Chicken Fried

If you show up to Sunday Dinner at my husband's Grandma Nellie's you will either be treated to a turkey dinner or fried chicken. Myself, I have never fried a chicken - I tend to purchase mine in the deli section of Albertson's Grocery Store. Lucky for us, one of Chad's students had an FFA project where he raised chickens and sold them. Of course, we bought some and threw them in the freezer.

Now, an entire chicken is slightly intimidating and I have never even handled a whole, raw chicken (seriously). Turkeys, chukars, pheasants, yes... chicken, no. This past Sunday one of Chad's fraternity brothers and good friends was going to be passing through on his way home from the Idaho/Nebraska football game. I thought it would be nice to have him join us for a home-cooked meal so I grabbed the chicken out of the freezer and mentioned to Chad that if he got bored while I was gone in town, he could cut it up.

Two hours later, I come home to a still frozen chicken and napping husband. I set it out on the front porch to thaw faster and I begin to prepare my materials to fry this chicken. First things first, I google how to cut up a chicken. I use this method provided by Gourmet Sleuth. To my surprise, it works.

Then, I searched online for "Chuck's Day Off Spiced Buttermilk-Marinated Fried Chicken" because I had seen it on the Cooking Channel and I knew if mine turned out half as good as Chuck's looked - we would be in business. Below are the ingredients, instructions (from cookingchannel.com), and of course, pictures!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 chicken drumsticks (in my case, a whole chicken)
  
• 4 cups buttermilk
• Canola oil, for frying

Instructions:
Mix the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dry mustard powder together in a bowl. Divide the spices evenly between 2 mixing bowls. Add the flour to 1 of the bowls, mix well, and set aside. (I made 1 1/2 of the spice mixture and used one whole mixture for the rub and used the other 1/2 for the flour mixture. I think it just depends on the amount of chicken you have).

Rub the chicken drumsticks with the reserved spice mix. Poke all of the pieces with a fork a few times to let the flavors seep down into the meat. Set aside.
Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cook's Note: You can also let the chicken marinate longer, even overnight.

Add the flour mixture to a large re-sealable plastic bag. Remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk and in batches, drop them into the bag, shaking them to make sure they become heavily coated.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 360 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes.)

Drop the coated chicken drumsticks into the hot oil. Turn the pieces as they brown and do not let them touch each other while frying. Work in batches, if necessary check the underside of a piece by lifting it with tongs. It should be a deep golden brown. Cook the chicken until the pieces are crispy and brown, about 15 minutes, turning occasionally.
To test for doneness: Cut into the thickest part of a drumstick. The juices should run clear and the meat should be opaque throughout. If necessary, pop the chicken into a preheated 325 degree F oven, until they are fully cooked.

Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain the excess oil.

Transfer the drumsticks onto a serving platter, or put into a bucket. Serve the chicken hot, room temperature, or cold.
Oh my goodness, best friend chicken I have ever eaten. Ever. Thank you, Chuck for your recipe - I am in love with this.