Auntie Donna’s Fried Chicken: Inspired by Great-Granny DeVault’s basic family recipe.

Fried Chicken, after the first turn.

My last conversation in June of 2001 with my Daddy Jack was about his childhood memories of his Granny DeVault’s fried chicken. He was venturing back to his early years of helping her out in her store, mid to late 1930s. He gave vivid details, recalling exactly how she fried her chicken. That must have been some kind of good for a little boy about eight years old to pay that much attention. I wrote everything down that he mentioned. However, I will not be going out back to kill, scald and pluck two medium sized chickens for this blog. Sorry, you will be coming up a bit short of my Great-Granny’s recipe's freshness. But other than that, I will share all the details with you.

He was adamant that I use a cast iron skillet with a lid. Her basic technique was to add the chicken to the hot oil and cook it for 10-minutes, then turn it, cover it with the lid, turn the heat down to low, cook another 10-minutes, take the lid off, turn the heat back up to crisp the chicken skin again and it was done! That seems like a lot of fuss, but it is a great process to follow. However, my guess is that her barnyard birds were smaller than what we are getting these days packaged up in our grocery stores. I tried that cooking style with a pre-cut up fryer from the store and my crust looked great...but the inside was still pink...cause my chicken had a lot more meat on it’s bones.

So, this version is in the ‘spirit’ of my Great-Granny’s recipe. I have had to make a few adjustments to his instructions, plus am I really to trust a memory from 66 years ago? I think not. This basic recipe has been passed along to many others since my conversation with Daddy Jack. I even spent 45-minutes with my sister-in-law, on the phone from start to finish, walking her through each step. (If only there had been iPhones in 1999.) She has now made the recipe countless times for her three boys, who call it Auntie Donna’s Fried Chicken. I kinda feel for her. She’s the one who has been making it for them all these years, and it’s still not her chicken? Oh well.

Auntie Donna’s Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, 9 if you wish to cook the back (I save the back for soup stock)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk
• 1 TBS hot sauce
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned
• Flour Seasonings: salt, black pepper, garlic powder...is basically all you need.  But I add in ground sage, parsley flakes, oregano, cayenne, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, basically anything I want to add in the spice rack. I get in trouble from people wanting exact measurements on the seasonings...sorry I do it all by feel/look. I’d say a teaspoon of everything would be a safe way to start.

Instructions:

1. Wash and pat dry your chicken pieces with a paper towel, season on all sides with salt, black pepper, garlic. Just make sure it is not cold right out of the fridge. Adding super cold chicken to the hot oil will drop the temp and make your crust soggy.
2. Make a wet tray that consists of your eggs, beaten in with milk, salt, black pepper, garlic.
3. Make a dry tray that contains your seasoned flour.
4. Coat the chicken pieces, one at a time with the egg wash mixture.
5. Next, roll them in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.
6. Gently place them in a skillet of hot oil.
7. Cook pieces according to size. Put breasts, thighs together...they take the longest...legs, wings and back take the least time.
8. Add your chicken pieces gently. Don’t crowd the skillet. 4-5 pieces at a time will give all the sides room to brown up evenly. A crowded skillet brings the oil temp down and makes for soggy greasy chicken.
9. Monitor the chicken and after about 8 minutes, turn it over...that is, if the batter is the shade of golden brown you desire. If it’s too light, cook it a little longer. 
10. Once turned, cook for another 8-10 minutes.
11. I cook the breasts and thighs first, then the last round is for wings, legs.
12. I also line a cookie sheet with foil and place a wire rack inside. When the breasts and thighs are browned on both sides, I put them on a rack and into a 250 degree oven. That keeps them crisp and helps them finish cooking while I start the legs and wings.

Skillet Instructions:

• I generally use my cast iron skillet. Sometime I use the lid technique, sometimes I don’t. In the case of these chicken legs pictured, I did not.
• Fill your skillet half full of vegetable oil. Turn your heat up to medium. Make sure your oil is fully hot when you start adding the chicken. If it isn’t sizzling when the chicken is added, you will get greasy soggy crust. Test the oil by putting the tip of a fork in the egg wash, then put the eggy tips down in the hot oil. If it immediately starts cooking and forming little beads, then the oil is ready. If not, wait a while longer and/or turn your heat up a bit.

Frying Station: Egg, flour, into the skillet!

Coating with seasoned egg wash mixture.

Rolling in seasoned flour.

Oil on medium heat.

Auntie Donna’s Fried Chicken

Common Mistakes:

• Medium hot oil is what you want to achieve...not oil heated on High. All you will have is the best looking golden brown crust and raw chicken in the middle. Consistent heat is the key.
• Adjustments are easily made to the process. If your chicken pieces seem pretty hefty, then cook them each a little longer. If it looks like a scrawny little chicken, then cook it less. If the oil seems too hot and the batter is browning too fast, turn the heat down a little. If it isn’t sizzling like in my photo, then turn the heat up. 

Don’t get scared away by all the steps and over abundance of instructions. Fried Chicken is pretty easy and it’s a quick way to have a protein ready for any meal. 

You can use this same recipe on boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders. It’s best to let the chicken soak in milk seasoned with a couple of shakes of hot sauce for at least 20-minutes. Then the egg and flour steps will hang on a bit better...and you will have a nice crust.

Let me know how it goes! I’m anxious to hear if this 90-something-year-old recipe will be passed along in your family, too!

As the mixing bowl turns...or in this case, as the skillet sizzles,

Donna ; - )