Mmmmm.... Fried Chicken!

When I was in high school, my grandmother showed me how to make fried chicken. It was, as fried chicken always is, delicious. I have not attempted fried chicken since then. There is something about hot oil that just kind of scares me. And an open pan of oil can splatter and it is messy! I don't like messy. But, thinking about doing a Southern blog, I knew I had to conquer my fear of the hot oil in order to do the quintessential "Southern fried chicken." However, I love a short cut or making things a bit easier on myself, and I decided that perhaps a deep fryer was the answer to my concerns. Andrew (who loves a fried snack) was a very good husband and drove me to 4 different Wal-Mart’s to find the model I wanted- a large capacity, cool touch model that has a fold down basket handle. (Please imagine my happy grin and contented sigh as I typed that).




I tried to make my chicken spicy by adding hot sauce to the eggs and cayenne to the flour, but no luck. While it was delicious, it was not spicy. I think that next time I will make mashed potatoes and spicy chipotle gravy to go with it. That should warm it up a bit!








Here’s the chicken recipe:

¼ cup seasoned salt
1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup hot sauce, any brand
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups self rising flour
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
oil, for frying

1. Cut each breast into 2 long pieces. Rub with seasoned salt and place in a pan just large enough to hold chicken in one layer.
2. Combine hot sauce and eggs in a large bowl; whisk to combine. Pour over chicken. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour, or overnight.
3. When ready to fry, heat the oil in a deep fryer to 360. Combine flour and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Take a piece of chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off, and coat in the flour. Shake off excess and rest on a rack until oil is ready.
4. Place chicken in fryer basket and submerge, cooking 5 minutes. Remove from basket and drain on paper towels. Enjoy!



I did the boneless/skinless to limit for heart healthy reasons (if that can be said while also utilizing a deep fryer…) and also because Andrew doesn’t really like meat on a bone. However, the same recipe can be used for regular chicken pieces with bones and skin and whatnot- just increase the frying time.