Southern Fried Chicken

I am not a fan of fried chicken but my husband could live on KFC if I let him. When I found this recipe in my William Sonoma catalog I figured for his sake, I'd give it a try. It is FABULOUS!! Time consuming, but so worth it!!! The original recipe calls for a whole chicken cut into bits, I just use a few chicken breasts and cut them into bite size pieces so its more of a nugget...

Southern Fried Chicken

Several chicken breasts, cut into pieces
Salt to taste, plus 2 tsp
Fresh ground pepper to taste, plus 1 tsp
2 cups buttermilk
1-2 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
6 cups canola oil
1 ½ cup flour
½ tsp paprika

Rinse chicken & pat dry. Season with salt & pepper. Place in a large dish, cover & refrigerate for 1-4 hours. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk and Tabasco sauce, pour over chicken, coating thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Remove chicken from fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking. Place in a colander to drain excess buttermilk from chicken. Heat oil. Combine flour, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper & paprika. Coat chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Fry in oil until cooked through.

**For crispier chicken, dip in buttermilk, then flour mixture a second time before frying.

Delicious served with corn on the cob and biscuits.