Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken. It's probably my second favorite food.  (my favorite food of all time is Ice Cream!!)

Anyways, I have tried making fried chicken several times before, and it turned out pathetic. Never done inside, or if it was, it was so tough and overdone on the outside that I hated it. So I decided that I would give up. It was just not my thing.

But.

I found the Pioneer Woman.

She gave me pictures.

She made me feel like I could make fried chicken.

So I did.

And it was wonderful.

I thought maybe you would like to try it as well, so I took pictures last night. Now, if you have the PW Cooks, just use her directions. It will be easier for you. But if you don't; try this. It just might make your kids love you more. My kids said it was 'better than Albertsons.' Which was the highest compliment they could give - because Albertsons has the best fried chicken I have eaten, hands down. (sorry, KFC) I don't think it beat Albertsons, but it was nice of them to say so. And My Cowboy liked it. He does like fried chicken, IF the crust is crispy enough, and IF it has no skin, and IF it is white meat only. We left the breast pieces for him. We don't like those so well, anyways. 

So, without further ado, here is the directions:

Soak 1 cut-up fryer chicken in 2 cups buttermilk.

The PW says to soak the chicken in buttermilk for 12-24 hours. Well, I didn't have that kind of time, so I just soaked it about 3-4 hours. It was fine. Although I will try to plan ahead next time.

I used skinned chicken, but you can leave the skin on if you like.

Preheat the oven to 350*.

Heat 1 1/2 inches oil to 365*.

 

Put the flour and spices in a big bowl. (I was missing the thyme, so I just made it without) Mix the spices well.

                               

 Mix 1/4 cup milk or cream into the flour mixture. Mix it with a fork till it gets little crumbs.
Roll the chicken pieces in the crumb mixture.

 Pat some crumbs onto the chicken pieces if necessary, to coat them thickly.

 Put them slowly into hot oil. Fry about 5 min on each side. You want the crust golden, but not too brown. It will brown some in the oven. If you don't have a thermometer, you can set the burner to medium, and test it by dropping a small piece of the coating mix into the oil. If it sizzles good, its probably ready.


                                       
 Flip and fry the other side 5 minutes. I love my dutch oven, by the way. On the bottom of my dutch oven, it says: "Chicken Fryer". Ever since I read that, I have wanted to make fried chicken.

 Put the pieces on a baking sheet, or 9x13, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cut into the fattest piece to make sure its done through.

 Enjoy! It is worth it, trust me. If you like fried chicken!

Fried Chicken

1 cut-up fryer chicken
2 cups buttermilk
Soak chicken in buttermilk.
Mix flour and seasonings together. Mix in milk with a fork.
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons seasoned salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (I used 1/4 tsp, cause I am a wuss about heat. It was about right.)
1/4 cup buttermilk or reg. milk
Roll chicken in flour mix, and deep fry for 5 min per side. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Notes::
I halved the PW recipe, to make it suitable for one chicken.
You can make a substitute for buttermilk by adding 2 tablespoons vinegar to 1 cup regular milk.
This chicken ends up being "crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside", in the words of my 9 year old. :)