When the cats away the mice play. Valarie and the kids went to spend the weekend this summer with our dear friends Steve and Lisa Dean in Connecticut. Dale inspired by researching Nashville Hot Chicken to satisfy his intellectual curiosity decided to take control of Valarie’s kitchen and cook up a batch of Nashville Hot chicken for the first time.
Having the cooking skills of dish washer and prep cook in Valarie’s kitchen, he embarked on a fun afternoon following the Hattie B’s recipe posted on the Food Network. Dale is a an Environmental Scientist by trade. He figured following the recipe would be like a college chemistry class….what could go wrong? He invited his Mom, Lois, and his brother Jason to try out his finished dish.
Hattie B’s is a Nashville-based food chain owned by father and son team, Nick Bishop and Nick Bishop Jr., who now have six locations, including Las Vegas. Their chicken is based on the Nashville Hot chicken style. As per food historians, Nashville Hot Chicken originated in the African American neighborhoods back to the 1930’s. It’s roots date back to Thorton Prince who’s former girlfriend “spiced up” his chicken with cayenne pepper to punish him for late night carousing with other women. Unfortunately for his girlfriend, the attempt failed because he liked the spicy chicken.
Thorton and his brothers took this spicy style of chicken and opened the original BBQ Chicken Shack. His great-niece, Andre Prince Jefferies, is the current owner and continues the family recipe. This style of chicken is so popular in Nashville, the BBQ Chicken Shack actually won the coveted America’s Classic award from the James Beard Foundation.
My mom and brother enjoyed the chicken. My Mom being English, thought the final spicy coating was a bit much. My brother and I found it nice and spicy. I highly recommend this recipe. If you can’t make it to Nashville, bring Nashville’s Hot chicken to your kitchen.
Ingredients
- Dry Brine
- 1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds), washed, patted ry and cut into quarters
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Dip
- 1 cup of whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce
- Dredge
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- Sea salt
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Spicy coating
- ½ cup of lard, melted and heated (or hot frying oil)
- 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pickle slices, for serving
Instructions
Dry-brine the chicken: In a bowl, toss the chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoons black pepper; cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
Make the dip and dredge: In a bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and hot sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and 2 teaspoons sea salt.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, then dip in the milk mixture, then in the flour mixture again, shaking off the excess after each step.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Set a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. Working in batches, lower the chicken into the fryer and fry until crisp, 15 to 17 minutes for the breast quarters and 18-20 minutes for leg quarters. Remove the chicken and let it drain on the rack.
Make the spicy coating: Carefully ladle the lard or frying oil into a medium heatproof bowl and whisk in the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, ¾ teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, the paprika and garlic powder. Baste the spice mixture over the hot fried chicken and serve immediately; garnish with pickles.