January 10, 2011 - Fry It Up! And then bake it....

Last night the Atlanta area got some snow - all told we got about 5 inches here in Alpharetta. Since we are in an area that is simply not accustomed to snow that accumulates, much less doesn't melt within a day or two this has resulted in school closings, businesses closing and road closings. It's been interesting to feel 'trapped at home' when there is only a few inches of snow on the ground but if you could see the roads....you'd get it.

 

Southern Blizzard.

So tonight I decided to make that fried chicken to go with last night's cornbread. And I just have to say we have a winner!!

 

The recipe comes from Ina Garten's cookbook "Barefoot Contessa Family Style". This was given to me as a wedding gift from my former roommate, Kristin (Adams at the time) Forner.  I have made her Shrimp Scampi from this book - fabulous! I'm a big fan of both Ina Garten and Kristin!

 The recipe begins the day before....when you soak the chicken pieces (in our case - legs) in buttermilk overnight. Once again I did not have buttermilk on hand so I made my own (4 cups worth using the ratio mentioned in yesterday's entry). I also soaked it for only about 5 hours which didn't seem to make a difference. I also salted, peppered & 'garlicked' the chicken before pouring the buttermilk over it.

Then you coat it with flour/salt/pepper mix (I added cayenne to this - will add more next time for some real kick).

 

Chicken ready for fryin!

 

This is the most time consuming part - heat the oil to 360 and fry a few at a time for just a few minutes each side. Each batch goes to a sheet pan with a baking rack fitted onto it so that once all the chicken is fried, it all goes into a 350 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes to finish cooking.

 

Oven bound!

Once I put them in the oven I could relax. Which was nice. Ina Garten comments that she likes to make this for company because she can actually enjoy the people rather than be chained to the fryer.

 

And here it is. DELICIOUS. I heated up the cornbread and put butter and honey on each piece.

Kristin wrote a sweet note inside the cookbook "That you may have life and have it to the full!" Indeed.

I almost forgot a photo of Fenway. Warming up after walking in the snow.