Basic Fried Chicken

Here’s an oldie, but a goodie…

Ingredients:

• 1 whole cut-up chicken (or you can pick your favorite piece)
• seasoned salt
• black pepper
• garlic powder
• paprika
• flour
• oil

Procedure:

First off, be sure to clean your chicken and make sure there aren’t any little baby feathers hiding anywhere. Then season both sides liberally with the salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. (Feel free to throw in a few extra ingredients to mix it up a little bit.) Dredge (i.e. coat) the chicken in flour, shake off any excess, and drop it in the skillet. In the skillet you should have about 1/4 – 1/2 inch of a good frying oil (canola, vegetable, corn or peanut are the one that I can think of off the top of my head…but NOT olive). Be sure that your flame isn’t too high because the chicken will come out “cajun-style,” as I like to call it. A good way to test is by sprinkling a few drops of water in the pan and either hear a nice little sizzle or the 4th of July in your kitchen. Fry to a golden brown and then drain on paper towels (or whatever else you can find).

It’s better than fast food, and you won’t need any ketchup for this chicken.