Father’s Day is the day to show fathers and all the male figures in your life how much you care about and appreciate them. What better way than to make a meal for them?
Kara Mae Harris, author of Maryland-based cooking blog Old Line Plate and several cookbooks, shares the history and recipe for Broiled Chicken Deluxe—a regional favorite once named “the official recipe of Father’s Day.”
What’s the history [behind] the Broiled Chicken Deluxe?
Kara Mae Harris: It was the winner of the first annual Delmarva Poultry Cooking Contest (1949), and it won the cook, Edna Karlik, a lot of regional fame. In 1959, the “National Father’s Day Committee” declared Broiled Chicken Deluxe to be “the official recipe of Father’s Day.” [Maryland’s Then-Governor] J. Millard Tawes presented Karlik with a citation and a plaque.
She was born Edna May Hilfrank in Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, in 1903. She married Albert Karlik in 1935… Mrs. Karlik lived in Salisbury for most of her married life and died in 1987.
Newspapers all over the country covered the 1949 contest. The Tampa, Florida, Times reported that Mrs. Karlik “couldn’t cook a lick when she married 14 years ago,” and that she’d learned the recipe from an insurance agent. The Suburban List of Essex Junction, Vermont, categorically declared “the best way to cook a chicken was determined in the first national cooking contest,” and shared the Broiled Chicken Deluxe recipe with readers.
Can you tell me more about the Delmarva [Poultry] Festival and [its] souvenir cookbooks?
KMH: Starting in 1949, the Delmarva Poultry Industry hosted a festival that included a cooking contest as its main component. Winners won prizes as well as fame for their cooking. Eventually, the contest became national, but in those early days, it was mostly [Marylanders] and people from Delaware competing. Yet even then, they brought a wide range of recipes.
What makes the Broiled Chicken Deluxe recipe a great one to make for Father’s Day?
KMH: Well, I am not sure why they gave the broiled chicken the Father’s Day official title, but it is a great dish that is simple but feels special. I like to make it with a fairly small chicken, and it comes out really tender.
What ways can kids help/assist with the recipe?
KMH: I served this with mashed potatoes, which kids can help make. The chicken recipe is so simple [that] there are not many steps. If you get cut up chicken legs and thighs, kids can shake them in a bag with some seasonings.
What would go well with the Broiled Chicken Deluxe? (Ex. side dishes, desserts, etc.)
KMH: I think it goes well with some potatoes and vegetables, and for dessert, I always love pound cake. I just love it because it’s simple and easy to make.
Broiled Chicken Deluxe
- 2- to 2 ½-gallon broiler-fryer, split
- 1 halved lemon
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ cup melted butter
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Directions
Wipe chicken as dry as possible.
Rub the entire surface of the chicken with cut lemon, squeezing out some juice.
Sprinkle it with a mixture of salt, pepper and paprika.
Coat with melted butter, then sprinkle with sugar.
Place chicken in a broiler pan and flatten pieces out.
Place in a broiler as far away from heat as possible and cook for 35 to 40 minutes. Baste occasionally with butter.
Recipe from “Prize Winning Del-Mar-Va-Lous Chicken Recipes 1949 & 1950, Delmarva Poultry Industry, 1950”
