Col. Sanders doesn't have a thing on me!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Any southern cook worth their Kosher salt has a recipe for fried chicken. Frying chicken is an art form, not to be tackled by the faint of heart. The first time that you attempt it, you will more than likely fail.  Not trying to discourage you here, but stating a simple fact: frying chicken ain't easy! 

The perfect fried chicken should start the night before your plan to serve it.  Some people swear by brining, others prefer a marinade.  I'm a marinade type of girl myself. Specifically, buttermilk.  Before that bird ever touches my cast iron skillet, he's soaked a minimum of eight hours in buttermilk, green onions, and 1 hot pepper.  You can use either jalapeno, which is a milder pepper, or a habanero, which will more than likely blow the top of your skull out!

After a leisurely buttermilk bath, you're ready to get your mis en place. I know what you're thinking now. What the heck is mis en place?! It simply means everything in its place.  Before you begin cooking any thing, do your prep work before hand. Your dish will come together much faster when your practice good mis en place.  For your chicken, you'll need:

•  seasoned flour
•  a heavy skillet or Dutch oven (preferably cast iron)
• peanut oil for frying
• tongs
• paper bags
• 2 serving platters, one covered with paper towels
• meat thermometer

I'm sure that this seems like a strange list of things to gather just for frying chicken, but trust me, it's worth it.  I season my flour with a little bit of every thing.  Salt, black and red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, Sylvia's Soulful Seasoning, and a few other super secret ingredients.  After I mix the dry ingredients well, I dump the whole shebang into a brown paper bag.  Ghetto? Maybe. Easy clean up? Definitely! While your oil is preheating in your cast iron vessel, start dropping your drained chicken pieces, a few at a time, into the brown bag with the seasoned flour.  Roll the top down and shake, shake, shake your booty. I mean...your chicken! Once it is well coated, shake off the excess flour and lay the chicken out on the platter without the towels.  Continue shaking until all pieces are covered. Throw the bag away. Easy peasy clean up!

Now, lets check the oil.  The worst thing that you can do is start out with oil that is too hot.  The outside crust will cook rapidly and the meat inside will be raw. Please, my dear friend, avoid serving up a hot steaming plate of salmonella to your family! When your oil has reached 350 degrees, you're ready to start frying.  Drop a few pieces at a time, taking care not to over crowd your pan.  If you have too many pieces in at once you run the risk of having steamed fried chicken.  Flip your pieces occasionally so that you get even browning on both sides. This will more than likely take you at least 20 minutes.  And, keep in mind that dark meat will take longer to cook than white.  Another option that you have here is deep fat frying.  I do this quite often.  Twenty minutes in a hot oil bath yields ah-mazing chicken.  

If you're not sure about your chicken being done, temp it .Wait. What?  Get your kitchen thermometer out and slide it into the chicken piece. You want to be at 155 - 160 degrees.  Once you've hit that magic number, you know that your chicken is safe, and done.  Drain it on the second platter, sprinkle a little extra salt on the skin if you need it, then sit it on the table along with fresh biscuits, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and a peach cobbler. Your family will appreciate your hard work and you'll know it's fantastic when you hear....Om nom nom!