Photo by Carol Guilford
Of course, any part if the bird can be fried, but I like to
fry the legs—substantial finger food.
Here’s a picture of Bob Park, a hunk gnawing on this simple
Texas-style fried chicken. He manned up—the first batch was a tad pink at the
bone. I upped the time from 15 minutes per side to 20 minutes.
Look for legs with the most skin covering the flesh.
Best utensil: An
electric skillet is good, but I used my 12-inch Wolfgang Puck fryer that
will hold 5 legs. For fewer legs, a smaller pan is good as long as the oil is a
least ¼ -inch deep.
chicken legs
salt, pepper
flour
I use King
Arthur, organic, unbleached white flour
olive oil
¼ inch deep is about
1 to 1¼ cups.
- Rinse the chicken quickly in cold water. Pat dry.
- Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
- Heat the oil until the oil is moving around and a drop of water (stand back) sizzles.
- Just before frying, coat the chicken with flour, shaking off the excess.
- Fry, uncovered for 20 minutes, then turn and fry 20 minutes on the second side. Check a couple of times to make sure the the chicken is not burning, so that you can adjust the heat.
- Drain on paper towels to remove the excess oil for a result that will be brown and crisp on the outside, moist and tender on the inside.
