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Coke Oven Fried Chicken

Source of Recipe


From "Cook's Country: Best Lost Suppers"



List of Ingredients



• 2 cups buttermilk
  
• 3 Tbsp ground ginger
  
• 3 Tbsp ground sage
  
• 2 Tbsp salt
  
• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (split breasts cut in half, drumsticks, and/or thighs), trimmed
  
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp onion powder
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• ½ tsp pepper
  
• Pinch baking soda
  
• 3 to 4 quarts vegetable oil
  






Instructions



1. Stir the buttermilk, 1 tablespoon of the ginger, 1 tablespoon of the sage, and the salt together in a large bowl. Submerge the chicken completely in the buttermilk mixture; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
   
   
2. Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons ginger, remaining 2 tablespoons sage, the flour, onion powder, sugar, pepper, and baking soda together in a shallow dish. Remove the chicken from the brine and, working with three pieces at a time, dredge in the flour mixture, shake off the excess, and transfer to the prepared wire rack. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 hours.
   
   
3. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200° F.
   
   
4. Pour the oil into a large Dutch oven until it measures 2 inches deep. Heat the oil to 325° over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces to the pot, skin-side down. Cover and cook, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain an oil temperature of 325° until deep golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. (After 2 minutes, check the chicken pieces for even browning and rearrange if some pieces are browning faster than others.)
   
   
5. Turn the chicken pieces over and continue to cook, uncovered, until deep golden brown and fully cooked (160° to 165° F for breasts, and 175° for thighs or drumsticks on an instant-read thermometer), 4 to 7 minutes longer. Drain the chicken briefly on a large paper towel-lined plate, then transfer to a clean wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Return the oil to 350° over medium-high heat, and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Serve.
   
   Serves 4
   
   






Final Comments


"My grandparents lived in a coal camp in the 1940s. To help supplement their meager income, my grandmother would fry chicken for the miners' supper. When the oil lamps in the house were empty, she would fry her chicken outside, by the light of the coke ovens. Her fried chicken was so delicious that even the 'rich city folk' would come out to buy it. She gave away as many pieces as she sold, always catering to those who didn't have as much as she. My grandmother never had a pair of new shoes until she was in her forties, but she always had a smile, a helping hand, and a generous plate of fried chicken."