I purchased a young whole chicken from Kroger and Tyler used a whole chicken too. He showed how to cut it up and there are many You Tube videos for assistance. I found cutting the chicken breasts in half keeps all the pieces about the same size making it easier to cook.
Brine the chicken parts with 1 Tbls of salt per quart of water for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Add peanut oil (I used part peanut oil and part canola oil since peanut oil itself is expensive) to about ¾ of the way up a pot. When heated to medium add uncut rosemary, thyme, sage and smashed but whole garlic. I used a couple of sprigs of each and 4 cloves of garlic. When crispy remove, about 5-8 minutes.
In one dish add 1 quart of buttermilk and 2 Tbls of hot sauce of choice. Salt and pepper.
In a second dish add 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 Tbls garlic powder, 2 Tbls onion powder, 2 Tbls paprika, 2 Tbls cayenne pepper (don’t worry the chicken is not spicy hot), and 2 Tbls each of pepper and salt (I prefer Kosher).
Tyler then took the brined chicken pieces dipped them in the buttermilk then flour then put it in the oil. Famous chef, Thomas Keller, dips them in flour then buttermilk then flour again. This worked well for me. Cook only a few pieces at a time (I had three batches for the ten pieces of chicken). For dark meat use temp med-low (about 350 degrees) for about 12 minutes until browned and cooked through, for white meat use medium temp (about 375-400 degrees) and cook about 10 minutes.
Let chicken rest and the oil to run off. Squeeze lemon over top. Serve with lemon and the herbs on the side for decoration.
(After cutting the chicken into pieces you are left with the back. Put that in a pot with 2-4 quarts of water, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, salt, pepper and cook on simmer for at least a couple of hours. Strain and use as chicken stock. There are many variations on this to make stock.) |