in my new Lodge pre-seasoned cast iron chicken cooker that
my SIl got me for Xmas. It was much to my chagrin because
not only does the damn thing weigh 15 lb. but now I have to make
fried chicken!!!!! The thing is, I love fried chicken, but I
hate frying stuff because the oil get all over the place and I
hate cleaning, which is what you have to do a lot of after you
fry stuff! I guess I could get one of those splatter guards but
that's just another gadget to find a place for. And I probably
should get an instant-read thermometer because it was tricky
keeping the oil at the proper temp with just my candy thermometer,
but they are not cheap and, again, another gadget to find a place
for.

And then there's buying the oil. Good oil is expensive, especially
in the quantities you need to fry chicken. And then, unless you
make it all the time so that you can reuse the oil several times
before you have to throw it out, thus getting your money's worth
out of it, well, it's expensive. And then there's the cleaning up.
What a pain in the butt.

So, okay, I made the chicken. (recipe follows) It was okay.
I sort of followed a Cook's Country recipe for Extra Crunchy
Fried Chicken. It involves "brining" the chicken in buttermilk
and salt for 1 hour prior to cooking. The flour has garlic powder,
thyme, pepper, and baking powder in it. But you're supposed to add
some buttermilk to the flour mixture and rub it in with your fingers to
make a mealy consistency. I decided to dispense with that part as too
much trouble, besides being just plain weird. I just took the chicken
out of the buttermilk and didn't drain it a lot and coated it with
the flour. I think it gave me pretty much the same effect as their
method.

I fried it according to their directions as well as I could, given
the thermometer problems. It turned out pretty well. I thought it
was a little salty so I would use a lot less salt next time. Also,
I thought it was *too* crunchy. But I liked it okay.

EXTRA-CRUNCHY FRIED CHICKEN

2 c. buttermilk + 6 additional tablespoons
2 T. salt
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (~ 3 1/2 lb.)
3 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. thyme
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
4-5 c. vegetable shortening or peanut oil

Whisk together 2 c. buttermilk and salt in large bowl until salt is
dissolved. Add chicken pieces to bowl and stir to coat; cover bowl with
plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Don’t let chicken soak much
longer or it will become too salty.) Whisk flour, baking powder, thyme,
pepper, and garlic powder together in large bowl. Add remaining 6
tablespoons buttermilk; with your fingers rub flour and buttermilk
together until buttermilk is evenly incorporated into flour and mixture
resembles coarse wet sand. Working in batches of two, drop chicken
pieces into flour mixture and turn to thoroughly coat, gently pressing
flour mixture onto chicken. Shake excess flour from each piece of
chicken and transfer to wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet. Heat
oil (it should measure 3/4" deep) in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven
with 11" diameter over medium-high heat until it reaches 375F. Place
chicken pieces, skin-side down, in oil, cover, and fry until deep golden
brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove lid after 4 minutes and lift chicken pieces
to check for even browning; rearrange if some pieces are browning faster
than others. (At this point, oil should be about 300F. Adjust burner,
if necessary, to regulate temperature of oil.) Turn chicken pieces over
and continue to fry, uncovered, until chicken pieces are deep golden
brown on second side, 6-8 minutes longer. (At this point, to keep
chicken from browning too quickly, adjust burner to maintain oil
temperature of about 315F.) Using tongs, transfer chicken to plate
lined with paper towels; let stand for 5 minutes to drain. Serve.
Serves 4. (We wanted to create juicy, rich tasting fried chicken at
home without the big mess, and with a crust as crunchy as KFC. Keeping
the oil at the correct temperature is essential to producing crunchy
fried chicken that is neither too brown nor too greasy. Use a
candy/deep-fry thermometer to check the temperature of the oil before
you add the chicken. If you cannot find a chicken that weighs 3 1/2 lb.
or less, or if you don’t have a pan that is 11" in diameter, you will
have to fry the chicken in two batches. Follow the recipe, frying the
chicken four pieces at a time and keeping the first batch warm in a 200F
oven while the second batch is cooking. From Cook’s Country TV)

To go with it I made a roasted potato salad. I had some baby white
potatoes which I cut into approximately 8-10 pieces each. I sprayed
a baking sheet lined with non-stick foil with olive oil PAM and then
spread the potatoes on the sheet, salted and peppered them, and then
sprayed the potatoes with the PAM. Baked for about 1/2 hour at 350F
until nice and brown. Cooled to just warm to the touch. Meanwhile
fried some diced bacon. Also had some shallots left over from something
so I chopped them up. Put potatoes in bowl and added diced bacon and
shallots. Then I sprinkled on some seasoned salt and added MW and a
splash of fake balsamic vinegar and mixed it all up. It was quite
tasty.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?