Recipe Of The Day: Fried Chicken w/ Cayenne Honey

Today is a great day. Let it be known that at The Supreme Plate offices, every April 21st is The Supreme Plate Chicken Day and thus being that day, we are going to eat lots of chicken to celebrate. As do a lot of people I prefer a very crunchy and juicy piece of chicken.
I cannot stand when some soggy mess of greasy pale chicken hits my plate. I was lucky growing up in Southern California where good chicken is available in large amounts and more fried chicken spots existed than one could count. It is often joked about amongst my friends, my fondness for chicken so today is only fitting that we give you this great Fried Chicken & Cayenne Honey recipe.
 The key to great chicken lies in how hot your oil is, how well you season the chicken and how long you fry the delicious golden bird. When you drizzle some of this spicy and sweet cayenne honey over your chicken it is like mixing the perfect drink on a hot evening when the music is just right and all of your friends are close by, a truly great thing.

Ingredients:

1 quart buttermilk, plus 2 cups

Kosher salt

2 tsp chili de arbol powder (or 2 tablespoons hot sauce)

2 chickens (3 to 4 pounds each, cut up into 8 pieces each)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 TBS garlic powder

1 TBS onion powder

1 TBS sweet paprika

2 tsp cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

Peanut oil, for deep-frying

Cayenne honey, recipe follows

Directions:

Whisk together 1 quart of the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons salt, and the chili de arbol in a large bowl or large baking dish.

Add the chicken, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Place the remaining 2 cups of buttermilk in a bowl.

Stir together the flour, garlic and onion powders, paprika and cayenne in a large bowl and divide among 2 shallow platters and season generously with salt and pepper.

Drain the chicken in a colander and pat it dry.

Dredge the pieces a few at a time in the flour mixture and pat off excess, then dip in the buttermilk and allow excess to drain off.

Dredge in the second plate of flour and pat off the excess.

Put the chicken pieces on a baking rack set over a baking sheet while the oil heats.

Pour about 3 inches of oil into a deep cast iron skillet; the oil should not come more than halfway up the sides of the pot.

Put the pot over medium-high heat and heat the oil to 375 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.

Working in batches, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil, 3 or 4 at a time and fry, turning the pieces occasionally, until evenly golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a rack to drain; repeat to cook the remaining pieces.

Serve hot, drizzled with the cayenne honey.

Cayenne Honey:

1 cup honey

2 TBS cayenne pepper 

Kosher Salt to taste

Whisk all ingredients together in a glass bowl and season with salt to taste

(A helpful hint: give the bowl a quick spray with Pam / cooking spray, to help the honey come right out. Do not over spray the bowl or your honey will become oily)