Musings of Fried Chicken

Well, after becoming increasingly disattisfied with my other blog, I decided to return to my one true passion, COOKING! So therefore I decided to begin with my favorite of favorites, FRIED CHICKEN! It's almost worthy of being worshipped!

Recipe:
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1L Buttermilk (Full fat please!)
1/4 cup Louisanna Hot-Sauce
Chicken of your taste (preferrably bone in, skin on, this recipe will make one roasting hen's worth)
3tbsp Salt
1tbsp pepper
1 tsp ea. Smoked Paprika, hot paprika, cumin, corriander
1lb of Shortening

Steps:
1: Begin by soaking your chicken in the buttermilk and hotsauce mixture, if you bought a whole chicken it is necessary to dismantle the bird before soaking, please note that chicken wings are not a fantastic frying item as the density is considerably lower than that of other pieces of meat, e.g. breast and thigh meat. Soak the chicken for at least 12 hours, no more than 24.
2: The next day begin by preparing your cooking station, two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and steel racks. One will be used for the raw chicken, the other for the cooked. Also, place a deep pan on the heat and heat your shortening to 250 degrees celsius.
3: Prepare your seasonings, the spices, sald and pepper and keep aside. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and place on the first baking sheet. Next, liberally season the chicken with your spice mix and then toss in the all prupose flour.
NOTE: Once the chicken has been dredged (that is to say, coated in flour), it MUST sit for at least ten minutes to ensure adequate crust formation.
4: Place the chicken in the hot oil, a couple of pieces at a time, and cook until golden brown on one side. (note: the temperature of the oil will drop slightly when the chicken is introduced, DO NOT fiddle with the hat). Flip the chicken when ready and cook to doneness.
5: Remove the chicken from the oil and place on baking sheet number 2. Let cool slightly and serve!

Notes about fried chicken:
Proper fried chicken is one of the most amazing things a person can have, those who claim not to like the godly substance are most often corrupted by the Colonel and his Fried Chicken monstrosity. Good fried chicken should be crispy and flavourful, not oily and bland.
Fried chicken is most often attributed to the southern states in America, and as such some common sides are Grits (homony cornmeal porridge), Okra, Bayou style rice, rice and beans, creamed corn or collared greens.

Uses for fried chicken:
Apart from being eaten on it's own, fried chicken is great at room temperature as a picnic food or sliced thickly and used as sandwich fodder. Alternatively it can be used in this Thai Chicken Noodle Salad recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Chicken breasts (fried)
1 package of rice noodles
1 cup pea poods
1 cup of julienne carrots (prepackaged is fine)
1/2 cup julienne green onion
1 tsp seasame oil

Sauce:
1 tbspof freshly grated ginger
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
sald and pepper to taste

Preparation:
This recipe is SUPER easy, cook the rice noodles until tender and then drizzle with the peanut oil to prevent clumping, mix in the pea pods, green onions and carrots, top with sliced chicken and then drizzle with the sauce. Serve hot or cold with a cold Mojito, or other alcoholic drink, and enjoy!