Fried Chicken

[Hamletmaschine]

Sounds great unclej!!! But I'd recommend kicking it up a notch or two, as someone once said, by liberally coating the chicken pieces with Paul Prudhomme's or Tony's before you coat the chicken with the seasoned flour. Rub it into the meat and let it sit for 30 minutes or so.

The best cornbread:

1 3/4 c. stone ground cornmeal
1 tsp. each salt, baking powder, baking soda
1 egg
2 c. buttermilk

Put a couple tsp. of oil in an 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet. Put the skillet in the oven and preheat the oven to 450. Mix all the ingredients together, remove preheated skillet from oven, pour batter into skillet and bake for about 20 mins.

Simple. Pure. Unadulterated.

 

[lavender]

 

[Hamletmaschine]

For some reason, I'm now thinking of legs and thighs.

 

[unclej]

good idea about coating the chicken first...i'll try that next time...

i love basic cornbread but a lot of the time i'll add creamed corn, cheddar cheese and lots of jalapenos...now that'll make ya sit up and slap yer momma...

 

[Hamletmaschine]

Better watch out, though. That's sounding an awful lot like yankee cornbread, unclej. Next thing you know, you'll be putting sugar in it.

 

[unclej]

what, woah, back up...yankee cornbread...sugar...no way...yankees don't eat jalapenos anyway...i'm not real sure yankees eat cornbread and if they did they'd want to put clams or something in it...

sugar (mumbles to himself) silliest thing i ever heard...

 

[Ice Princess]

Anybody here soak the chicken overnight in the refrigerator in water, buttermilk, salt water, or vinegar? I haven't ever heard a good explanation for why it's done (some people have told me it's to draw the blood out, tenderize the meat, or make the skin crispier) but some of the best cooks I know do it.

 

[Hamletmaschine]

Salt water would probably work to purge the meat of blood, I'm guessing. Though I can't imagine anyone doing that with those factory-made chickens you get these days. A fresh one, yes--but even then I don't think you need to do it overnight.

Vinegar overnight? You'd have a mess, I think, since that's going to "cook" the chicken, like a marinade.

I've heard of people soaking it in milk, though. I don't know why or what effect it may have.

 

[unclej]

if i'm going to grill chicken i will quite often marinate it over night in italian dressing but never milk or salt water...i soak the tougher cuts of venison in milk and it does draw out the blood and makes it a little more tender...

 

[WhiteRose]

I've soaked it in a teriyaki-ginger sauce or soy sauce before. That adds a nice flavor clear through.

*clips Hamletmaschine's cornbread recipe for her recipe file* I'll take cornbread over biscuits anyday.

 

[unclej]

edited to start another thread