State Fair Chicken

     Tomorrow along with all the parades and fireworks celebrating our Independence Day there will be lots of cook-outs.  Grills will be burgeoning with things like steaks, hot dogs, hamburgers and Cornell chicken.  Wait!  What's that?  You mean you've never heard of Cornell Chicken, sometimes referred to as "State Fair Chicken"?

     Back in the 1940's there was a move afoot to entice the public to eat more chicken, thus improving the economic fortune of poultry producers.  A young professor of poultry and food science, Dr. Robert Baker, was given the task of creating a delicious way to grill smaller birds and developed a vinegar based marinate method for cooking chicken over a charcoal flame.  In 1946 Cornell Chicken (named after the upstate university where Dr. Baker served on the faculty) was first served at a dinner at the University of Pennsylvania in honor of the then governor of Pennsylvania.  It was an instant sensation and went on to become legendary at the New York State Fair.  Often referred to as "State Fair Chicken" it is still served by Dr. Baker's family at Baker's Chicken Shack at the annual event held in Syracuse.  Dr. Baker went on to patent other poultry favorites, too.  He is renown for developing turkey ham, chicken and turkey hot dogs, and the favorite of millions of children, the chicken nugget.

     Here is his simple recipe:

Cornell Chicken

1 egg                                                       3 Tbsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil                               1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

2 cups cider vinegar                            1 tsp ground black pepper

                      4 broiler chickens, halved

Crack the egg into a medium bowl and whisk until beaten.  Slowly whisk in the oil until fully blended.  Then whisk in the vinegar, salt, poultry seasoning and pepper.  Set some aside to use for basting while grilling.  Place chicken halves in a shallow baking dish and coat with the sauce.  Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  Pour off excess marinade and grill over open flame.  Serve with Syracuse salt potatoes and Waldorf slaw.