This past weekend was a whirlwind of fun. My oldest sister came to town. I asked what she would like for me to make and instantly she said fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and collard greens. I love that my siblings always know just what they want to eat at my house and let me know they expect it. Now if I could just get those in my house to tell me what they want for dinner daily. Every wife and mother’s dream, right?
Fried chicken is an American classic. While each portion of the US has it’s own style the South has uplifted it and taken it to another level. Every family has it’s own recipe as well. I have one myself that only 1 person has a copy of to give to my daughter upon my death. This person is not my husband but then again he has watched me make it enough he could probably make it and it would be better than mine. While this is definitely a great fried chicken & has some of my secret recipes ingredients, it is not my super secret recipe.
The NCF store has whole cutup chickens for $6.50 lb. Let the work be done for you. We also sell Kefir for $6.50, While there are several flavors we’ll be using plain. This is a happy accident, I ordered buttermilk, when it didn’t come in I needed a back up plan the kefir was there and it spoke to me. It said I have the lactic acid you seek. So I grabbed it and am so happy I did!
Fried Chicken
- 1 Cut Up Chicken
- 1 pint plain Kefir
- 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Cake Flour ( It adds a crispier crunch
- 2 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tsp ground mustard
- 2 tbsp seasoning salt
- Peanut oil for frying
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees place a sheet pan with a rack on top to drain
- Season chicken with seasoning salt
- Soak in Kefir for 12-24 hrs do not go over 24
- Bring Chicken up to room temp for 2 hours before cooking
- Mix flours in a bowl
- Remove chicken from Kefir soak, season with white pepper and mustard
- Coat chicken in flour mixture
- Set chicken on a rack for at least 20 minutes to cure
- In a deep cast iron pan (I use my dutch oven to help prevent splash back) heat 3 inches of oil to to 330 degrees at minimum but not hotter than 350 degrees
- Cook each piece 7-10 minutes breasts will take about 15 minutes until the temp is 165 degrees with a thermometer
- If you’re not frying much chicken place on paper towels it drain if you are cooking if you are frying more or need to keep it warm place in the 350 degree oven till serving.
