Crispy Fried Chicken

I always give my kids the option of eating out or picking their favorite home cooked meal for their birthdays. This is on the menu for Josh's birthday next week along with THIS for desert. I think it is a favorite for all of us in the family. We usually make this crispy fried chicken using legs but also love chicken strips as well, either way it makes up a crispy delicious batch of chicken.


Crispy Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

2lbs cut up chicken,or strips
Oil (for frying)

Seasoning-

1 ¼ teaspoons ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon garlic powder

Sauce-

4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup hot sauce

Breading-

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Step 1: Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat eggs and water. Add hot sauce and whisk together.
Step 2: In small bowl combine ground black pepper, salt and garlic powder. In another bowl or pie plate combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 3: Pat dry chicken pieces with a paper towel. Sprinkle chicken pieces generously on both sides with the seasoning mixture.
Step 4: Dip chicken pieces into the hot sauce mixture and coat thoroughly. One piece at a time, roll chicken pieces in the flour mixture and drop into the deep fryer. Don’t over load the deep fryer with chicken. Fry chicken until brown and crisp (dark meat will take about 14 minutes, white meat about 10 minutes). A good way to tell if it’s done is to pierce the deepest part of the bone with a fork, if the juices run clear, it’s done. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all chicken is fried.

Just a note.. don't be shy about the amount of hot sauce it calls for in the recipe. When I first got the recipe I thought it was crazy because I don't like anything spicy. When I finally got the nerve to use the whole amount I realized that it really gives great flavor and doesn't add the heat like I thought it would.