Southern Fried Chicken and the Fixin’s – Part 1

My mother was a horrible cook. She hated cooking and burned almost everything she ever tried to cook, with one exception. She could really make good fried chicken. After all, she grew up on good fried chicken. She was from Southeast Texas. I rarely make fried chicken, although I certainly know how, but why when I can get some very tasty fried chicken from Safeway. Larry decided he wanted me to make some fried chicken instead of buying this time around, so he bought some drumsticks, and drumsticks only. Why he only bought drumsticks is beyond me, but that’s what he bought. That’s one reason why he is RARELY allowed to do the shopping. There are plenty more, but ll save those for another time. 🙂

The South is famous for its fried chicken, so I wanted to make some Southern “fixin’s” to go with the chicken as well. All in all, it was a pretty easy menu to make, especially since I had some baked beans in the freezer that I pulled out and added to the meal. All I really cooked was the chicken and the vegetables. For the baked beans, I just added some more sauce and reheated them in the oven. Easy-peasy. Baked Beans for the BBQ NO, my beans had not been in the freezer for all this time. I made a new batch, but this was the recipe I used. I served it with a dry white blend, because it was chicken, but any type of wine would work very well with this meal.

Southern Fried Chicken

This recipe is enough for 12 pieces of chicken.

The Wet Soak for the Chicken

3 cups butter milk – I use the dry buttermilk mixed with milk

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix everything together and soak your chicken pieces for about 4 hours in the refrigerator before coating and frying. Rotate the chicken a few times to make sure the pieces are completely saturated with the liquid mixture. When the chicken is ready to coat, make your dredging mixture and coat the chicken thoroughly before frying.

Dredging Mixture

3 cups flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 TBSP salt

1 TBSP paprika

2 tsp onion powder or dried onion

2 tsp dry roasted garlic

1 tsp each dried oregano, basil,

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

vegetable oil for frying – about 3/4 of a quart

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly and add the chicken pieces. Make sure to completely coat the chicken pieces.

Heat the oil in either a deep skillet or a deep fryer to 350* F. Slowly and carefully add the chicken pieces to the hot oil. Do not over crowd the chicken. You may have to cook it in batches if you do not have a large enough skillet or deep fryer. If you are frying the chicken in a skillet, cook it for about 14 minutes, rotating it about every 2 minutes to ensure it cooks evenly and does not burn. If you are using a deep fryer, make sure it is completely covered by the hot oil and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Under cooked chicken is not a good thing, and can make you very sick, so make sure the chicken is completely cooked, and the internal temperature is 165* F before eating.

Once the chicken is completely cooked, remove it from the hot oil and place it on a plate with a paper towel to absorb the grease. Let it set for about 10 minutes before enjoying it.

Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people. View all posts by ajeanneinthekitchen