Confessions of a Fried Chicken Freak
See why we think homemade fried chicken is finger-licking fantastic.
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The questions I'm always asked when people find out I grew up in
And that's a shame, really. Not that I have anything against KFC (their Famous Bowls notwithstanding), but to the vast majority of people I polled, fried chicken is something they've always gotten from a striped paper bucket rather than hot from their own home kitchen. Why? The mess, it seems. People like my husband who grew up with his mother and grandmother frying up simple, crispy, delicious fried chicken also remember spattering, stinging oil that they'd have to smell and scrub up for days after.
I first encountered this miraculous stuff at the wedding of some close friends several years ago, at a pre-season summer camp they'd rented for the weekend. As the other guests and I lined up for chow in the mess hall the morning of the blessed event, the groom wandered by several times, slightly glazed of eye and muttering a word that consensus soon determined was "bacon." This took none of us by surprise, what with the likelihood of pre-wedding jitters, and his just having written the bacon-centric article for which he later won a James Beard award. Bacon was, as it is for so many of us, his safe and happy place, but when I bit into the audibly crunchy, miraculously juicy, subtly smoky drumstick that had been placed on my plate, I understood what he'd been trying to tell us. He and his bride-to-be had gotten the kitchen staff to cook the morning's bacon in the oil they then used to fry chicken -- which had spent the pre-wedding night lounging about in a buttermilk bath.
Now, as I mentioned, I have nothing against KFC, Popeyes, Church's and the random name knock-offs (Kennedy Fried Chicken, Kansas Fried Chicken, JFK Fried Chicken) that pepper my neighborhood. It was the decadent, grease-laden stuff of neighborhood block parties, picnics in the park, and childhood dinners when Mom was out of town and couldn't protest, and I'll always remember it with great fondness. But that pre-nuptial bird ruined me for chain-restaurant chicken. A commercial kitchen, frying up whole flocks of poultry day in and day out isn't going to take the time to anoint their oil with bacon, bathe it in tenderizing brine or buttermilk, or take any of the small, but meaningful measures that transform bird and flour and oil into the dish that's become such a fundamental part of America's national meal.
I'll admit I've yet to make it by myself at home (though I'm about to try), but rather have thrown myself upon the generosity of friends who've taken the mastery of their own recipes to heart. They fry the chicken, I bring the Lynchburg Lemonade and homegrown tomatoes, and we all sit down to one great cluckin' meal.
(UPDATE: I've made the Wedding Fried Chicken for my friends who have just had a baby and OH MY GOODNESS! Best chicken EVER, and sooooo easy to make.)
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5-30-2009 @3:59PM MJ said... Go to Barberton chicken.com and get the recipe for the best chicken ever---they have 4-independent chicken houses in this city of 15,000 people and others come from 100 miles to have dinner there-----un-real-------you can also go to Barbertonmagics.com for the recipes
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8-30-2007 @12:39PM Helen Cederholm said... I'm too old for fried chicken. I now cook my chicken on a Sunbeam carousel. It is better than cooking it in the oven. I do wrap bacon around the chicken and inside the chicken.
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8-30-2007 @1:04PM Helen Cederholm said... I should have said "wrap bacon around the top of the chicken and inside".
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8-30-2007 @9:35PM charles said... i use to go to the kfc alot,i went to the kfc alot during the late 1980s,then again during 1993-1998.but the kfc here in pittsfield,ma over charges for the chicken,they charge over 2.50 for 1 breast.i remember in 1993-1994,the kfc had the buffet,they would charge 2.99 for lunch and 4.99 for dinner for the buffet,i would chow down a few large breasts with pototoes and gravy.then in 1996,the price went up from 2.99 for lunch buffet to 3.99.then supper buffet went up from 4.99 to 5.99,its still a good deal and no problem with it.but in the late 1990s and especially the past 5yrs,kfc closes the buffet and started charging high prices for everything and ripping people off by charging over 1,000 percent.im surprised the kfc hasnt been reported to the better business for this conduct
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8-31-2007 @10:08AM Lin said... I read this entire article looking for the recipe and it is not there. Unfair to carry on about how good this chicken is and then to not share how to make it!!
