I actually made authentic southern fried chicken for the first time tonight. I even used my cast iron chicken fryer to make it. We had it with homemade gravy, garlic smashed taters, and broccoli. Oh my, was it good.

Best part is that I made the chicken for under $3 since I got the meat on sale and my kids like it better than KFC.

So, it was cheap, domestic, and I got rave reviews from the family. Can't beat that combo. I'll add a pic in a bit since I am going to submit it to allrecipes.

By the way, it isn't butter on the broccoli but rather a really spicy lebanese whipped garlic spread. Guess T and I will be sleeping bum to bum tonight because we won't be able to stand the smell of each other after all the garlic we consumed tonight!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/3gs4me/c1-1.jpg

Southern fried chicken

in a ziploc or bowl mix together:

3 c. flour (I used half white and half spelt)
2t garlic powder
1 t. pepper
1 t. paprika
1 t. poultry seasoning

in another bowl mix:

1 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. ground red pepper
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 can or bottle of beer or 12 oz. of water (I used beer and I def. think it adds flavor but does not taste like beer)

In a heavy duty skillet with tight fitting lid add enough shortening or oil for 1/2" thickness. Heat to 350 degrees before adding chicken.

Rinse off chicken pieces, dredge or shake in dry mix, dip in wet mix, and dredge or shake in dry mix again before putting in pan. Brown for a couple min. on each side and then turn down to just below med. and cook covered for 30 min. or until juices run clear.

The recipe turned out great but alot of the pieces lost their coating. Next time I intend to pan fry until crispy and then finish in the oven. I think this will help the coating stay on and crispier. This recipe is very similar in consistency and taste to original recipe KFC except it isn't salty or MSG ish like KFC.

Garlic smashed potatoes.

I just boiled potatoes like normal and mashed them with a bit of butter and milk. I then added a bit of lebanese whipped garlic spread which you make by processing a full bulb of peeled garlic in a food processor with 1/2 c. olive oil and 1 T. lemon juice.

We need recipes here! Come on, Mama. Looks fantastic.

looks so yummy!!

I added the recipes for you Kerri :)

That looks so good! Yum! I might have to try that as we won;t eat KFC.

The fact that we don't do KFC is the main reason I tried this. My kids get KFC with their grandparents a couple times a year and love it so I thought I would try to replicate it at home.

I felt my arteries quiver just a little and then recover.

Good for you though! Fried chicken is an art form I think.

Mmmmmmm....looks delicious!

If someone is nervious about frying chicken you can do oven fried chicken... OMG its good.. i got my recipe off Barefoot Contessa .. if you look on foodnetwork.com for oven fried chicken and go under ina gardener's recipe you will also see a deep dish apple pie .. OMG .. its soooo yummy!!

Oven-Fried Chicken

2 chickens (3 pounds each), cut in 8 serving pieces
1 quart buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.

Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don't crowd the pieces. Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees F before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.