Three Day Fried Chicken

This is a first for me. I am sharing Sunday Supper in stages. That’s because this Southern Fried Chicken will need three days to go from brine to fryer. Three day!

Turns out, Sunday is National Corn on the Cob Day. Are you kidding me? Corn on the cob and a Sunday – if that doesn’t scream southern cooking with fried chicken, I don’t know what does. So that sent me on a quest to find the most amazing fried chicken recipe out there. We all know what a good brine can do for chicken. Just as we know what a buttermilk bath can do. So why not do both? That’s when I came across this recipe at Dragon’s Kitchen. It only took a little tweaking on my part to make it more personal. The addition of the Shake-N-Bake to the brine was a must. Years ago, I worked for a Chicken Restaurant. Our chicken was brined, then fried. The brine solution (in my opinion) smelled, looked and tasted like Shake-N-Bake. So what the heck, let’s throw some in.

Next small change was the addition of not one but two sauces to the buttermilk. While the original recipe called for Tobasco, I’ve added Jalapeno Sauce for a little extra zip. And finally, the original recipe called for reguarl salt added to the flour mix. I’ve gone with Seasoning Salt simple because I like the flavor it bring to the party.

Today we’ll start with the chicken. Just hang on to this recipe so we can finish it up on Sunday. That’s when we’ll talk corn on the cob and a few other favorites for a Southern Fried Supper.

Oh, and one last thing – if you want to tweak or change or throw the whole thing out the window and begin again, please do. Each change brings something new, something personal to a recipe and that’s a good thing. Cooking is all about evolving.

Three Day Southern Fried Chicken
Day One Brine:
1/2 cup Kosher Salt
1 envelop Seasoning from Shake-N-Bake Chicken
4 quarts cold Water
8 pieces of Chicken

Note: Chicken can be a 4-pound broiler cut into 8 pieces, all thighs, all legs or any combination as desired. When using both light and dark meat, remember white meat will cook faster than dark meat. Adjust frying accordingly.

In a pot, dissolve the salt and Shake-N-Bake seasoning into the water. Submerge chicken in the brine; refrigerate. Let chicken stay in the salt brine overnight.

Day Two Buttermilk Bath:
1 quart Buttermilk
2 tablespoon Tabasco Sauce
1 tablespoon Jalapeno Sauce

Drain and rinse brined chicken pieces, set aside. Rinse out pot to use for bath. Add buttermilk, Tabasco and Jalapeno Sauces to the pot. Whisk to blend. Submerge chicken in buttermilk mixture. Refrigerate for another 8 hours or overnight.

Day Three Southern Fried Chicken:
2 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
Black Pepper to taste
Oil for frying

In a shallow bowl, mix flour, baking powder, garlic powder, Old Bay, cayenne, Seasoning Salt and black pepper.

Remove chicken from buttermilk bath. Shake off excess buttermilk. Lay chicken out on a baking rack placed inside a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the buttermilk bath into a bowl and set aside.

Dredge chicken pieces in the flour mixture, dip back into the buttermilk, then coat again in flour. Let chicken rest on the rack for the coating to adhere.

In a large, deep cast-iron skillet, heat about an inch of oil to 375 degree. Place a second wire rack inside another rimmed baking sheet. Place this inside an oven, heat to 300-degrees.

Fry the chicken in batches until golden and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels, then place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all the chicken has been fried.

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