Buttermilk Fried Chicken and the Leftovers

I tried my first-ever fried chicken (on the bone, at least) owing to my acquisition, this year, of a pan deep enough to fry in.



I used Bobby Flay's guidelines (on a show I saw of his) about double-dipping fried chicken in buttermilk and flour. First, I seasoned the flour with a little cayenne, some poultry seasoning, some Adobo seasoning, and pepper. Oh, and just a little of Nonno's seasoning, too, that I keep in the freezer (sage, rosemary, red pepper and yes, more garlic diced finely by Nonno with a mezza luna, or curved blade.) I had purchased chicken legs and thighs, because, I admit, they were so dang cheap. I had marinated the chicken (skin removed, I just don't care for it) in a gallon Ziploc bag for at least four hours in the buttermilk. Then I dipped them in the flour, and again in more buttermilk, and again in the flour. I fried the chicken in vegetable oil when the oil looked hot enough to me. You can check this by flicking a piece of breading in the oil, and seeing if bubbles form around it.

I would call my first fry successful. Next time, I will season it the same way. There are a couple of things I will do differently next time, though. I dunno if it was just my technique, but the double-dip made the breading so thick, it was almost too thick. I think a single dip is enough. I don't want anyone to split their palate open on super-crunchy breading.

Another tip is not to put the lid on the chicken if you need to walk away from it for a moment. Use a splatter-shield, but the lid, even if on for only a moment, will cause an increase in pressure. This causes the oil to flare up, and I burned that batch a bit on the bottom just from that moment of having the lid on. Makes it harder to control the temperature.

Lastly, I think next time I will spring for the white meat. I think the breasts and the drumsticks would have been a nicer combo. Especially since dark meat is naturally a bit oily, I think white meat makes a better fry.

We had plenty of leftovers. Later, I cut the meat and breading off of the drumsticks, and diced it into salads on a hot day. I added scallions, and made a buttermilk, ranch-seasoned dressing with light sour cream and some of the remaining buttermilk.



On a cooler day, I used the thighs (I had bought boneless and skinless thighs) to bake in the oven with marinara and mozzarella (in a mixed cheese) as chicken parmigiana.