Fried Chicken

I started this section in honor of my Granny. These are dishes that I grew up eating on Sundays and holidays with my family. Some of these dishes might be a little more labor intensive than my usual cooking but I promise, it’ll be worth it.

Down here in Austin, my friends are my family and I wanted to treat them as such by cooking my favorite meal that my Granny makes me.

Fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

Here’s what you will need to make fried chicken. Click here for mashed potatoes (coming soon).

Chicken Breasts

Buttermilk

Flour

Season Salt (I mixed Lawry’s and Tony Chachere’s)

2 eggs

Vegetable Oil

Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts.

Slice into one inch wide strips.

Then poke the chicken with a fork (I think they call this “tenderizing”).

Next, place into a dish and cover with buttermilk.

Let this soak for a while. The longer the better. I let mine soak for almost two hours. Place in fridge while soaking.

When you are ready to start cooking, beat 2 eggs in a dish and set aside.

Then mix flour, season salt and Tony Chacere’s in a separate dish. Go easy on the seasoning or else the chicken might turn out salty.

Next transfer the chicken strips from the buttermilk pan to eggs. Completely coat with egg then cover in the flour mixture. Beware: this gets messy!

Once you have completed this step, it’s time to heat up the cooking oil. I used vegetable oil but canola oil is ok too.

Make sure that the oil is nice and hot. It will start to give off that “fried” smell. You can test the heat by placing a little piece of batter in the pan. If it immediately starts to sizzle, then your oil is ready.

Begin by placing the chicken strips into the frying pan. Be careful the oil could pop ya!

Granny said “do not crowd the chicken while it is cooking” so make sure you don’t try and overload your pan with chicken.

Cook each side until golden brown. Probably 3 minutes or so each side but use your judgment.

The oil will begin to cook off so add a little more as you cook. Be careful not to add too much oil or the temperature will drop and you’ll have to wait for the oil to heat back up again.

Its important for the oil to stay hot or else the chicken batter will get soggy, not that crisp we are looking for.

After the chicken is finished cooking, place it on a paper towel. Wait for it to cool, then serve!

It will smell so delicious that you will have a hard time waiting to eat it!