Fried and Self Satisfied

On Sunday, I dove into deep fat frying for the first time by preparing a mess o fried chicken for a gathering of the scrabble people. Even though my mom fried as if it was no big deal, I was intimidated by the technique and the potential hot oil spatterings and grease fires, so I did some online research in addition to checking a couple of cook books for recipes. As with many traditional and once common cooking techniques, there's a lot of sound and fury on the internet about the right way to fry chicken. I decided to go with a simply seasoned flour coating. No corn flake nonsense for me. Call it cheating, but a deep fry/candy thermometer will save beginners from the greasy soggies that result from cooking at too low a temperature, or the dreaded raw on-the-inside-burnt-on-the-outside that results from oil that is too hot. I went with Mark Bittman's recommendation of 350 degrees (He also says to serve lemon wedges with the chicken but I didn't hold that against him). Another good cheat is to use a timer to let you know when to turn the meat. I did 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Both Bittmann and one of my aunts said to cover the pan during part of the frying. I did that for one batch, but I didn't notice any difference.

Mom never used a timer or a thermometer and her chicken was consistently scrumptious, a heck of a lot better than the bird I served on Sunday. Still, I think my kitchen experiment was a success. When I fry chicken again, I will be more liberal with the seasonings and maybe try a buttermilk marinade.