Ingredients
1 5lb chicken cut into 8 pieces
juice of 1 lime
Approx 3 cups of vegetable oil for
frying chicken.
Additional 2 cups of buttermilk for
breading.
For the Magic Brine
2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4 cups Buttermilk
1 cup orange juice
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
For the Magic Flour Mix
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Heat oil to 325 degrees
Heat the oven to 350 degrees
Directions
I used a whole chicken and I cut him into 8 pieces. I had two wings, two drumsticks and I cut both breast meat into 4 pieces ,so I had 8.
Wash and rinse the chicken under cold running water with the juice of 1 lime. Drain the water from the meat
Mix all the ingredients for the brine into a bowl and pour it over the chicken. Be sure that all the meat is fully covered by the buttermilk brine liquid.
Cover the chicken happily soaking in his brine for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Yes, the longer he soaks in his bath the juicier he is when you bite into him.
After your 24 hour period…remove the chicken from the brine and let it drain on a wire rack with a baking sheet under it to capture any drippings.
Now while the chicken is draining we want to set up our station for breading our chicken for frying. Use a medium height pot you do not want
to full the pot up too much but we want the chicken fully covered by the oil. While the oil is heating, season the flour with the ingredients above.
Then separate the flour into two bowls. Pour 2 cups of buttermilk into another bowl.
You want your chicken first in one set of flour, followed by buttermilk, then the last bowl of flour mixture.
First dust the chicken in the flour, shake off the excess flour, dip into the buttermilk, and then dredge in the last set of flour. This you want a little more clumping on it to get more of a crust. Repeat this for the rest of the pieces. Let it sit for a few minutes until your oil is at the right temp. It is important that your oil is at the right temp.
Start with the dark meat first as this takes longer. This would be the drumsticks, wings, thighs with bone in. Do not crowd the pot. I fried 3 pieces at a time for 15 minutes. After frying I placed it on my wire rack and finished it off in the oven for another 10 minutes. The temp of the meat should be 165.
That is all there is to great Buttermilk Fried Chicken!
