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.

Buttermilk on the Cusp Equals Divine

I had a full half gallon of buttermilk that had reached its sell-by date.  A cup went into breakfast biscuits, but that left a whole lotta buttermilk still to use.  I went searching through my recipe book, but then decided to just check the web. I'm so glad I did.  I found a wonderful recipe for a lemon buttermilk pound cake on Baking Bites.

This is a yummy pound cake with a very tender crumb.  I made only a few small changes to the recipe, like substituting lemon juice for lemon zest and using salted butter and less loose salt.  I also opted to omit the lemon glaze to reduce the sugar level and make it perfect for a breakfast on the front porch this morning.  We initially tried the cake hot from the oven, and it was absolutely divine served warm.

Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake

slightly adapted from Bakingbites.com

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease (or spray with non-stick spray if using a non-stick pan) a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon juice, then beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined.

Combine vanilla extract, buttermilk, and oil.

Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat gently until just combined. Then add half of the buttermilk mixture, beating until just combined. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto wire rack to cool completely.  Top with lemon glaze if desired.

Please see Baking Bites here for the original recipe.

Printable version of adapted recipe.