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Heaven in a Frying Pan

A few weeks ago, when the latest Bon Appétit magazine arrived, Andy and I stared lustfully at each other the cover photo of a perfectly fried drumstick and knew what we had to do. We picked a night when Steph was not home—since she was somehow not born with the family gene that reveres nothing so much as perfect fried chicken (well, except perhaps bacon, and she most certainly got that gene). And off to the frying pan we went. True to its word, "This is the only fried chicken recipe you’ll ever need." And, no surprise, cold leftovers the next day were stupendous.

Skillet-Fried Chicken

2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided use
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, divided use
1½ teaspoons paprika
¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 3- to 4-lb. chicken (not kosher), cut into 10 pieces, backbone and wing tips removed
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Peanut oil (for frying)

Whisk 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 tsp. black pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder in a small bowl. Season chicken with spices. Place chicken in a medium bowl, cover, and chill overnight.

Let chicken stand covered at room temperature for 1 hour. Whisk buttermilk, egg, and ½ cup water in a medium bowl. Whisk flour, cornstarch, remaining 1 Tbsp. salt, and remaining 1 Tbsp. pepper in a 9x13x2" baking dish.

Pour oil into a 10"–12" cast-iron skillet to a depth of ¾". Prop deep-fry thermometer in oil so bulb is submerged. Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°. Meanwhile, set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet.

Working with 1 piece at a time (use one hand for wet ingredients and the other for dry ingredients), dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Dredge in flour mixture; tap against bowl to shake off excess. Place 5 pieces of chicken in skillet. Fry chicken, turning with tongs every 1–2 minutes and adjusting heat to maintain a steady temperature of 300°–325°, until skin is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165°, about 10 minutes for wings and 12 minutes for thighs, legs, and breasts.

Using tongs, remove chicken from skillet, allowing excess oil to drip back into skillet; transfer chicken to prepared rack.

Repeat with remaining chicken pieces; let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

[Update 8/7/13: Here is a photo of said chicken, which a Facebook pal said looked like something out of a high-end food magazine!]

We Interrupt This Dormant Blog for an Actual Post

I'm still burning the candle at both ends, which is somehow meant to explain my absence here. I get into bed every night and tick off the list of things I never got around to during the day, and blogging is always one of them. I would love to pull a Samantha Stevens nose-twitch and get the whole world to freeze for a day so I could catch up on my life. Actually, I could use one of those days every week.

So, I'm working a little too much, but I'm about to have a bit of a (relative) breather, since I finished up one project. It was a forensic science text, which was at once fascinating and disgusting. I know way more than I ever wanted to about corpses (including the life cycle of the maggot, which is sometimes how you can tell how long a body has been there), autopsies ("and then you peel back the scalp..."), and the different things that happen to your body whether you die of asphyxiation, poisoning, exsanguination (bleeding to death), drowning, or what-have-you. The ballistics stuff was cool, as was the fingerprinting and DNA matching stuff. But now I'm back to my safe and tame cookbooks. Oh, and a text about physical therapy for children, which is mostly heart-breaking. Most people are lucky enough to need PT for their kids only if they break a leg skiing or something like that. But the majority of this book is about treating kids who were born with really debilitating conditions. The photos make me want to cry.

Let's see, what else.... Oh, we watched another movie last weekend. It was "Up in the Air," starring the even-more-swoon-worthy-than-usual George Clooney. I loved this movie. Clooney plays a guy whose job is to fly around the country to different companies who need him to fire employees for them. He should've been despicable, but he was very appealing. I had a big complaint with the ending, though. Without giving anything away to those who haven't seen it yet, a certain female character seemed really out of character at a certain climactic moment. But I still thought it was a terrific flick.

I forgot to mention that I've had several lunches out this winter. (I can't remember the last time I ate dinner in a restaurant, but a quick local bite at noon seems doable—and necessary for my sanity.)

1. B Street, where I had a cup of roasted chicken and barley soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. It was very good, but not out of this world. I did a Groupon Now thing where I paid $10 for $20 there, then came outside to find that I'd gotten a $15 parking ticket. D'oh! (You do know about Groupon Now, right? You don't have to buy anything in advance; you just do it on the spur of the moment! Very handy.)

2. The Fireplace, where I'd been for dinner years ago but has a lovely lunch menu too. I had a delicious beef and barley soup and a lovely salad: Fried Vermont Goat Cheese with Heirloom Beets, Candied Cashews, Baby Spinach & Local Maple Vinaigrette. YUM.

3. Petit Robert Bistro, where I had an excellent quiche lorraine. The service was slow (actually, I think it was the kitchen that was slow), but the food was good.

4. The Deluxe Station Diner, where I'd once been with Andy and the kids. There I had a turkey club sandwich (or was it the turkey avocado club?) with fries. Very good sandwich (with nice, thick bacon), but the fries weren't crisp, even though I asked for them to be crisp.

And that is my belated post about a bunch of nothings in particular. Thanks to those of you who still have the patience to come by.