Once upon a time, the show 'Good Eats' used to be accessible. When Alton Brown started producing the it, he covered true classics of Americana cuisine that were accessible to the average cook. Over the years 'Good Eats' inspired me to try to try cooking Standing Rib Roast, Steak Au Poivre and brewing my own beer. As 'Good Eats' passed into the third season, the show began to wander further away from simple, accessible fare in the interest of novelty. While I rarely cook anything from 'Good Eats' today, the first two years of the Alton's geeky, instructional show were some of the most influential for me as a cook.
This Fried Chicken recipe came during the first two years of the show and it has always been a tasty treat. It fits right into my personal 'butter zone' of cooking in that you can start it, leave it alone for several hours (leaving you free to watch the NFL playoffs or run a few daily quests in WOW) and still have something tasty to eat.
Here is the recipe that Alton used for his Fried Chicken show:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/fried-chicken-recipe/index.html
Some notes:
* If you take the advice of 'seasoning liberally' keep in mind that the seasoning mix is mostly salt. The Fried Chicken I made tonight was tasty, but was too salty. I recommend using half as much salt as he calls for.
* I used smoked paprika instead of the Hungarian paprika. It was the bomb.
* You don't have to use shortening as the fry oil, but it actually makes a difference. The oil is so neutral that it allows the spices and the flavor of the chicken to shine through.
Melting shortening. Hmmm.
Seasoning. The buttermilk makes a wonderful binder for flavor.
Mmmmm. Fried food.
It's dark on the top. No, it's not burned. That's flavor.
Ta dah!
WANT
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