Country Fried Chicken

Recipe provided by Mrs. Cummings

The first thing that needs to be done is to cut up your chicken. You must dislocate the bones on the wings, then cut at the point it is dislocated, repeat for the other wing, and both of the legs. Then you cut between the breast and the back. Once the back is out you place that along with the neck (if it was provided) into a big pot, fill with water, then bring to a boil while you fry your chicken later. Return to the breast and cut right down the center. This makes it so it isn't so big and is easier to fry.

Leave the cut up chicken to the side. Next you need to make your brine. You need to combine the buttermilk, thyme, salt, and your pepper into a large bowl. This is so our chicken can marinate over night to soak in all of those different flavors. After the brine is mixed in well enough place the cut up chicken into the bowl, cover it up with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to marinate over night.

The next day pull the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator. I then prepared my skillet. I placed about an inch to an inch and a half of oil inside of the electric skillet. Then I started to preheat it to 350 degrees. Next I made the flour base for the chicken. Combining the flour, salt, cajun, and pepper into a large bowl. After that was done I took one of the pieces of chicken into the flour base, and shook it around to cover the chicken into a nice coat of breading. Once that was finished I placed the covered chicken into the warm oil and fried it until a golden brown, then flipped. I repeated this step for all of my chicken. When the chicken was perfectly fried I placed it onto a cookie sheet with cooling racks inside so we could separate the grease and chicken. I placed it into an oven that was preheated to 350 degrees and cooked for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken reached its safe temperature of 165 degrees for each individual piece of chicken.

After the chicken was at its safe temp we took it out of the oven and left it to share with others. As I was eating my chicken I noticed how it fell right off of the bone. I enjoyed out I didn't have to work at it to eat it. The chicken just melted into my mouth with it's perfect combination of spicy and crisp.