We never had fried food at home or elsewhere so when the first fast food franchise came to town (you won’t know the name) we kids were excited to see it then disappointed that we couldn’t get what we didn’t want off the burger.
For some odd reason, Mom cooked french fries at home, in a large saucepan with a strainer basket in it. But I’d never had fried chicken.
When Joanie made us chicken rolled in potato chip crumbs and baked it, that was a revelation. Now I make it with different breading and techniques, experimenting every time, but that chicken was an epiphany.
A few weeks ago I decided to try onion rings and had one red onion around, sliced it very thinly. I made a beer batter and let it sit for an hour. Then I fried the rings, a few at a time, in about 1/2″ of canola oil. They fried up quickly, I salted them on paper towels and served them hot before dinner was ready. They were a hit.
Now I love fried chicken from Saratoga’s Hattie’s Chicken Shack. I made my own once, in Texas. It turned out well but it’s a shame to use oil once because we just don’t fry things like that.
When I go back to Hattie’s I’ll surely have Jasper Alexander’s fried chicken, and its infamous collard greens. I’ve had their fried chicken going back many a year but didn’t have the fortitude to try the collards. Hey Jasper, a friend visited recently and mailed me a bottle of your hot sauce! Keep up the good work! Dee
Cooking with Dee 