Appalachian Mountain Chicken
photo by Bone Man
- Ready In:
- 1hr 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
3
ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, cut up (save organs and small parts for stock)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons appalachian mountain seasoning (see directions, below)
- 3 teaspoons table salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 3 cups Crisco shortening
directions
- Make up a batch of Appalachian Mountain Seasoning (my own recipe), Recipe #152980 -- the quick recipe is: 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 1 teaspoon ground roasted red chilies, without seeds (or plain ground red pepper); 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, freshly ground; 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, and; 1/4 teaspoon file (pronounced FEE-lay) seasoning, OR, ground anise.
- Wipe the chicken dry with paper towels. Using a large brown paper bag, pour in 1 cup of the flour and "dust" the chicken parts, one or two at a time. Lay them out on a sheet of wax paper for about 1/2 an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375-degrees F.
- In a large skillet, heat the Crisco to at least 375-degrees F. (A couple drops of water will "spackle" pretty hard at this temperature but the oil does not smoke.) DO NOT cut short on the amount of Crisco or your chicken will be greasy and dry! It must fry on the sides as it cooks in order to seal in the juices.
- Make up your "drench" in a low sided bowl by mixing the eggs, the buttermilk, and the water.
- Make up your "dredge" on a large plate by blending the Appalachian mountain seasoning, 2 cups of flour, and the salt.
- Drench each piece of chicken, shake off excess liquid, then dredge it in the flour blend. Lay it into the hot Crisco (It should begin frying immediately -- if not, your oil isn't hot enough).
- Drench and dredge only one piece of chicken at a time as you'll need to fry it up in two batches to maintain high oil temperature, and to not "crowd" the chicken in the skillet.
- Fry the chicken until it is golden brown on the bottom and then turn it (only once!), using tongs and not a fork. This should take about 8-10 minutes total, per batch. When it is golden brown on each side, lay it out on a baking pan (use one with sides). Cover the first batch with foil until the second batch is finished frying.
- When all the chicken has been fried, bake it on the lower-middle rack, UNCOVERED, for 40 minutes (375-degree F.).
- Allow the chicken to "rest" for 10 minutes prior to serving.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>I am a retired State Park Resort Manager/Ranger. <br /><br />Anyway, as to my years in the State Park System (retired now), I was responsible for 4 restaurants/dining rooms on my park and my boss at Central Headquarters said I should spend less time in my kitchens and more time tending to my park budget. I spent 25 years in those kitchens and worked with some really great chefs over those years, (and some really awful ones too!) <br /><br />I spent THOUSANDS of hours on every inch of that park and adjacent state forest (60,000 acres) and sometimes I miss it. But mostly I miss being in that big beautiful resort lodge kitchen. I miss my little marina restaurant down on the Ohio River too. I served the best Reuben Sandwich (my own recipe -- posted on 'Zaar as The Shawnee Marina Reuben Sandwich) in both the State of Ohio and the Commonwealth of Kentucky down there and sold it for $2.95. Best deal on the river! <br /><br />They (friends and neighbors) call my kitchen The Ospidillo Cafe. Don't ask me why because it takes about a case of beer, time-wise, to explain the name. Anyway, it's a small galley kitchen with a Mexican motif (until my wife catches me gone for a week or so), and it's a very BUSY kitchen as well. We cook at all hours of the day and night. You are as likely to see one of my neighbors munching down over here as you are my wife or daughter. I do a lot of recipe experimentation and development. It has become a really fun post-retirement hobby -- and, yes, I wash my own dishes. <br /><br />Also, I'm the Cincinnati Chili Emperor around here, or so they say. (Check out my Ospidillo Cafe Cincinnati Chili recipe). SKYLINE CHILI is one of my four favorite chilis, and the others include: Gold Star Chili, Empress Chili and, my VERY favorite, Dixie. All in and around Cincinnati. Great stuff for cheap and I make it at home too. <br /><br />I also collect menus and keep them in my kitchen -- I have about a hundred or so. People go through them and when they see something that they want, I make it the next day. That presents some real challenges! <br /><br />http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/shawnee.htm</p>