Fried Chicken

Or as Paula Deen would say.. Fried Chicken ya'll.   I've been craving it since I saw Bobby Flay weeks back in a Throwdown Challenge.  He challenged a lady named Hattie in New York and watching her make her fried chicken literally made me drool.   You could hear it crunch when she bit into it.
Ok, show of hands.  How many of you think that's a sign I need to turn OFF the Food Network?  (raising hand)
Right after the fried chicken episode was a chicken fried steak Throwdown.  That'll be another blog for another time.  I don't know if it's the meat that I actually like, or the fact that it's just a good reason to make mashed potatoes and gravy.

I'll tell you at the end about Hattie's secret to getting that crunch.

I've always marinated my chicken with buttermilk but I wasn't ever really convinced it did anything special to the meat.  I was wrong.  Apparently the buttermilk breaks down the meat fiber and actually does tenderize the meat.  Bobby says to marinate your chicken overnight.

I used a large ziplock bag and added the following to it:
1 quart of buttermilk  (I used 2%)
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of Tobasco
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

squish it around to mix it well and then add your chicken.  Let this marinade for several hours or over night.

Your dredging mixture will include:
4 cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of onion powder
1 tablespoon of paprika

Mix this together well (I used a wire whisk to ensure that it was well blended

Isn't this a lovely picture? ;)

Bobby calls for peanut oil for frying your chicken.  I don't have peanut oil on hand ever so I used a corn and canola oil mixture.  That worked just fine if I say so myself.  

You can use an electric skillet if you want but I used my trusty cast iron.

You want the oil to be about 2-3 inches of oil in your pan but it should not come more than half way up the side of your frying pan.  Heat your oil to 375.  I don't have an deep frying thermometer so I just keep it between medium and medium high on my burner. 

I used a half sheet pan (there back behind it) to drain the chicken.  There is newspaper on the bottom and paper towels on top.  I know that seems like a crazy thing to tell you and please don't take offense but I have a couple of friends who like details.  

 I used tongs when handling the chicken.  Grab your chicken and let the excess buttermilk mixture drip off.  (not all the way) and then set it in the flour mixture and turn it over coating the chicken with the flour and seasonings.  Some people like extra crispy chicken and do the dredging process twice but this time I used strips and didn't want that much coating on my chicken.

You don't want to over-handle your chicken.  So let it cook for several minutes before turning.  You will notice (especially when cooking bone-in chicken) that the chicken will not sizzle quite so loudly as it starts to get done.  So use your ears too when cooking chicken!  Turning the chicken only once would be the ideal thing to do.  Usually I get antsy and play with it too much and knock half of the coating off of it.  Bone-in chicken will take about 20 minutes to cook. 

Also it is important not to over-crowd the pan when cooking.  This will help maintain and even temperature.  

Set your chicken on the pan to drain while you cook all of your pieces.   

Now.. Here is Hattie's secret to her crunch.  When your chicken is all done.  Place it on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for an extra 10-15 minutes.  

I forgot to do this step and my chicken was just fine but next time I'm totally going to try this.

Yum- Yum!