It has been quite some time since I’ve made fried chicken, but I can never pass up reading a recipe for it when I see one.
The recipe for the fried chicken above comes from the cookbook, Brown Sugar Kitchen, given to me by my son in the San Francisco area.
It was up to me to guess which of the four very different cookbooks each one sent. I believe I guessed only one out of four correctly, and this fried chicken recipe appears in the book Brown Sugar Kitchen, which was the only one I guessed right.
It is a great recipe! The fried chicken is delicious, crispy on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside. We ate it hot for dinner, and the next day had it for lunch, and it tasted just as good the day after cold. In fact it would be perfect for transporting to a picnic or other outing.
Although the recipe is for a whole chicken, I had 4 bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts in the freezer just waiting for an interesting recipe. Perfect!
The chicken is rubbed thoroughly with a seasoned herb mixture before soaking it in a bath of buttermilk, and covered overnight in the fridge.
The buttermilk bath serves a s a tenderizing brine making the chicken extra moist and flavorful when cooked.
Fried just long enough to crisp and turn golden, the chicken is then transferred to the oven to finish cooking, ensuring the skin remains crisp and the meat is cooked all the way to the bone.
Need I say more? Here’s the recipe for you…
Buttermilk Fried Chicken (Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook, Tanya Holland)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus 1 tablespoon
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 and ½ lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or whatever bone-in, skin-on chicken parts you choose)
1 cup buttermilk
Canola or rice bran oil for deep-frying
1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, combine the parsley, tarragon, onion powder, paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, garlic powder, cayenne, 1 teaspoon black pepper, oregano, and thyme.
Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat.
Pour in the buttermilk, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large cast-iron frying pan (or large Dutch Oven, such as Le Creuset) , add oil to a depth of ¾ inches and heat the oil to 350 degrees F over medium heat until hot but not smoking.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels and set a wire rack on top.
In a large wide bowl, combine flour, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon black pepper.
One piece at a time and letting any excess buttermilk drip back into the bowl, transfer chicken to the flour mixture.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess.
Fry the chicken, a few pieces at a time, taking care not to crowd the pan and turning occasionally, until crisp and browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
Transfer to the rack over the baking sheet to continue cooking in the oven until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Serve immediately.
