Quick Fried Chicken

Quick Fried Chicken

My husband loves fried chicken.  Frying food isn't something that I have done beyond a one time experience when I borrowed my sister's deep fryer.  I didn't have a deep fryer last night, but still wanted to surprise Jeremy when he came home from work with a dinner he would never expect.  This recipe was amazing- great flavor and it allowed for leftovers for today's lunch.

In a 9x13 dish mix together a quart of buttermilk and 2 tbsp tabasco sauce.  I used chicken breast, not chicken on the bone so I placed 4 pieces of chicken in the buttermilk to begin marinating.  Jeremy likes everything hot and spicy so I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top of the chicken as well.  If you are short on time you can simply leave it for about 10 minutes, but the longer it marinates, the better it will taste.  I covered my dish and placed it in the refrigerator for the afternoon.

While the chicken was marinating I made some corn bread to later enjoy with dinner 

(recipe in a different blog to avoid recipe redundancy. Search the blog for corn bread) 

About 40 minutes before you would like to eat, begin preparing a plastic bag and fill it with 1 c flour, a dash of salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.  

At this time place a large skillet on the stove and fill it with oil.  Use enough oil so that it fills the depth of the pan about 2 inches deep.  It needs to be this deep to fully cook the chicken as it is submerged.  Begin heating the oil on high heat.

Remove the chicken from the buttermilk marinade and place in the plastic bag.  Shake the chicken around to evenly coat it with the flour mixture.  Repeat with all pieces of chicken.

Once chicken is coated, check the oil to see if it is slightly bubbling.  If it is, the oil is hot enough.  CAREFULLY place each piece of chicken in the oil, and lower the heat a bit. Do not touch the chicken for 15 minutes to allow it to fry. 

After 15 minutes, turn the chicken over to ensure it is cooked well for another 15-20 minutes.  The oil should continue to bubble.

Remove to a cooling rack to allow any remaining oil to drain.  

Serve with your favorite sides and save leftovers for lunch the next day!

*When cleaning up- DO NOT pour the remaining oil from your pan down your drain, it will harden and become a huge plumbing nightmare!!  Once the oil has cooled, pour into a can or bottle and seal it to throw away.