Country Fried Chicken

Spicy fried chicken is a wonderful treat on so many levels. First of all, fried chicken is always comforting and delicious, no matter whether it is pan fried, deep fried or even oven fried.
It is a fact of life that fried chicken is one of the most popular meals of all time and that applies in almost every country, not just the United States.

There are so many recipes for fried chicken and so many ways to make it. Some people like to use a very basic batter recipe or simply dip their chicken in seasoned flour and fry it.

Chicken has a soft flavor which goes well with this type of coating. It also suits stronger flavors or spicy coatings. If you want to spice things up, why not use cayenne pepper and chili powder in the flour for a piquant kick?

This is a basic Country Fried Chicken recipe. Give it a go and then branch out!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, this will be used later for keeping your chicken warm until serving.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, pepper, salt, garlic powder, paprika, seasoning salt and thyme. Mix the flour mixture together until well blended and then separate into two bowls. Make sure each bowl is large enough to dip your chicken breasts into.

Take each chicken breast and cut it in half, if you are using four breasts this will give you eight pieces. Take each piece one at a time and place it into a Ziploc bag. Hit the chicken piece with a mallet or a heavy sauce pan until it is flattened to 1/2 inch thick.

Preheat oil in a skillet or pan to 360 degrees. While the oil is heating take each flattened piece of chicken and dip it into the flour mixture in the first bowl, then dredge through the buttermilk (or milk and lemon juice) mixture and lastly through the flour mixture in the second bowl. 
Once each piece is covered please allow 5 minutes before you begin cooking in the heated oil.

Place only two pieces of chicken in the skillet at once to avoid over-crowding and decreasing the temperature of your oil. Cook three minutes on each side of chicken for a total of six minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked place on a wire rack above a cookie sheet in your preheated oven to keep warm until serving time.

Serve with mashed potatoes with your gravy and a veggie!