Fried Chicken, Southern Style

I remember the very first time I cooked on a cast iron skillet it was nothing short of the most disastrous thing I'd ever done.  I had no clue how to cook and decided I would surprise my boyfriend at the time with Cheeseburger Macaroni Hamburger Helper.  I should have stopped when the majority of the hamburger meat stuck to the skillet but I kept on going.  I don't remember it being edible and looking back now I see that the reason it probably didn't turn out was because the pan wasn't seasoned.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it)

My mom gave me my only cast iron skillet about 4 years ago and I've finally decided I'd really learn how to cook (more than cornbread) in my cast iron skillet.  After a chat with my step mom on how to cut up a chicken I thought, now I bet I could fry this up good in my cast iron skillet!

Let's get started on this chicken.

Start with soaking your pieces (skin on) in buttermilk overnight.  This will make the pieces tender and juicy.  

Coating

 2 cups flour

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

pinch of salt
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon chili powder

Mix your coating together very well and roll chicken pieces in it.  Make sure to pat the coating into the chicken to ensure that it sticks well.

Heat enough oil (use whatever you like...I used my lard that I rendered) in the pan til it bubbles when you drop your flour in.  I only put about 1/2 an inch of oil in my skillet, some people like to put more, some less so just use your judgement as far as how you like to fry meat.  You'll also want to put a lid on your skillet when you fry your chicken.

I cooked each piece for abour 6 minutes on each side but I'll increase it to around 8 minutes on each side next time because it wasn't quite ready with 6 minutes.  Fried chicken is not something that you are going to perfect the first time you do it so don't feel bad if it doesn't turn out perfect.  It'll still be darn good tho! :)

I found this recipe on pinterest but adjusted it a little bit on here per our tastes.  Hope you enjoy it!