Appalachian Mountain Chicken

Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 3
• 1 whole chicken, cut up (save organs and small parts for stock)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons appalachian mountain seasoning (see directions, below)
• 3 teaspoons table salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups crisco shortening

Recipe

• 1 make up a batch of appalachian mountain seasoning (my own recipe), appalachian mountain seasoning -- the quick recipe is: 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 1 teaspoon ground roasted red chilies, without seeds (or plain ground red pepper); 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, freshly ground; 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, and; 1/4 teaspoon file (pronounced fee-lay) seasoning, or, ground anise.
• 2 wipe the chicken dry with paper towels. using a large brown paper bag, pour in 1 cup of the flour and "dust" the chicken parts, one or two at a time. lay them out on a sheet of wax paper for about 1/2 an hour.
• 3 preheat your oven to 375-degrees f.
• 4 in a large skillet, heat the crisco to at least 375-degrees f. (a couple drops of water will "spackle" pretty hard at this temperature but the oil does not smoke.) do not cut short on the amount of crisco or your chicken will be greasy and dry! it must fry on the sides as it cooks in order to seal in the juices.
• 5 make up your "drench" in a low sided bowl by mixing the eggs, the buttermilk, and the water.
• 6 make up your "dredge" on a large plate by blending the appalachian mountain seasoning, 2 cups of flour, and the salt.
• 7 drench each piece of chicken, shake off excess liquid, then dredge it in the flour blend. lay it into the hot crisco (it should begin frying immediately -- if not, your oil isn't hot enough).
• 8 drench and dredge only one piece of chicken at a time as you'll need to fry it up in two batches to maintain high oil temperature, and to not "crowd" the chicken in the skillet.
• 9 fry the chicken until it is golden brown on the bottom and then turn it (only once!), using tongs and not a fork. this should take about 8-10 minutes total, per batch. when it is golden brown on each side, lay it out on a baking pan (use one with sides). cover the first batch with foil until the second batch is finished frying.
• 10 when all the chicken has been fried, bake it on the lower-middle rack, uncovered, for 40 minutes (375-degree f.).
• 11 allow the chicken to "rest" for 10 minutes prior to serving.