notbob wrote:
> First, I hafta confess my sins. I've never really fried chicken.
> There, I've said it. Oh, I took a half hearted stab at it back when I
> was a pup. But, it was so pitiful it has intimidated me ever since.
> Add the fact that I've never really been a rabid fried chicken fan,
> and you have life-long calculated indifference.
>
> So anyway, I did the big fried chicken thing this weekend and tonight.
> The whole nine yards. Cut up a whole fryer, marinated in buttermilk,
> fried in my big ol' No. 10 Wagner, yada yada. Actually, I'm pretty
> pleased with how it came out, taste-wise, and that's what really
> counts. Also, it's very moist and tender. BUT!! ...it's just not
> pretty! It's not post-the-pic material. I see other folk's picnic
> chicken and recall how my godmother's killer chicken looked. In
> comparison, mine looks horrible.
>
> Here's pics of the recipe I pretty much followed to the letter.
>
> http://www.elise.com/recipes/archive...ed_chicken.php
>
> As I said, it tastes great. But, mine is not that picture perfect
> chicken you see on the drain rack and serving plate on that website.
> Let's put it this way. If the chicken in the pictures is Beyoncé
> Knowles, my chicken is CCH Pounder. And here is where I want some
> honesty. How does one really cook fried chicken to cook it hot enough
> so it's not greasy, long enough that it's done, yet just enough so it
> looks appealing? Cuz I'm telling you right now, there's no way in
> Hell the recipe on that website produced the chicken in those
> pictures. Cooking chicken in oil @ 350 deg F for 12-15 mins *per
> side* is gonna get you some damn dark chicken. Sure, I know
> commercial cooking pics are mostly bogus, but I've seen real
> in-the-wild fried chicken that's both pretty and good tasting at the
> same time. So! ...what's the skinny? How did you and/or granny
> really do it?
>
> nb
>

As soon as you figure out the secret, let me know. Please!

I've loved fried chicken all my life. My grandmother made it just about
every Sunday for dinner. She always did it just right, perfect hot for
the evening meal, with enough left over for cold lunches on Monday or
Tuesday. It looked good and tasted good too!

She made milk gravy with a little of the leftover oil and the "goody"
(the bits of crust that built up in the bottom of the pan). Usually
spooned the gravy over fresh mashed potatoes, but sometimes over toast
or sliced homemade bread.

My grandmother wasn't from down south, but there was definitely a rural
influence on her cooking background.

Many dozens of years later, I tried to make fried chicken for some
friends. I used a well-seasoned cast iron pan, hot oil, and took the
best care possible to soak the pieces in milk and then cover them in
seasoned flour. It came out okay, but the "goody" burnt and the gravy
just didn't happen. And the individual pieces just didn't look very good.

I'm sure it's a matter of "practice makes perfect". By the time I came
along in the early 60's, my grandmother had been married for over 40
years and had lots of practice time in the kitchen. With the exception
of when they traveled, every meal my grandparents consumed was hand-made
by my grandmother. Only God knows exactly how many chickens she fried
over those multitude of years. I'm sure as a young woman and a new
bride, she screwed up her share! ;-)