The Best Fried Chicken

Fried chicken: everyone has his or her own idea of a "best" fried chicken.  I have had lots of good fried chicken -- the bone-in, skin-on fryer pieces my mother used to cook in her electric skillet, the tender parboiled and fried chicken my Aunt Irene used to make -- who can say which is really the best?  What I can say is that this is the best fried chicken that comes out of my own kitchen.  A tender, buttermilk marinated piece of chicken joy.

There is no real recipe for this dish.  I use boneless, skinless breast meat which I usually cut in half through the thickest part to make each piece thinner and a little more uniform.  Trim off all fat, pierce each piece all over with a fork, and soak, fully immersed, in a buttermilk bath for at least four hours.  If you want a little more zip, you can add a splash or two of Tabasco sauce to the buttermilk.  Dredge each piece in salt-and-pepper-seasoned flour and fry in hot vegetable oil, turning only once.  I usually dredge in the flour twice, letting the chicken rest just a couple of minutes in between.

Any time, any place, winter or summer.  Love this chicken.