FRIED CHICKEN!

Fried Chicken

I can't believe it! I MADE FRIED CHICKEN! Of all food this is the one I was most afraid of making. Growing up my mother tried to fry chicken...tried being the key word. I do remember once that we (Daddy, Webster and I) were very excited and impressed when we sat down at the table and beautifully fried chicken sat before us...the perfect golden brown. YES, she did it! After much excitement and congratulations we dug in...to raw chicken! And this is why I have such a fear of this Southern fried treat. If my mother couldn't do it...how on earth could I? Every Southerner has their own version...ours was Church's...and it was GOOD!

Rich asked if I would make him fried chicken...total panic came over me and he knew it...weakness! NOTE: Never, ever let 'em see you sweat! At that point Rich made a comment that I took as: You can't fry chicken? You're from Mississippi and you have a blog about food and you can't fry chicken? (I'm sure Rich didn't say this, but it sure is how I was hearing it.) So...challenge accepted! I spent a whole week researching.

There was only one logical place to start...Di's Fried Chicken. Diana is a damn-good cook, especially when you want something Southern. I called to get her recipe as a base. "Now you know I don't have it written down." The recipe goes like this...

Diana Dubard Cooper's Recipe
It's a three drink meal. You put the eye on 8 and get the oil hot. Coat chicken with seasoned flour (salt and pepper) and put in the oil. Cover and go have a bourbon and water on the porch and leave the chicken about 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over when you make your second drink. Go sit back on the porch. Take off top and turn down to 6 or 7. Fix another drink. When just about through with bourbon, check on chicken and turn over. Should be done at end of 3rd drink...takes about 40 minutes.

See why I went to Di FIRST! All of her recipes are in off-the-wall measurements...there's one that says...take receiver off hook (meaning you don't have time to talk on the phone during this process!) Anyway...

I went to the K-Roger next to my house and bought chicken parts...skin on, bone-in. I then scoured the internet and read about brining or soaking chicken in buttermilk. This method would ensure tender chicken...I chose to soak over night in buttermilk, Louisiana Hot Sauce, salt and pepper. Who doesn't want juicy, tender chicken...right? Plus, putting the fry off for a day to build my confidence was okay too. Next step...breading... seasoned flour or flour and cornmeal or crackers and panko.That would have to be decided at the time of the fry!

Timing and temperature were my biggest concern. I have learned that the art of frying chicken boils down to two things. TIMING and TEMPERATURE. Most "modern" recipes say it takes 30 minutes to fry chicken, but EVERY person I talked to that has actually fried chicken says it takes 40 minutes. DELIMMA. Armed with all I had learned...it was time to get in the kitchen.

I Southerned up. I threw my hair in pigtails. I had a little Taj Mahal playing on the iPod and got to work...lots of decisions to be made. And since my fear had grown even more after reading all the different ways you can prepare this dish I had to have Rich by my side for support. He happily agreed and was standing by with a (now I know) NON functioning fire extinguisher. We did go over the rules of grease fire beforehand...DO NOT throw water on the fire, smother it. With that....a quart of peanut oil went into my 13" cast iron skillet...I turned the eye on 8 to see where that would take us.

While oil was getting hot I finally decided on the breading. No panko, no crackers and no cornmeal in the pantry...looks like we stick with flour....I'm feeling better at this point. This is how I cook. I can't follow a recipe to save my life. I read as much as I can read about a particular dish, then I "wing it" once it's time to start cooking I have to rely on the inner cook.

Flour, salt, pepper, cayanne, garlic powder and poultry seasoning are dumped into a grocery bag...the old school kind...brown paper! Then I made an egg bath...3 eggs, hot sauce, buttermilk, salt and pepper. I dipped each piece of chicken in the egg mixture and tossed in the grocery bag...Rich took over and did the shake, shake, shake dance to evenly coat.

Oil was at 375º...ready! Chicken went in for 10 minutes. Temp went down, but back up to 375º. Turned the chicken and cooked for another 10 minutes. Side two looked a bit burned and I got concerned...Rich gave me an internal temperature read of 159º at 23 minutes into frying! I wanted to take the chicken out at 160º. This was NOT what I had hoped.

We pulled the chicken for fear of over cooking. Taste...INCREDIBLE! Crispy outside with a hint of heat and perfectly salted. Meat was tender and juicy..thank you buttermilk! Outside tasted great but was a little too dark. I hope to fry again soon to try and correct my mistakes. Temperature was too high. I'd like to drop the temperature to 350º and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.

I'm calling this a success, now that my fear is gone about frying chicken I can tweak and perfect. I will repost once I have a true recipe...and hopefully that will be the base of a fried chicken nights to come.