Recipe: Fried Chicken … I Finally Got It Right!

I can’t believe it … that actually worked! It’s about time!!

There are two very specific things I’ve always wanted to learn to cook but never got right. One is southern breakfast biscuits, to be served drenched in good milk gravy that’s light on the pepper. No one ever measures anything when they make those biscuits, and I need to start somewhere! The other is the southern fried chicken those same households would have for dinner, often accompanied by those same biscuits topped with real, unsalted butter.

It was back in, oh, 1983 that I first made serious attempts to learn how to fry chicken in such a way that was halfway acceptable. One of my first roommates at college down in Columbus was a young black man, I believe 19 or so, who was from the deep south and had the most wonderful sense of the culture he’d been raised in. He was rather proud of the fact that he’d learned his “Grammy’s” way of frying chicken. And man, that stuff was just beautiful! He’d cook it for himself on a regular basis, mostly just wings and legs as that’s all he could afford. But even so, the outside coating had a serious crunch, while the meat inside was moist and tender. And the spices he’d mixed into that coating gave the flavor of the chicken a great “punch”, with just the right combinations of decent salt, pepper and other goodies. I was able to snag a piece or two whenever I got the chance simply because … well, it was that good! I had to have some, dang it! He could have built a chain of restaurants around that chicken, and I’d have happily gone to work for him.

He and I lived in the same apartment. For four months I tried frying chicken, with this man at my side, talking me through it at least once-a-week, sometimes more often than that. Could I get this thing right? Not on your life! He and I jokingly decided I was “too white” to ever get it down pat. (Jokingly? We laughed till we cried!) And to be honest, I really do think that’s the case. I think what he was doing had a lot to do with his distinct cultural background, which was so completely different from my own.

After marrying into a southern family in 1986 I watched a number of proud women, relatives-by-marriage, as they fried chicken in such a way that was the same as what I couldn’t learn in Columbus. From South Carolina, to Kentucky, to the hills of Virginia, to one east of Cleveland, none of these incredible cooks could help me out. The whole southern cultural thing, black, white or otherwise, just kicked my behind! No one around me fried chicken when I was growing up, so I figured I was forever out-of-luck.

Until yesterday …

See, there were these chicken breasts in the fridge. I so badly wanted to fry them for dinner yesterday I could already taste it. Then I got to thinking … I already have two deep fryers, one electric for use indoors, and one lp gas-powered for use outdoors. I’ve played around with these things enough that I’m rather comfortable with them. Pan-frying some chicken should be too far-fetched for me anymore. All I needed was that starting point, and maybe the rest would come together, right?

Ok … so … off to the “old standby” … the 1947 cookbook, “Ladies Home Companion”. There are three original copies of this that I know of; I have one, mom has one, and so does my sister Carol. Three pages are devoted to various methods for frying chicken. Let’s see now …

It says three parts flour to one part corn meal. Do I have corn mea … oh, there it is … check. Either do the egg wash or do the coating … I do believe I recall those southern folks all used some form of, er, both. Yeah, right, that would be good. Seasoning … got seasoning? Lawry’s would work, but that’s kinda … oh, Miracle Blend. Kosher salt, decent pepper, garlic powder … sure, that’s the ticket …

Oil. Deep frying requires oil. Duh. Do I have enough oil … of course not. Why would there be enough oil for this. There always has to be something I’d have to go to the store fo … Oh, hang on a second … where’s that … aha! A full, unopened bottle of the GFS Vegetable Salad Oil that I use in the deep fryers. Duh again! Almost a full gallon of the stuff, yeah, that should be enough … frying thermometer? Yup, just happened to have a couple of those lying around, too.

So, without further ado, here’s what finally worked:

Dave’s Southern-Style Fried Chicken

12 chicken breast halves or equivalent
9 large eggs
1/4 cup 2% milk
3 cups flour
1 cup corn meal
1/4 cup Miracle Blend or other spice blend
Oil for frying
Deep, wide, high sidewall skillet
Thermometer for deep frying
Medium glass mixing bowl
9″ x 9″ glass casserole dish
Metal tongs

Pour enough oil into the skillet so it’s at least one inch deep. Set the skillet on the stove and set it for medium-high heat. Mount the thermometer on the skillet so the end is in the oil, and let it heat to about 325 degrees F.

While the oil is heating, crack the eggs into the mixing bowl, add the milk and mix them. Add the dry ingredients to the casserole dish and, with a fork, blend them well.

Make sure the oil is stable at 325 degrees F (you may need to adjust the heat and wait). Dip a chicken breast into the egg mixture, making sure it’s fully covered. Then dredge it in the dry mixture, making sure of complete coverage once again. Then gently (without burning your fingers!) lay (don’t drop!) the chicken into the hot oil. Repeat this with other pieces until the pan is mostly full but there’s still a bit of room. (I was able to fry four breasts at a time.)

Every five minutes or so, use the metal tongs to turn the pieces over. (The oil level will begin to drop after a while, and you’ll want to be sure everything continues to get cooked.) The chicken is done when it has a nice golden-brown coating, which may take 25 – 30 minutes or so. Be sure to be patient on this, and don’t remove the pieces too early. When they’re done, remove them to a plate or dish that has a few pieces of paper towel on it, so the chicken will drain.

If there is more chicken to fry, be sure to add more oil to the pan and wait for it to stabilize at 325 degrees F again before adding more chicken to it.

You may be wondering something … You’ve probably seen people frying chicken with minimal amounts of oil in the pan. That 1947 cookbook was where I got the one inch depth from. And besides (or, for Jaden, “As an Aside), adding cold chicken to hot oil will drop the temperature of the oil. Not enough oil, and the massive temp drop will cause problems with the texture and “greasiness” of the resulting chicken. The way I did it yesterday, the coating was crisp, and the chicken meat itself was extremely light. That’s all I need to know, to do it this way every time from now on.

There are leftovers this morning … anyone got any grilled corn??

Special thanks to my buddy from Columbus. Because of him, I’m also on my third copy of Prince’s “1999” because I’ve worn out the first two …

2 Comments

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  1. Congratulations—it always feels good to perfect a recipe!

  2. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard. You’re lucky that I don’t know where you live, or else I just might be showing up at your front door asking very nicely …. er begging… you to make some for me!!! 😀

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