Meat: Buttermilk Fried Chicken

By SharonE

Ingredients

• Marinade:
• 3 lb. cut up chicken pieces
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. ground black or white pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• Coating:
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground black or white pepper

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade and coat well. Store in an airtight container for 3 to 4 hours in the fridge.

Whisk together the coating ingredients in a large bowl.

Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade (do not drain off the marinade) and dredge in the coating, piece by piece. Coat well, covering all the nooks and crannies. Set aside on a plate. Reserve any extra coating mix.

Fill a large cast-iron Dutch oven or cast-iron saute pan with canola oil halfway. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F over medium heat, using a candy thermometer to make sure the temperature is accurate. Heating may take 8-10 minutes.

With tongs, gently place the chicken skin-side down in the oil and fry the chicken in batches of 5 to 6 pieces so that they do not crowd the pan. Fry each piece 7-8 minutes per side. The wings take 6 minutes per side. Once cooked on both sides, the chicken will be a dark golden brown and crispy. Be careful when removing the chicken from the oil as it will be very hot. Drain the chicken on a paper-towel lined sheet pan or place on top of a paper bag. After your first batch, the temperature of the oil will dip. Before adding the second batch, bring the oil back to 350 degrees F. If the batter absorbs all the coating and the chicken is wet, dip it back into the coating before frying. Fry the remaining pieces.

Rest the chicken for 3 minutes.