Recipe for Rock-Star Fried Chicken

For the longest time, I've yearned to learn how to make fried chicken. My friend Linda's recipe turns out finger-lickin' fried chicken, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, one skillet after another.

The trick to Rock-Star Fried Chicken starts with a thin coating of spicy mustard. After that, the brilliance is in the three-step cooking process: first, for browning and crisping, a fast fry on both sides; second, to cook the chicken, a slower fry at a lower temperature in a covered skillet; third, to recrisp the coating, a last few minutes uncovered at a fast fry at a higher temperature again.

“Then I crossed the empty street
Caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken ...”

- Johnny Cash in the Kris Kristopherson song 'Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down' (sound clip below)

In the food world of my childhood, a woman’s no cook, not a real cook anyway, until she masters a tender flaky pie crust, hot-from-the-oven homemade bread and picnic-worthy fried chicken. So here I am, a woman of a certain age, and only now tackling that fried chicken.

No question why it’s taken this long: sheer intimidation. There was no matching my grandmother’s fried chicken, even following her recipe step by careful step. My home ec-teacher mother tried and failed. If she failed, well, there was no way I could succeed.

But then this summer my friend Linda shared her favorite fried chicken recipe, one she's perfected over many years. The very first night I poured the oil into the inky black cast-iron skillet, I felt like a fried-chicken rock star, like I knew what I was doing, like I was guaranteed success.

That first batch of fried chicken? Dark and oh so crispy. Succulent, even.

There was no looking back. Gramma Kellogg, your legacy continues! I know how to cook great fried chicken!

ALANNA’s TIPS You know all those tips about how to keep a cast iron skillet well-seasoned? For a few years, I’ve coddled cast iron with a rub of warm olive oil after use. Forget that, the only seasoning a cast iron skillet needs? Cookin’ up some fried chicken on a real reg’lar Sunday basis.

That said, my cast iron is going to be feeling mighty lonely. I've just switched to a ceramic stovetop and was much chagrined to read, "Cast iron may scratch and permanently damage a ceramic surface."

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.

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ROCK-STAR FRIED CHICKEN RECIPE

For detailed tips about frying chicken, see How to Make Great Fried Chicken

Hands-on time: 10 minutes to start, 30 minutes to chill, then occasional attention while frying
Time to table: 1-1/2 hours

Chicken legs and/or chicken thighs, skins on
Spicy brown mustard

1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup peanut oil per skillet

Rinse chicken pieces under running water and pat dry with paper towels. With your hands, lightly coat the pieces with mustard. Arrange in a single layer on a plate and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Turn on the stove’s vent fan. In a large cast iron skillet with a lid (or two smaller skillets), heat the oil on medium high until hot. While the oil heats, mix the flour, salt and pepper in a gallon-size freezer bag. Add the chicken and toss until coated.

Without crowding, use tongs to arrange the chicken pieces in the skillet, top-side down for thighs and any breasts. Without moving the pieces, cook for 10 minutes. Turn the pieces over and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium to medium-low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove cover, turn pieces over again, increase heat to medium high and cook for 5 minutes. Arrange on platter lined with paper towels.

Serve hot or keep warm in a 200F oven or refrigerate and serve cold.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE (How many calories in fried chicken? How many Weight Watchers points in fried chicken?) Per Drumstick/Thigh: 124/174 Calories; 9/14g Tot Fat; 2/3g Sat Fat; 35/47mg Cholesterol; 342/348mg Sodium; 1g Carb; 0g Fiber; 0g Sugar; 9/10g Protein; Weight Watchers 2/4 points

This nutrition estimate for fried chicken assumes that 25% of the cooking oil is absorbed by the chicken, even though when it's cooked at the proper heat, before-and-after measurements yield the same amount of oil.

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Brilliant! I love it so much I'll make it but mine will have to be gluten free. I lived for 11 years in WV and if you couldn't make fried chicken, well folks wouldn't come to dinner. Even if you made a mean Boeuf Bourguignon they still wouldn't come. I love the three-step process too. Of course now you've made me hungry for fried chicken. That wasn't on my menu for tonight, but that might have to change. :-)

thewholegang on 10/08/2009

The Whole Gang ~ Is arrowroot gluten-free? It actually became my preference over flour (that's mentioned in How to Make Great Fried Chicken) but I left flour in the main recipe since it's so accessible for most cooks where arrowroot is not. The arrowroot fried chicken was especially crispy.

Thanks for your West Virginia story, I do so relate!

Alanna on 10/08/2009

Alanna- Yes, arrowroot is gluten free. It's great on chicken. I use it all the time. I also use it to make a slurry to thicken sauces and gravies. Penzeys is a great way to get arrowroot. I'm lucky enough to have a store here but they have a great catalog and ship. Bob's Red Mill also sells arrowroot. You can find that in most stores.

thewholegang on 10/08/2009

looks great for being so healthy. its interesting how you estimated the nutritional information with the oil...i always have a hard time trying to figure that out!

Ashley on 10/13/2009