In which I corrupt an Aussie.

I corrupted my Aussie friend. I didn't mean to, I just wanted to make him one of my favorite things from being raised in the South.  I fed him his first ever dinner of Southern Fried Chicken with all the accompanying vegetables. You know, potato salad and coleslaw. I am officially terrible. I have created a monster. In between his sounds of delight and mouthfuls of chicken, I got the question... "What else can you deep fry??" Then his boyfriend gave me a dirty look. And so it starts. My bad, darlin! At least I hope you enjoyed my cooking...

And now for a little, teensy confession. Although I consider myself to be a good Southern boy, I am in fact, not a true Southerner. I was born in New York City. There, I said it, I'm sorry!!! In my defense, my parents moved us to rural North Carolina when I was 3, so for all it's worth, I claim the South as my own. That, and I have a pretty strong dislike of New York for some strange reason... except for the shopping and the food. Those parts are great. But, at the end of the day, the country of North Carolina has my heart. I mean, just look at it! Who wouldn't love it?

So, the funny thing about growing up in the middle of North Carolina with parents (yes, both of them) that grew up in the dreaded North, is that I was raised on mostly Northern fair. That is, until my mom became a minister to this tiny little church, in this tiny little country town, in an even more rural area than where we lived. All of the sudden, it was HELLO FRIED FOOD!!! It totally changed my tastes. What is this wonderfully crispy chicken substance? What is this absolutely decadent sweat brown drink?? Deep Fried Chicken? Sweat Tea!? Yes, I will have more of that please!

Needless to say, my parents weren't too thrilled that their children were eating what they deemed 'unhealthy' food, but, what where they gonna do, tell the cute old church ladies that we couldn't have any?

Now, the down side is that my mom never learned to cook these wonderful Southern delicacies. I really can't blame her, though. She and my dad were very busy enjoying the country.

So, I have had to learn them on my own, with much help from some of the wonderful church ladies at my mom's various churches over the years. The one thing that I never got an actual recipe for was Fried Chicken. When I would ask, I would get very vague, slightly dismissive answers that usually included things like, "oh, you know, just add some flavors then drop it in the deep fat fryer." Seems the recipes are held very close to the heart. 

So, off to the internets I went. I ended up at the doorstep of someone I consider to be the Queen of the South. A one Ms. Paula Deen. Thank you ma'am, for finally giving me a delicious, fast, and easy recipe for that wonderfully delicious fried chicken. And now, here it is for you, my dear readers. Make it. Love it. Share it. Then go for a run, cause really... you will feel the need...

xoxo Craig

Click here for: Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken