Hartman’s Fried Chicken

Yes, friend chicken is not exactly ‘health-food’ but it is incredibly delicious and since I only make it one or two times a year, I kind of like to go all out. What follows is my take on that country classic:

10-12 pieces of bone-in skin-on chicken

½ cup Cajun seasoning

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 qt vegetable oil

½ gallon Buttermilk

Rub ¼ cup seasoning on the chicken parts in a large non-reactive bowl. Then add buttermilk pour enough to cover the chicken completely. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and store in fridge for 24 hours. Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry with a paper towel.

Add the remaining Cajun seasoning to the all purpose flour and pour into a large gallon size zip-lock bag. Mix flour and seasoning well. Place about three chicken pieces into the bag, seal well, and shake to cover chicken completely. Place chicken on a grated surface to allow the pieces to dry (I used a cookie drying rack). Repeat this process until all chicken is coated with flour.

Pour entire bottle of oil into a large 5 qt stock pot and heat to medium/low (roughly a 4 on an electric stove). Allow for about twenty five minutes to fully heat the oil. Once oil is fully heated, add chicken (three pieces at a time is usually what I do) stirring the pieces regularly to prevent them from sticking to the pot or to each other.

Each batch will take about twenty minutes to fully cook the chicken unless the pieces are exceptionally large in which case another seven to ten minutes may be needed.

Remove pieces and allow to dry again on some sort of rack. You could place the chicken on a paper towel, but that seems a bit of a sad way to rest the chicken you have so lovingly prepared and the air movement all around the chicken pieces will make it crispier.