Fried Chicken and Country Cooking From a Redneck Kitchen Review

I recently got my hands on Francine Bryson’s Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen. Francine Bryson has won over 200 local and national baking competitions, and has been the runner-up on CBS The American Baking Competition. She is also the author of the bestselling cookbook Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen (a cookbook I would love to get my hands on).

Francine’s new cookbook is not only a collection of recipes that Francine has created over the years but includes recipes that Francine has collected over the years from her mom, dad, aunts, friends, and especially her nana. This cookbook is full of family secret recipes and as such is old school when it comes to ingredients- there is no skimming on butter, or the use of shortening. Quite a few recipes are picnic style food and not always the healthiest of recipes. It might not be my kind of daily cooking, but the cookbook does have a few treasures and some things I would cook when serving a gathering.

True to its name, Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen is full of classic american food and plenty of southern style cooking. I did have a tough time choosing a recipe though. With me off sugar for a month, I could not pick a recipe from the dessert section, which I think is Francine’s forte. Even though I did not try any recipe from the dessert section I have bookmarked “Aunty Fanny’s Buttermilk Pie”, “Sweet Potato Spice Cake” , ” Strawberry Custard Trifle”, “SchoolYard Peanut Butter bars”, and so many others.  There are a lot of pork and beef recipes too, which I don’t cook at home – there is a squirrel pot pie in the mix too which I found so bizarre. But the cookbook does have an entire chicken section, and that’s where I found today’s recipe for fried chicken. I love good fried chicken, but have never made it at home.

This fried chicken recipe is actually her dad’s and Francine claims its the best fried chicken you will ever eat. I have a hard time with tagging something the best, but it definitely is one of the juiciest fried chicken I have had with a nice crispy skin. Her dad’s secret is to season the chicken and lets it overnight in the fridge. The seasonings penetrate the chicken and keep it moist inside and crisp outside.

I did have some trouble frying- since I dont deep fry stuff often, my deep frying skills are seriously lacking. Instead of a golden crust, I got a darker color, but thankfully I did not dry the chicken.