Lee Brothers Sunday Fried Chicken

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• recipe Lee Bros. All-Purpose Fry Dredge (combine the following):
• 1 qt water
• 1/3 c salt
• about 3 c peanut oil, lard, or sunflower oil (what I used)
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp stone-ground cornmeal
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 3 lbs chicken legs and thighs (about 6 legs and 6 bone-in thighs)

Preparation

Step 1

At least four hours (up to eight hours) before you begin frying, combine the water and salt in a very large bowl, stirring until salt dissolves. Place trimmed chicken pieces in brine, cover the bowl, and refrigerate. Remove from the refrigerator two hours before frying to allow chicken to come to room temperature.

When you are ready to make the chicken, place a large cookie sheet lined with a cooling rack (if you have one) or paper towels in the oven and preheat to 250 degrees.

Pour the oil into a large skillet, to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Heat over medium-high until oil reaches 325 degrees on a candy thermometer.

While the oil is heating, place the fry dredge in a medium bowl. Remove each piece of chicken from the brine and dredge it thoroughly, then place chicken on a plate within easy reach of your skillet.

Once your oil is at 325 and your chicken is dredged, start frying! Place enough chicken pieces (skin-side down) in the skillet to cover the bottom. Cover the skillet if you want (this will make it go faster, but I wanted to watch), and cook until the bottom side is golden brown, about 6 minutes. Make sure you monitor the oil temperature and adjust the heat to keep it between 325 and 350 degrees. Turn chicken and fry the other side until it is golden brown as well. Turn again and fry three minutes, and then once more, a final three minutes.

Use tongs to remove the chicken from the skillet and place it on a rack in the oven to keep warm. Follow the same procedure to fry the rest of the chicken.

When all the chicken is done, serve immediately--preferably with cornbread or biscuits and three vegetables, one of which should be macaroni and cheese (my other two were coleslaw and roasted summer squash).