Fried chicken puts buttermilk to good use

A FEW WEEKS AGO, one of my clients gave me two quarts of buttermilk she just happened to have lurking in her freezer. She had bought them in case she would like to make pancakes for her family on Christmas morning. But here it was two months later, taking up space in her tiny freezer.

So my search began for recipes that call for buttermilk – I could make muffins ... but then I found this recipe for Buttermilk Fried Chicken. It takes some

time to prepare but I felt it was worth the effort because it is definitely better than that fast food place that used to be in Elmira!

Yes, it is fried. Not deep fried, but fried in about 1/4” of oil and then baked. Just a note about the baking time: I put it in the oven for close to 1 hour but the chicken drumsticks and thighs I used were on the small side. You will have to check it to see if the meat pulls away from the bone easily. I had a few drumsticks for lunch today and I dipped the meat into homemade BBQ sauce. It was finger lickin’ good!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

3-1/2–4 lbs. chicken pieces

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. rubbed sage

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1/8 tsp. baking powder

Place the chicken in a large shallow dish.

Pour buttermilk over, coating each piece.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a shallow dish.

Drain chicken, discard buttermilk.

Dip chicken into flour mixture, coating generously.

Lay chicken a baking sheet and let it sit for 15 minutes before frying.

Heat about 1/4” of oil in a frying pan, fry chicken in batches until golden.

Place fried chicken on a clean baking sheet.

Bake at 350º F for about 1 hour uncovered so it

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donna is the author of A Taste of Nostalgia Cookbook, which is available by calling 519-638-5791 or email donna.atasteofnostalgia@gmail.com.