Fried chicken "On the Bone"

All that talk about skillets got me wanting to cook something and it was just my good fortune that my boy decided Thursday morning that he wanted to have "Fried chicken on the bone" for dinner. Living in the world of fast food nuggets and strips, home cooked "on the bone" chicken is something they really look forward to. I knew there was a package of drumsticks lurking in the freezer, so I told him that his wish would be granted. The girl wanted gnocci with pesto.......but that is another story for another day.

Fried chicken is just about my favorite thing ever! I know that back in my single days that there were times when I would have it three or four days in a row. My grandmother used to cook up batches of wings , cut into two pieces of course. They were so delicious , I can almost taste it right now. Her biscuits were good too, and I have never quite figured out that secret. I think it had something to do with bacon grease....as do most things that are really, really good. If I remember correctly, we had chicken about once a week when I was growing up, most often with masked potatoes and English peas. That is still one of my very favorite meals ever, only now I can only have a little bite. It is enough though..... :(

When I make anything fried, I use a paper bag to do the "flouring" because it gets the pieces coated evenly and then after you are done, the whole thing can just go in the trash. The seasoning that I usually use is salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and maybe a little paprika. I have even added a table spoon of ranch dressing powder to the flour - it was pretty darn good! You can use anything you like really, just watch the salt because there is a pretty fine line between perfect and disaster.

The oil I use is usually just plain vegetable oil, but you can use canola or peanut - whatever you like. The best I ever fried was in shortening and of course, for the really authentic flavor of the South, you would need to use LARD. I have never bought it.....just can't do it.

( Side note: Do any of y'all recall having to break through a layer of solidified fat on top of a bowl of vegetables in the fridge to be able to tell what was under it? We never HAD to cover stuff in the fridge - the fatback did it for us! )

It is really hard to get the most out of your chicken leg when your front teeth are in various stages of eruption.

Perserverance is the key! She cleaned it off in no time and had room left for her parmesan pasta! One of these days, she is gonna be the one cookin' for the rest of us!