Last week I had a strong craving for fried chicken. Unfortunately, my favorite chicken is Popeyes and I gave up fast food for Lent. So I tried to make my own fried chicken. Complete failure. The breading looked all right but the chicken stayed pink. So, how do I make good fried chicken?
While we’re at it, anyone know how to make good chili for a chili dog?
I’m not an experienced chicken fryer, but it sounds like you had the heat too high, so the outside crisped up before the inside cooked, and ACK, ain’t nuttin’ worse than pink (or darker, worse!) chicken!!!
I can help more, however, w/ the Chili Dog Sauce. This recipe came from Gourmet’s 6/99 issue.
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbs oil
1# ground beef
1/2 c beef stock
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Saute onion and garlic in oil (do not brown garlic) till softened. Add beef and brown, then stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer over moderate heat till almost all the liquid is evaporated, approximately 10 min.
Transfer to a food processor, and pulse about 5 times, till mixture is finely ground. Makes about 2 c.
Quite nice piled on dogs, w/ chopped raw sweet onion on top!!! 
I’ve never mastered the art of deep-frying, so I always get the outside to just slightly lighter than my favorite shade of golden brown and then pop all the breaded, par-fried chicken into the oven for 45 minutes.
Fried Chicken:
Take chicken parts (unless you insist, the breasts don’t make the best fried chicken, so use thighs and legs) dredge them in flour, then dip them in beaten eggs (I mix 2 or 3 eggs with a couple of Tbsps. of water), then dredge them in the flour again.
Heat up the skillet then add somewhere between a half and three quarters of an inch of oil (I use Crisco). Fry the pieces in on high heat, skin side down first, for 1 minute per side, then turn the heat down to medium, put a lid on with a slight gap, and cook for about 10 minutes per side.
After that, remove the lid and turn the heat back up to high and fry the chicken for about 1 minute per side to crisp it up. Remove to a platter lined with paper towels, then immediately salt and pepper the hell out of it. If you want shake on some cajun spices, you could do that as well.
Let it rest for a couple of minutes before eating.
take a tip from the fast food types…
simmer your legs and wings in chicken broth for a few minutes before deep frying,
Then
dip em in 2/3rds corn starch, 1/3 flour spiced with LOTS of white pepper and poultry seasoning, salt to taste
then fry them (the heat of the boiled meat will make the coating stick) and the frying will brown it nicely, while crisping it
safety note: be sure your pieces are not driping water when you put them in the hot oil… nasty spattering can result.
regards
FML
I make my fried chicken about the same as An Arky, except I let my chicken pieces soak in some heavily salted lukewarm water for about 20 minutes while I’m preparing my breading mixture (flour, salt, a little garlic powder, lotsa pepper, and lotsa paprika in one bowl, a couple of eggs thinned down with a little milk in another).
Then I drain the chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel, salt and pepper the pieces, dip in flour, egg, flour, and into the hot oil we go. I fry for about 20 minutes with the electric skillet set on 325, turning frequently so the outside doesn’t burn. I put the lid on for about 10 minutes somewhere in the middle.
To be served with mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, cucumbers 'n onions, cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes, and corn on the cob.
Dammit, now I’m hungry.