KFC and All Fried Chicken

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

1 quart buttermilk
1 (2- to 2 1/2-pound) broiler-fryer, cut up
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup bacon drippings

Combine chicken and buttermilk in bowl. Cover and chill 8 hours. Drain chicken.

Combine 1 teaspoon salt and pepper; sprinkle half of pepper mixture evenly over chicken. Combine remaining pepper mixture and flour in a large freezer bag. Place 2 pieces of chicken in bag; seal. Shake to evenly coat. Remove chicken, and repeat procedure with remaining chicken, 2 pieces at a time.

Combine vegetable oil and bacon drippings in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or chicken fryer; heat to 360°. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, skin side down. Cover and cook 6 minutes; uncover and cook 9 minutes.

Turn chicken pieces; cover and cook 6 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 to 9 minutes, turning pieces during the last 3 minutes for even browning, if necessary. Drain on paper towels.

Note: For best results, keep the oil temperature between 300° to 325° as you fry the chicken. Also, you may substitute 2 cups buttermilk for the saltwater solution used to soak the chicken pieces. Proceed as directed.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

–Southern Living
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Parmesan Chicken

6 bnls, sknls Chicken Breast
1 cup A/P flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 ¼ cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil

Cut chicken ******* into 1” strips, pat dry w/ paper towels.

On one dinner plate, combine flour, salt, and pepper. On a second plate, beat the egg w/ 1 Tbsp. of water. On a third plate combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Cot the chicken on both sides w/ the flour, then dip into the egg, then into the bread crumbs, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large sauté pan on medium-low. Cook chicken in batches on both sides until cooked through. Chicken is done when meat is opaque and juices run clear. Add more butter and oil to cook remaining batches as needed. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on top of cooked chicken to serve.

–Ina Garten, “Barefoot Contessa Family Style” cookbook

fried chicken is not the easiest thing in the world to cook. Many people have troouble with it. My main suggestion to you is …. keep your heat low. Often times people think that ‘frying’ is a ‘high heat’ thing. You will end up with burnt outside and raw inside. You want it to barley be sizzling and keep your eye on it so as not to burn it.
So use any batter mix you want, there are many. We use saltine crackers, I have used cornflakes… go for it.

I like to roll mine in Kfc flour or shake in bake that I buy from wal-mart and deep fry it it tastes delicious with a big portion of mashed Potatoes.

Having a good recipe is a start, but your cooking technique can make or break a fried chicken dish.

As noted in one of the previous answers, it is very important to fry with the proper temperature. Too low results is tough chicken, while too high results in burned outside, raw inside chicken.

Set your stove top burner on “Medium” and allow cooking oil to fully reach temp. Place one end of a wooden spoon (or other wooden utensil) into the oil. You should see bubbles rise up around the handle immediately. Also, listen for the sound made when you put the first piece of chicken in the oil. It should immediately make a loud, sizzling sound. And it should continue to sizzle loudly for at least 2-3 minutes.

If it does not sizzle immediately, your heat is too low. If the sizzle stops in a minute, your heat is too hot.

Also the breading used to coat the chicken can produce a wide variety of totally different tasting chicken.

You can use coatings that produce hot (hot wings), barbecue, lemon flavor, Southern crunch, sweet and sour, pineapple, honey/brown sugar and many more.

Personally, I prefer Southern Fried Chicken because of it’s crunchy crust. There is a good, simple recipe at

Ingredients

* 30 saltine crackers
* 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
* 2 Tbs. dry potato flakes
* 1 tsp. seasoned salt
* 1/2 tsp. black pepper
* 1 egg
* 1/4 C. vegetable oil
* 6 skinless, boneless chicken ****** halves

Directions

1. Place crackers in a large resealable plastic bag, seal bag and crush crackers until they are fine crumbs.
2. Add flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, and pepper to bag and mix well.
3. Beat egg in a shallow dish or bowl; heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
4. One by one, dredge chicken pieces in beaten egg , then place in bag with crumb mixture, seal bag and shake to coat.
5. Reduce heat to medium and cook coated chicken in skillet for 15 to 20 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown and juices run clear.

Fried Chicken

1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying
Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and ****** and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don’t drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it?s a gas oven.