Fried Chicken - Jonathan Waxman

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• 4-5 lb free-range fryer chicken
• 2 C
• Buttermilk
• Or half and half
• kosher salt
• 1 tbsp
• smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp
• Tabasco sauce
• Or any hot sauce
• Canola oil
• Or peanut oil, for frying
• 3 C
• Cornmeal
• Organic, stone-ground
• 3 C
• all-purpose flour
• black pepper
• 3 3
• Eggs

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from pannacooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

1
With a sharp knife, remove and discard the wing tips from the chicken. Put the buttermilk in a large bowl and set it next to your cutting board, putting the chicken pieces in while you work. Cut the wings from the chicken and transfer to the bowl. Cut the legs off and split into three pieces by separating the leg and then cutting the thigh in half. With kitchen shears, snip off the rear and the back bone. Push down on the bird to break the breast-bone and cut the breasts into 4 pieces. Add the pieces to the bowl.
2
Season the buttermilk and chicken mixture with a healthy pinch of salt, the paprika and the Tabasco. The chicken can be cooked right away or marinated overnight. Fill the oil to ¾-inch (2cm) deep in a large, heavy-bottom pan.Heat to 350.
Mix together the cornmeal, flour, ½ tablespoon (9g) salt and a generous amount of black pepper in a strong paper bag. Remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk marinade and transfer to the paper bag. Shake the chicken in the bag to coat thoroughly.
5
Whisk the eggs into the remaining marinade and add the floured chicken back into the marinade. In batches, transfer the chicken pieces back into the paper bag, shake to coat with the flour mixture again.
6
Fry the chicken pieces in the hot oil until cooked through and golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
7
Transfer the chicken to paper towel-lined plate and season w