Fried Chicken

Back in 2005 I bought myself some cast-iron cookware. I got a griddle/grill pan (which I love), a 10 1/4 inch skillet (great for cornbread), and a 15 1/4 inch skillet. I've used the large skillet for a number of things (e.g. chicken fried steak). Recently when my mother was visiting she made fried chicken and I realized that I have never made fried chicken in my cast-iron skillet. So this was my first experiment in making fried chicken and I think I may need to tweak a few things.

I got a really good deal on chicken breasts at Costco this past weekend so I only made breasts this time and I split them because they were huge.

First I salted the chicken and let it sit in a bowl while I readied the other ingredients. To the bowl I added about 3 cups of buttermilk, 2 onions - sliced, and some hot sauce. I let this marinate overnight until dinnertime.

In a paper bag I combined about 2 cups of flour, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder and salt. I placed the chicken pieces in the bag one at a time and shook until well coated. I let the chicken pieces rest about 30 minutes before frying. In the cast-iron skillet over medium heat I heated up enough shortening to come up about an inch in the skillet. Then I began frying. This took a while! I think the first batch took almost 30 minutes or more to cook. I was concerned about getting the middle up to temperature while not burning the outside. Also some of the pieces were cooking faster than others and not evenly. I think maybe a lid might help, but unfortunately they don't make one for this size skillet. I also think I may need to play around using both burners to keep the skillet hot all around.

All in all I think it still came out pretty good. The chicken was moist on the inside and crispy on the outside for the most part although there was some unevenness. I served it with homemade macaroni and cheese and corn. I strayed a little from my usual mac and cheese recipe. I used some Dijon instead of dry mustard which was pretty good. I think I'll write a post some time about my search for the perfect, but easy, homemade mac and cheese.