Carla Hall's Amazing Fried Chicken
Yields 4
Ingredients
- Dry Rub
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 small organic chicken, cut into 10 pieces
- To Fry
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup water
- Flour (for coating chicken pieces) (or gluten-free blend such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour) *
- Salt
- Pepper
- Peanut oil (for frying)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Make Dry Rub: In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir to blend. Place the chicken pieces in a plastic resealable bag and sprinkle with the dry rub. Seal bag and toss to coat each piece evenly. Refrigerate overnight. Two hours before cooking, remove chicken from the plastic bag and let sit in the refrigerator to dry out the skin slightly.
- To Fry Chicken: Heat 1/2-inch of peanut oil in a cast iron skillet to 360°F. Use a candy or instant read thermometer to monitor the temperature.
- Lightly beat the eggs and combine with the buttermilk and water in a shallow dish.
- In another shallow dish, combine the flour and cornstarch and season with salt and pepper. Set the two dishes side by side next to the cast iron skillet with the flour mixture closest to the stove.
- Immerse the pieces of chicken into the buttermilk mixture and drip off the excess. Transfer the flour mixture and remove the excess. Place it in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, using tongs to turn the chicken.
- Check the chicken temperature with a thermometer. If it's not 160 degrees F yet, turn down the heat under the skillet and continue to cook.
- Transfer cooked chicken to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. This helps keeps the chicken crispy. You can also place the baking sheet in a slow oven to keep chicken warm if you have to hold dinner a bit before serving.
Notes
- * A question came in from a reader (thanks Hartley) asking for the ratio of flour to cornstarch for the coating mixture. There may be others with the same question. Here is my response.
- Carla doesn’t give specific amounts for the flour in her recipe - she cooks in the same old-fashioned style as my grandmother did and the way I do today. Ifill a shallow dish about 1/3 to 1/2 full with flour. Add the seasonings and cornstarch; whisk them in. Then use this to dredge the chicken. While not an exact ratio, the cornstarch is includedfor the extra crunchiness it adds to coatings.
Adapted from Carla Hall
