Buttermilk Corn Bread
- 1 Tbsp bacon grease or corn oil
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1-1/2 cups corn meal
- 1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg, well beaten
- 6 Tbsp melted butter
- Put an iron skillet, Dutch oven or metal pan in the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Whisk flour, corn meal, baking soda, salt sugar (if using) in a bowl.
- In separate bowl, beat milk, butter and egg until smooth.
- Add egg mixture to flour mixture.
- Add milk, egg and oil. Beat until smooth.
- Put 1 Tbsp oil or bacon grease in the skillet or pan to melt.
- Carefully spread batter in the hot pan and level.
- Bake at 400 degrees 20 minutes or till toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean and edges have started to brown.
Nashville Style Hot Fried Chicken
Nashville Style Hot Chicken was developed by accident according to this story, told to me by Dave. Thornton Prince's girlfriend was tired of his late-night carousing. To teach him a lesson, one morning when he stumbled into the kitchen, she was waiting with his favourite fried chicken breakfast. But this time, she'd cooked it with a punishing amount of peppers and spices.
Instead of finding the meal indigestible, Thornton liked it so much that he developed his own recipe and in 1945 opened a chicken place, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. In the last ten years, the hot chicken trend spread like wildfire through the South and there are now dozens of Nashville Hot Chicken restaurants in North America.
Suggested sides to serve with Nashville Hot Chicken: hot biscuits, cornbread, braised collard greens, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, BBQ baked beans.
This recipe makes 4 quarter-chicken servings of Nashville-style spicy fried chicken.
If you use smaller chicken pieces instead of breast and leg quarters, frying time will be shorter.
If you are using a larger chicken with bigger pieces, you may need to double coating ingredients and frying time will be longer.
Ingredients
- 1 three lb.
chicken cut into quarters
- Salt and
freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup whole milk + 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 2 large
eggs
- 1 Tbsp
Louisiana-style hot sauce
- 2 cups all-purpose
flour
- Canola/peanut/vegetable
oil for frying
- White
bread and pickle slices for serving
- Optional: Pickle Juice, Buttermilk and Louisiana-style hot sauce for
the wet brine
Spicy Coating
- 1/2 cup of the oil used to fry the chicken
- 1 - 2 Tbsp
cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp - 1
Tbsp packed yellow or light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp.
salt
- 1/4 tsp.
black pepper
- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp
garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked
paprika
- Optional: Ground Habanero or Ground Ghost Pepper to kick up the heat level
8 to 24 Hours Before
or If you have time, follow instructions for a wet brine. You’ll need a jar of your favourite pickle juice and buttermilk for this. Otherwise, prepare the quick dry brine which can be made the night before cooking.
WWash chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels. Then:
Dry Brine: In a bowl, toss chicken pieces with 2 tsp salt (OR 1 Tbsp kosher or sea salt) and 1-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate 8-24 hours, then remove chicken from the fridge. OR
Wet Brine: Submerge the raw chicken pieces in pickle juice. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours. Discard pickle juice, cover chicken pieces with a mixture of buttermilk mixed with 1 Tbsp Louisiana-style hot sauce. Refrigerate 8-16 hours, then remove chicken from the buttermilk mixture and let excess liquid drip off.
· In a bowl or large plastic food storage bag, mix:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt OR 2 tsp sea salt
In another bowl, beat:
- 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp Louisiana-style hot sauce.
Double-Dredge the chicken pieces:
Take a chicken piece and dip both sides in the flour mixture, shake off any excess.
Next dip the flour-coated chicken piece in milk mixture, let excess drip off.
Dip the chicken piece in the flour mixture again to coat a second time.
Place coated chicken piece on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.
Put a wire rack on top of a second baking sheet. You will place the chicken here on the rack after frying. If you have another, ready an additional rack on another baking sheet just in case thicker pieces need to be put in the oven to finish cooking, as explained below.
If using a deep fryer, follow manufacturer's instructions for depth of cooking oil recommended.
If using a cast-iron skillet, Dutch oven or pot, pour oil into the pan until about 3/4 inch (2 cm) deep. The skillet used should be large enough that the depth of oil is not more than 1/3 the height of the skillet and at most the oil should be no higher than 1/2 an inch below the edge of the pan after chicken is added.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Heat oil in the skillet or fryer to between 325 and 350 degrees F.
If you don't have a thermometer, sprinkle some flour across the surface of the oil, if the oil sizzles it is hot enough.
Cook the chicken in at least two batches, the larger breast quarters first and then leg quarters.
Wear oven mitts and use tongs to lower chicken pieces into the hot oil.
There should be about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of space between pieces of chicken in the pan, don't crowd them. There should be enough oil to come halfway up the sides of the chicken pieces.
When frying the second batch of chicken pieces, you may need to add more oil to the pan to maintain the oil level and adjust the level of heat to keep the pan sizzling.
Chicken should cook covered loosely with foil or a skillet lid to avoid oil splatters and maintain heat.
Fry at 300 to 325 degrees F for about 6 minutes or until the bottom of the chicken is golden-brown and crisp.
Then turn the chicken pieces over and continue to fry uncovered.
Breast quarters will need to cook a total of about 15-17 minutes.
Leg quarters will cook in 18 to 20 minutes.
Thighs alone take about 12-14 minutes.
Large chicken pieces may take 30 minutes to cook.
Test for doneness with a meat thermometer. Chicken should register about 165 degrees F (74 degrees C) in the thickest part.
If you don't have a thermometer, cut into a piece of chicken at the thickest part. Juices should run clear (not pink) and flesh of the chicken should not be red or pink near the bone.
You can also just fry the chicken on both sides until the skin is golden brown. Then place the chicken pieces on a clean rack on a baking sheet and finish cooking the pieces in the oven, preheated to 325 degrees F. After 5 or 10 minutes or so, check again to see if the chicken is cooked through or needs additional oven time.
Fully done chicken pieces should be placed on a rack over a baking sheet and kept warm in the oven at 200 degrees F. or covered in foil to be kept warm.
Spicy Coating
After the last pieces of chicken are done, turn off heat and carefully ladle or pour the grease and oil from the frying pan into a bowl or measuring cup, up to 1/2 cup of combined chicken grease and oil. Strain out any burnt bits.
OR set the used grease aside to cool for disposal.
Melt 1/2 cup lard or shortening OR pour 1/2 cup fresh canola or vegetable oil into a measuring cup.
In a small bowl, mix coating seasonings:
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp each salt and black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
Pour the 1/2 cup oil into the seasoning mixture while stirring.
If desired, whisk in up to 2 Tbsp more cayenne pepper and 1-2 tsp more brown sugar, to taste.
If you really like heat, try adding ground Habanero or ghost peppers.
Do not get any hot spice mixture near your eyes!
Combine thoroughly.
To Serve:
Place each fried quarter chicken piece on top of a slice of white bread on a plate.
The bread absorbs excess grease.
Baste each piece of hot chicken lightly with Spicy Coating mixture.
Garnish with pickles.
