Weeknight Fried Chicken

When you live in a place like Oklahoma, you are caught in a completely unique cultural situation. There are influences from all corners of the country, pulling you in a million different societal directions. And this means one, particularly sad thing: some women in Oklahoma don't know how to make fried chicken. Some are even afraid of it.Well, I am here to tell you that fried chicken can be easy--it can even be therapeutic. And it can be the perfect comfort food for a relaxing evening after a long day at work. So here's how it's done:

These are the spices that will get you started. Salt, pepper, salt, Chef Paul Prudomme's Poultry Magic, seasoned salt, and parsley flakes. The parsley doesn't necessarily add a lot of flavor, but it does add some color and just makes things look more flavorful. So use it.

 Put some flour in a bowl, and add the spices. Mix it together. Put some eggs in a bowl with some milk and pepper, and whisk them into a frenzy! These two bowls contain the ingredients that will make your chicken awesome.

 These are the tools you will need to handle your chicken. The fork will let you beat the eggs and mix the flour and spices. Kitchen scissors are imperative for so many things, but mostly, they are great for cutting up chicken. The tongs are great for flipping chicken and moving things from bowl to bowl without getting your hands dirty.

 These are what chicken breasts look like. Thaw them out in the microwave using your defrost button while you are prepping the other ingredients.

 Using the kitchen scissors, cut the chicken lengthwise into manageable pieces. I refuse to call them fingers.

Place the chicken pieces into the eggs. Coat them all with the egg mixture so that they get nice and sticky.

 Let the chicken soak in the eggs for a minute, and get your oil nice and hot. I am not going to say that a cast iron skillet is imperative, but it is very helpful for frying. Somehow, it just uses its cast iron magic to make fried food better. So. In your (cast iron) pan, heat some vegetable oil. No exact amount, just enough so that the chicken will touch the bottom, but be surrounded by oil. I usually heat the oil over medium-high heat. You don't want it to cook things too quickly. If you drop a drop of water in the oil and it sizzles, like, for real, as in, you have to step away from the pan for a second, that means the oil is hot enough to start frying the chicken. It is imperative that the oil be hot enough before you start frying, because if it is too cool, the chicken won't get crispy.

 In batches, coat the chicken pieces in flour. Do your best to coat things evenly, because that makes things more delicious.

 Put the batch of coated chicken pieces into the hot oil. It should look like this when it starts frying: bubbly, noisy, craaaazy. Keep cooking them until the bubbles slow down a little and the edges are crispy brown. Then you know it is time to flip them. It usually takes about five to eight minutes.

 This is what the bottom side should look like when you flip the chicken. Cook for another five minutes or so, and then place the chicken on a plate lined with paper towels. Cook the other batches of chicken and get ready to make gravy!

 Drain the oil until there is just a small amount, the dregs of the chicken left. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and return the pan to the burner.

 Add some of the flour that you use coat the chicken. Sprinkle it in to the oil and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon.

 While continuing to whisk/stir, pour in milk. Add enough to make the desired amount of gravy.

 Continue to stir gravy and let it cook for a few minutes. It should thicken nicely into a substance that sticks to a spoon and drips slowly back into the pan. If you realize belatedly that you added too much milk, you can always add more flour, but you will have to stir quickly to avoid lumps.

And there you have it! Delicious! And so easy! I usually cook this with rice, and smother everything the delicious gravy. You will never regret it. Ever. Enjoy!