Main Ingredients:

? 2-1/2 pounds chicken parts (breasts, thighs, legs)
? 2 cups buttermilk
? 4 Tbsp. hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
? peanut oil for frying
? 1 cup flour
? 1 tsp. paprika
? 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1.Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Place in a large bowl.


2.Whisk together the buttermilk and hot sauce. Pour over the chicken. Turn the chicken pieces to coat evenly with the buttermilk mixture.


3.Refrigerate at least 8, up to 24 hours.


4.Remove chicken from refrigerator and place in a colander to drain.


5.Line a baking sheet with a paper towel and top with a cooling rack (a cookie cooling rack works well). Set aside.


6.Pour oil in a cast iron skillet to a depth of 1/2-inch. Heat to 375 degrees F.


7.Meanwhile, toss flour and paprika together and spread out in a shallow dish.


8.Using tongs, coat chicken pieces with flour on both sides, shaking off the excess.


9.Place 4-5 chicken pieces, skin side down, in hot skillet, being careful not to crowd them. (You will have to fry in batches; if you try to put too many pieces of chicken in the pan at once, it will lower the temperature of the oil too much.) Brown the chicken for about 10 minutes.


10.Turn heat down to medium or medium-low (325 degrees) and let the chicken finish cooking, 10-15 minutes, until cooked through.


11.Transfer chicken pieces to cooling rack to drain. Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt while still hot.

Serve warm or cold.

Fried chicken is the perfect picnic food to me. And although this fried chicken recipe requires a bit of advance planning -- the chicken has to be soaked in a buttermilk mixture for 8-24 hours -- this fried chicken can easily be prepared in advance and served cold the next day.

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