There are a few goals I have in life. One of them is to be able to cook good fried chicken.

The chicken pieces. For skinless chicken breasts, I always get the costco brand and just freeze it. I tried it for thighs and drumsticks, but the meat just looks a little too bloody, so I probably won’t get it anymore.

Decided to do a little marinade. I like fried chicken with a little spice, so besides the usual marinade of buttermilk, I looked up some dominican fried chicken recipes and decided to throw in some lime juice as well. Then of course garlic salt, cayenne pepper, and some korean pepper flakes.

Marinating away for about 24 hours.

For the egg wash, some eggs, baking soda, and baking powder. The baking soda/powder gives it a some fluff.

Some flour in a pan.

The seasonings I used: white pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Just put it right in the flour.

Following America’s Test Kitchen’s advice, I used the double-dip approach: flour, egg, flour.

Need to roll it around and cover it fully.

Here’s the first batch.

Repeat with the rest.

Now for the part, I’m still struggling with. The only other time I tried making fried chicken, I used vegetable shortening, which is a little disgusting. Again, following America’s Test Kitchen, I decided to use peanut oil, which is a little harder to find in supermarkets.

Need to get it to about 375 to start.

Put the chicken in.

Me checking the temperature of the oil. I cooked it for about 10-15 minutes on each side. I think a big problem with cooking the chicken was that the temperature of the oil dropped significantly when I put the chicken in, and it took a while to get back up to 325/350 range.

Since I had to do it in batches, I put the finished ones in the oven on a very low heat, 200 degrees to keep it warm.

Along with the fried chicken, I made some mashed potatoes. Since I don’t really like anything bland, I put some horseradish and scallions in them.

I was a little paranoid, so some chicken came out a little overcooked. I’d like to blame this on the oil temperature, though. I’ve already purchased a cast iron so I can see if that helps for next time. It was relatively cheap, like $20.

And the people who have to put up with my cooking. I dunno why, but the photo just amuses me.