn up the heat a bit.  Depending on how much rendered fat there is, you'll want to add some additional butter. When melted, sprinkle in a few Tb of the spiced flour. Stir well, and cook the flour for a few minutes scraping up all the good burned bits. Start to add some water, probably at least a cup, but use your judgement so it isn't too thick or too thin.
7. Serve it all up and enjoy!