Although it isn’t frequently on the menu at my house,

I Love Fried Chicken!

I know that at least one of my Memas made fried chicken during my lifetime, but I cannot remember witnessing this process first hand.  The Food Network is my go-to place for cooking instruction these days.  Recently I have watched several episodes of chicken frying and have been bitten with the chicken frying bug.  Since allowing myself the experience, I can safely say I have it out of my system.  Here is my attempt at frying chicken:

Because I made the mistake of not purchasing a chicken that was already cut, I began by cutting up this whole chicken. Then seasoned the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and I’ll spare you that horrific photo.  Let me just say that I do not ever want to cut up a whole chicken ever again.

My Recipe

Taking tips from several different Food Network cooks, I began by combining 2 cups of buttermilk with 1/2 cup of Tabasco, a beaten egg, and my chicken pieces.  Apparently the buttermilk mixture is what will tenderize the chicken.  Good to know.  All of this goes into a zip top bag then into the fridge for 2 hours up to overnight.

In my Le Creuset French oven, I added about  2 inches of canola oil (because it has a high smoke point) and heated until it reached 350°F.  I’m learning a lot from the Food Network!Next I mixed together flour, cayenne, salt, and pepper in a large zip top bag to easily coat each chicken piece in the seasoned flour.  It reminded me of Shake and Bake.  Sort of.  Then I placed 3 or 4 pieces of the chicken in the oil (you can’t do more than 3 or 4 at a time without causing the oil temperature to drop) put the lid on, and fried for 5 minutes.Next I removed the lid, turned the chicken, and fried for another 5 minutes.  Then removed the chicken from the oil and placed on a wire rack.Once every piece was fried, I put it into the oven at 375° for 15-20 minutes.  It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. LB thought so too!