Fried Chicken

I have NEVER made fried chicken. Ever. But drumsticks were on sale this week (and by on sale I mean $2.59/lb as opposed to $3.59/lb normally.....crazy, huh!) and up here we eat what's on sale. Dave was getting together w/ some guys to watch some big game, I dunno, something about Ducks and Tigers I think, and requested some guy food, so fried chicken it was. I pulled out my trusty Pioneer Woman cookbook, knowing for sure she would have a fried chicken recipe in there. And she does. But it required soaking the chicken in buttermilk overnight. Hahaha, I had an hour and a half before the games started, so there would be no overnight soaking for my chicken. Instead I took what I knew from making Pioneer Woman's Chicken Fried steak (which, on a side note, I stood in line for 5 hours last Spring for her to autograph my cookbook! She signed the inside cover page and then I asked her to sign my "greasy page", which happened to be the chicken fried steak page. She laughed so hard, then signed a big heart around my grease spots!)

Now, back to the fried chicken. What I knew was I needed dry, wet, then dry again to make a good coating. Here is what I came up with:

Trish's Fried Chicken
12-15 drumsticks (or other chicken parts), skin on
2 1/2 C flour (divided)
4 eggs
3/4 C Franks red hot sauce
2 T. Garlic powder
2-3 T Onion Powder
2 T Lawry's seasoning salt
Oil for frying

You'll also need three shallow bowls, two plates and a foil lined cookie sheet (Did I mention this is messy?)

rinse your chicken parts, pat them dry and place them on one of the plates.
preheat your oil. some people (like the Pioneer Woman) swear by frying in a cast iron skillet, others really like those fry daddy fryers. I've got neither, so I just used my electric skillet and put about an inch and a half of oil in it. It worked just fine!
place 1/2 cup of the flour in a shallow bowl.
beat the egg in another shallow bowl and add the franks red hot sauce.
in another shallow bowl, mix the remaining 2 cups flour with the seasonings (garlic, onion and seasoning salt) in the third shallow bowl.

Now you'll have three bowls and a plate of raw chicken in front of you.
Dredge the chicken in the plain flour and shake off the excess (you just want a light dusting), then the egg mixture, then the seasoned flour mixture. Continue with each piece of chicken until they are all coated, stacking them on the other plate.

check your oil to see if it is hot enough (I just dropped a little piece of the coating off my fingers into the oil, if it sizzles good then it's ready!) Be careful not to let your oil get to hot. I had my electric skillet set on 350 for the whole time.

Oh, and preheat your oven to 350 also.

Now, carefully place your chicken into the heated oil to fry. It will take about 6 minutes per side (give or take). Pay close attention to it!

Once it is well browned on all sides, transfer it to the cookie sheet and put it in the oven. (this will finish off the cooking and keep it warm while you fry more).

Allow to cool just a few minutes before serving because no one enjoys hot grease running down their chin.

Serve to the guys watching football in the other room!