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8-31-2007 @11:46AM Kat K. said... Sorry for the delay, Lin - it's there now.
http://www.aolfoodblog.com/2007/08/28/fried-chicken-tips-and-recipes/
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8-31-2007 @12:10PM Vel said... I agree with Lin....I was thinking hmmm this will be good and then...Lo and behold no recipe!! :( Share the recipe please
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8-31-2007 @11:33PM THERESA POWERS said... RECIPIES THAT ARE LOW IN ACID
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8-31-2007 @10:20PM THERESA POWERS said... I THINK ALL RECIPIES SHOULD BE SHARED IF SOME ONE WANT S TO KNOW HOW TO DO IT
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9-01-2007 @9:55AM Laurie said... My Mother-in-law is polish, and her Wedding Chicken is the BEST! Here it is, try it you'll LOVE it!
RECIPE:
Chicken: 2 legs, 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs (or as much chicken as you need.)
Milk or Buttermilk: entirely cover chicken and marinate for at least an hour.
Combine 1 cup flour, 2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp pepper, & 1/2 tsp garlic salt.
Drain off buttermilk and roll chicken thru flour mixture. Brown in oil or fat til golden brown.
THEN, drain chicken and put into greased or foil-lined pan, cover with foil or lid, and bake at 325 degrees for 3 hours. PERFECT! This is guaranteed to be falling off the bone, as well as juicy and tasty! Another alternative is to put it in the crockpot after browning (browning can be done in the morning or the night before) and lo and behold! At dinner time it will fall apart & your family will fall on bended knees in front of you!
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9-01-2007 @5:28PM Ruth Martin said... instead of the brine marinade i soak the chicken in the southern sweet tea recipe for 12 hrs. then the buttermilk marinade for 4 to 12 hrs. simply delicious crispy southern fried at its best..............
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9-01-2007 @3:15PM Sig said... I stopped going to KFC because I went in and purchased an eight piece meal, as I was waiting and just before they informed me that they were out of biscuits and I had to wait for them, I turned around and saw on the wonderfully hidden "special" sign that a ten piece was less than an eight piece PLUS you'd get four extra pieces of chicken with it free. Good customer service would have been to inform me of this special when I placed my order. Instead of them sticking extra chicken in my bucket, they lost a customer. I cancelled my order, got my money back and headed down the street to Captain D's. I have not been to a KFC since. I despise poor customer service.
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9-01-2007 @3:51PM John said... I had this type of fried chicken many times when I was in the South, but it does not seem to have made widespread inroads anyplace else. It is , in my opinion, the BEST fried chicken period.
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9-01-2007 @3:56PM anna said... click onthe link STUPIDS
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9-01-2007 @4:36PM Joyce said... My mother's fried chicken was the best. She would soak sliced fatback for about 10 min in water to remove some of the salt then fry it up. Then she simply dredged the chicken in flour and fried it in the fatback grease. I know, artery clogging, but I swear it was the best fried chicken on the entire planet. For those of you who don't know about fatback, it's similar to salt pork, but without the meat, it's all fat and it's a southern thing.
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9-01-2007 @4:39PM Joyce said... My mother's fried chicken was the best I ever had. She would take sliced fatback and soak it for about 10 minutes to take some of the salt out and then fry it up. She would then dredge the chicken in a flour salt and pepper mixture and fry it in the fatback grease. The best fried chicken on the planet. I know, artery clogging. For those of you unfamiliar with fatback, it's similar to salt pork, but without the meat on it, it's all fat and it's a southern thing.
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9-01-2007 @4:58PM Jack said... The now-defunct Lee's chain had the best chicken I ever ate. A keel (double breast) counted as 1 piece and a 3-piece would buckle a paper plate in to.... KFC lost me as a customer when I spent over ten dollars and left there UNSATISFIED, Their prices have SOARED and their service is apathetical at best. Here I come, Popeye's akakakakaka
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9-01-2007 @5:23PM Wynard said... My mother passed away in 2004. Yes, I do belive that our mom's were the best cooks bar none. Mom always had a way of making what ever she was going to serve the most enjoyable tasteing that you ever had.
God Bless our Mom's they will forever hold a place in our hearts.
Maybe that is why we always remember Grandmother as being on the heavy side as we were growing up. They worked hard and ate good. No worry about calories or cholestrol in those days. My grandfather always said to eat good meant you were doing goog.
Thanks you.
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9-01-2007 @6:11PM CAROLE said... Sounds great, I'll try it. I love good friend chicken once in a great while. Have to careful of those calories and those arteries.
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9-01-2007 @6:23PM Renae said... Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
I am so tired of seeing wonderful "home" recipes "lightened up" "use canola oil", "use the oven" not the stove top.
I love this recipe and remember it from my grandmothers kitchen. I still fry my chicken the old fashioned way, and have taught my children to do the same.
thanks again
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