Buttermilk Fried Chicken
This is such an easy recipe for how to make buttermilk fried chicken. I am ashamed to say I have never actually made buttermilk fried chicken before last week. Yes. of course I have made fried chicken. But I make it with an egg batter, because that is the way my mom and granny use to make it. I guess I just got into an egg battered fried chicken rut. I was recently reading Jaden’s website, Steamy Kitchen, where she had made Ree’s buttermilk fried chicken from the Pioneer Woman. This recipe that Jaden did, is part of her new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. How embarrassing for me, the self proclaimed accidental country girl. Ree, seems to know more about buttermilk fried chicken than an actual country girl. Well, life is a journey of learning, so I set out to use her recipe as inspiration, and develop my own buttermilk fried chicken recipe. The result was a crispy fried chicken, that was slightly tangy from the buttermilk and smoky from added smoked paprika. I added lots of smoked paprika for color and flavor, along with some other favorite herbs. It was super tender from being marinated in the buttermilk all night. As compared to my traditional egg battered fried chicken, the breading was a little thinner, and the flavor was tangier because of the buttermilk. I loved this dish, it was nice to have something different for a change. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts, and cut them into strips for this recipe to make chicken tenders, which my toddler loves.
Ree suggests a great tip in her recipe, she suggests to bake the chicken in a 350 degree oven after frying to ensure it is done. I have had many people ask how to make sure fried meats were done, and never knew what to tell them, but now I do. Bake it! I am not a big fan of this method for regular use, because the chicken seems to get soggy, but it is a great fix for underdone meat. And, just so happens, that I had this problem in this recipe. I got distracted and my oil got too hot, so this was a handy tip for me too.
Yield: Serves 4
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
3-4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips, or 2 split breasts, breasts would be divided into two pieces for each breast halve to speed cooking
2 cups buttermilk, or enough buttermilk to submerge chicken
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
oil for frying
Directions:
Cut up chicken and place in a bowl. Submerge in buttermilk. Let it stay there 6 to 24 hours.
Preheat oil for frying to 350 degrees in a skillet or a deep fryer. Mix flour and spices together.
Flour each piece of chicken on all sides, and submerge in oil.
Fry until golden brown. To ensure the chicken is done, bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes after frying.