Lots of "good things in the middle" for Wednesday! A little taste of Hill Country Chicken followed by Girl Scout Cookies?! Damn. Straight.
Yesterday, my cube-mate friend Gil and I put aside some time on our work calendars to go for lunch at Hill Country Chicken and then go on a quest for Girl Scout cookies. More on that to come…first things first…
Chicken. The pictures really do it justice (I think) but I will say overall it was good, but not great, especially for the price. Our expectations were pretty high though, so maybe that's part of the problem. It's like a relationship…you can't go into it with crazy-high expectations, you just have to be willing to settle for mediocrity and THEN you'll be pleasantly surprised. I wish food were so simple…
In my opinion, the best thing was the Texas Hand Roll: crispy chicken tenders wrapped in a tortilla with coleslaw, sweet/hot pepper jelly, slivered almonds and spices. The sweet/hot pepper jelly makes it, but the chicken is really juicy and crispy. Nums. I also got a side of the Blistered Corn Salad, which was a nice light side dish. Though I guess anything is light compared to the cheesy fried mashed potatoes?! Those were definitely worth the calories.
Crunchy, sweet, hot. A perfect combo.
The actual fried chicken was good but again, I wasn't THAT impressed. There are two "recipes": the Hill Country Classic or the Mama El's chicken (the better option). Mama El's is dipped in buttermilk, herbs and then a savory batter made with brown sugar (amongst other secret spices) and it's SO crispy and delicious, not to mention the pieces are huge. At $5.50 per breast (insert immature joke here), I'd say they better be. The Hill Country Classic style was good, but the skin wasn't as crispy which I felt was a fail and even though it was really juicy, I didn't think the chicken itself had much flavor. It did have a special seasoning on top that they call "Chicken Shake" which was really tasty though. Wings and drums are $1.75 and $2.25 respectively.
Mama El's on top. Not trying to sound dirty I promise.
Biscuits. Who doesn't love biscuits with fried chicken? They're $1 a piece and they're full of flaky, buttery goodness. Dip one in some honey. You will thank me.
A biscuit, a basket..
I saw a plethora of pies in the display case as well, but since I was saving what little room I had left for Girl Scout Cookies, I will just have to come back for a tasting of those. I hear the Apple Cheddar is amazeballs, but they have a "Pig Picking Pie" which I feel is my duty to try: it's peanut butter filling, roasted peanuts, bananas, and dark chocolate. COME. ON. All it's missing is some JAM.
Skinny Pig…meet your match.
