It's time for a few small repairs, she said...

Unfortunately when I get something in my head it is not easily forgotten. I have been thinking about fried chicken for awhile now. I keep saying to myself, "it's unhealthy, it makes a mess of the kitchen, there are so many other ways to fix chicken." Well, Sunday morning I was watching the food network and Guy Fieri was fixing fried chicken, and then I went to the grocery store and smelled the deli fried chicken; at this moment I threw my arms in the air and surrendered to the notion. I quickly pushed my cart to the poultry section, and bought a whole chicken to FRY. I am not all that familiar with frying my own chicken, it is something that always seemed easier to purchase. I must admit this was not a strenuous process, just numerous steps. I prepared a simple spicy coleslaw, packed with jalapenos. Naturally, I made this into a sandwich, by far the best fried chicken sandwich I have ever eaten. I will let you be the judge.

1 whole chicken ( cut into pieces), I also did a couple extra breasts for sandwiches

Kosher salt to taste

1 quart buttermilk

1 pound all-purpose flour

1 T cayenne pepper

1 T kosher salt + more to taste

1 1/2 t freshly ground pepper

vegetable oil, for frying

Season chicken breasts with kosher salt. Let sit at least 5 minutes. Fill a wide, shallow bowl or casserole dish with buttermilk. Add the chicken and soak in the refrigerator for 1 hour up to overnight.

To fry chicken, pour vegetable oil into a large stockpot. Do not fill up more than halfway, or the oil could splatter. Bring oil up to 365°, or until when a speck of flour is dropped in it bubbles. Prepare the breading while waiting for oil to heat up.

In a wide shallow bowl, mix flour, cayenne, salt and pepper. Pull a piece of chicken out of the buttermilk, letting excess drip off, and dredge completely in flour. To create a thick crust, place in buttermilk and dredge in flour a second time. Do not drain or shake off excess buttermilk or flour during the breading process.

When the oil is at 365°, carefully place chicken pieces into oil one by one. Let it cook for a minute before disturbing chicken, then help it in the oil with tongs, until it is evenly cooked, about 5-7 minutes. Remove chicken from oil and drain on paper towels. Season immediately with salt.

1 T Dijon mustard

3 T red wine vinegar

1 t kosher salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

1 cup red wine vinegar

4 jalapenos, seeded, cut in half and sliced crosswise (you may use less if you don't want to much heat)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 green cabbage, core and outer leaves removed, and very thinly sliced

Kosher salt

For the coleslaw, macerate onions in red wine vinegar, and let sit at least 20 minutes. Remove onions and discard vinegar. Toss onions with jalapeno, parsley, cabbage and salt. Toss with vinaigrette until evenly coated.

Until tomorrow...Peace.