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Active time: 1 hour
Total time: 4 hours, including brining (or longer if you brine all day)
Serves: 4
When I make fried chicken, I brine drumsticks in a mixture that has lots of rosemary and lemon to add a distinctive California flavor, then I drizzle honey on the chicken just before serving. If you’ve never deep-fried anything before, the process might seem intimidating, but once you try it, you’ll see that it’s very straightforward. The trick for me is to get my cooking station organized before I start: I prepare my flour mixture and pour my buttermilk into a bowl and set them on the counter next to the stove, and I have tongs and a potholder or oven mitts nearby. That way, when I start frying, I won’t have to walk away from the stove or go looking for something; I can just focus on cooking.
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Ingredients
For the brine:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ½ yellow onion, sliced
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
- 5 lemons
- 4 cups water
For the chicken:
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 3 cups reduced-fat buttermilk
- 6 cups vegetable oil
- Honey
Special tool: Deep-fry thermometer
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