Sometimes I get instant cravings that cause me to drop everything and make/go out and get whatever it is that I’m in need of. Yes, they are that strong. Last night I instantly had one of these cravings, and it wasn’t one of the healthiest ones I’ve ever had…but it was damn good. I was really feelin’ a big pile of fried chicken last night…crispy, salty, tender….mmm. We didn’t happen to have a fryer or roaster on hand, but we did have a ton of fairly large wings, so I made fried chicken…wings. This craving brought on other cravings, like corn bread and cole slaw. It was a good night.

The very first thing I did to start dinner was pop all the chicken into a nice buttermilk bath with some diced onion, in preparation for the simple recipe I used:

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

• 1 fryer chicken, cut into pieces (or wings, if that’s all you got) 
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 3 cups flour
• garlic powder
• smoked paprika
• dried thyme
• dried tarragon
• dried parsley
• cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• canola oil

First of all, chop up your onions nice and small, and throw them into a large bowl with the chicken pieces and 2 cups of buttermilk. This recipe is better the longer the chicken soaks, but if you don’t have 8 hours, it’s okay…it’s not the end of the world! It will still taste delicious.

Next, combine the flour and all the spices to taste (you don’t have to use this exact combination, do what tastes good to you) in a large ziplock bag in preparation for the coating.

When you’re ready to fry your chicken, pop all the buttermilk maranated pieces into the ziplock bag, seal it up, and shake the flour all about, coating each piece nicely.

In a large cast iron skillet, pour about an inch and a half of canola oil, and heat it so that it’s hot enough that the chicken will sizzle nicely when you drop it in, but not so hot that it’s smoking.

Fill your pan up with as much chicken as you can fit in, and cook the pieces for about 8 minutes a side if you’re doing wings, and 12-14 minutes a side if you’re doing large chicken pieces, and the coating is nice and crisp and golden brown!

Drain your chicken pieces on a paper towel before serving, and enjoy!

While the chicken was soaking in the buttermilk, I made everything else for the night’s meal. 

Buttermilk Cornbread

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and egg and mix thoroughly.

In a measuring cup or a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

Mix the wet ingredients and the buttermilk/baking soda mixture together.

Next add the cornmeal, flour and salt, and mix until it’s fairly well blended but with a few lumps remaining.

Pour the batter into a greased 8 inch square baking pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center of the cornbread comes out clean! Serve with butter and honey.

Red Cabbage Slaw

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 head of red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• handful of chopped cilantro

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar and orange juice and sugar.

Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil while constantly whisking.

To this bowl add the cabbage, onion and salt and pepper and toss it all together with the dressing. This can sit for however long you need it too. Then right before serving, throw in the chopped cilantro! 

And there you go! All of last night’s recipes that make for one tasty, comforting meal. Everything turned out perfectly, and seriously satisfied my cravings. Also, on a side note, I just ate a piece of yesterday’s chicken, and it was still crunchy! I am very happy about this, big win for the chicken! Enjoy everyone!

xoxo

Mariel