Easy Fried Chicken

Many people are terrified of frying. I can understand why....its messy, not very healthy (but delicious!), and many people think hard to do if you don't own a fryer. The fact is though, you can easily do it with cookware you already have in your kitchen.

First, you have to decide what you are going to use to put the oil in. My cooking item of choice is a large cast iron skillet. It holds heat so well that it is perfect for frying, and even though it may seem to shallow, flipping the chicken is fairly simple. You can get a relatively good one for around 20 dollars at any cooking store or even WalMart. If you don't have a cast iron, a deep sauce pan or pot you use to cook your pasta in will work fine as well, but it just doesn't give you near as much room.

Once you decide on what you are going to use to make the chicken in, you need to pick an oil. Now, I always use vegetable oil, because it is the cheapest, and healthiest. However, if you want a truly great taste, the way to go is peanut oil. It adds a flavor to the meat that you don't get from veggie oil, but it is more expensive.

Now that you have all that down, dump oil into what you are using. Either way, I would fill up the pot or skillet halfway at first as that will be more than enough to fry in. Be sure to put the stove on a MEDIUM setting, because anything hire and you will have grease explosions.

OK,now that we have all that going, time to make the breading. This is VERY simple. All I do is put flour in (vary the amounts for how much you are making), salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and paprika. I like to add lots of flavors to my breading, but if you don't want that, just add salt and pepper. Also, and this is important for taste, season the chicken directly before you roll it in the breading, as again, it will add more taste to the dish.

Next step is one you can leave out if you want. Take an egg and beat it, then coat the chicken in it and then roll it in the flour mixture you have. The egg is not necessary, but I have found it makes for a much crispier breading in the end. Also, and this is a tip from the recipe I am leaving you at the end of this post, if you let the chicken stand for 20 minutes, the breading will adhere better, and again, become more crispy when fried. Remember though, you can leave the eggs and standing all out and throw the chicken right in without any horrible consequences.

Remember though, be careful putting the chicken in the oil as it is VERY hot. Just slide it in, and let it cook and then after about 8 minutes turn to get the other side. Cook times will vary depending on your stove, but in general it takes about 15-17 minutes for my chicken to cook through. Once it is done, pull it out and let it rest for 5 minutes on paper towels and dig in.

I will also leave you with this wing recipe from Sunny Anderson at the food network....it is one of my favorites, especially for a sporting event on TV and guests.

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/wings-3-ways-recipe/index.html

Try it out! It is a lot of work, but the wings are as good as any I have had in a restaurant

-Matt