Beth's Best Fried Chicken

I finally treated myself to a great big ole' frying pan with a lid. I've always wanted one that could fry a whole chicken at once. I've never perfected a recipe for fried chicken, just hit and miss, but I wanted to show off for my DBF so I poured over my recipe books. I was torn between seasoning overnight, or soaking in buttermilk. I fused the two methods together and came out with a real winner. The best of both worlds. I do the seasoning the night before, then do the buttermilk before I go to work in the morning. Then cook when I get home.

• Ready In: 24 hrs 40 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1  whole broiler-fryer chicken, cut up (or your fave parts)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Accent seasoning
• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika
• 1  cup buttermilk
•  oil

Directions

1. Wash and pat chicken parts dry.
2. Mix together salt, 1tsp black pepper, garlic powder and accent into a small bowl.
3. Sprinkle chicken with mixture.
4. Place seasoned chicken in a ziplock bag overnight in fridge.
5. The next morning, pour the buttermilk into the bag of chicken. Squeeze out all of the air and mush the bag around making sure that all chicken is coated with the buttermilk.
6. Place back into fridge and let chill for five hours or more.
7. Mix flour, remaining pepper, and paprika into another bag.
8. Remove chicken from bag and place into a colander to let drain for a minute or two.
9. Get a large frying pan with a tight fitting lid and pour enough oil in to reach about 1/2 inch deep. Heat it over medium high heat until flour sizzles when added.
10. Lower heat to medium.
11. Shake chicken parts one at a time in bag of flour until all is coated.
12. Place chicken into hot oil skin side down. Thighs should be placed in center if a whole chicken is being used.
13. Cover and let cook for about 2 minutes or until crust starts to form. Lower heat to just under medium.
14. When tops are looking wet, blood is rising, and sides look browned, turn chicken over. cover again and let cook until browned on bottom.
15. Remove chicken from pan and let drain on a cookie cooling rack. Cover with foil while draining. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve.