Nashville Style Hot Chicken

prep: 3 hours

cook: about an hour

serves: 6

special equipment:
 A deep-fry thermometer

to dry brine the chicken you’ll need…

1 3–4 pound chicken, cut into 10 pieces, cut breasts cut in half, discard backbone and wing tips

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

for the dredge you’ll need…

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons salt

for the dip you’ll need…

2 large eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 tablespoon hot sauce (vinegar based, like Tabasco)

for frying you’ll need…

Safflower Oil, Vegetable Oil, Peanut Oil or Lard (yep, I said the “L” word)

for the spicy sauce you’ll need…

1 cup hot frying oil

4 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

let’s get to it…

Place the chicken in a large bowl and rub it with the salt and black pepper; cover and let it hang out in the refrigerator for 3 hours (or overnight if possible). Let the chicken stand at room temperature for about 45 minutes before cooking.

Set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet lined with paper towels.

Whisk the flour, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt together in a 9x13x2-inch baking dish (like a lasagna pan). Beat the eggs, buttermilk and hot sauce together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large (10-inch or 12-inch) skillet or other heavy straight-sided skillet (not nonstick!) to about ¾-inch deep. Prop the deep-fry thermometer in the oil so the bulb is submerged, but not touching the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°F.

Using 1 hand for dry ingredients and 1 hand for wet ingredients, dredge 1 piece of chicken in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess. Dip the chicken piece in the buttermilk mixture; shake off the excess. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture AGAIN and shake off the excess.

Place 4 to 5 pieces of chicken in the skillet, depending on how much room you have. Working in batches, fry the chicken, turning with tongs every 1–2 minutes. Adjust the heat to maintain a steady temperature of 325°F. Cook until the skin is golden brown, about 10 minutes for wings and 17 to 20 minutes for thighs, legs, and breast quarters, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken reads 165°F.

Remove chicken from skillet with tongs, allowing the excess oil to drip back into skillet; transfer the cooked chicken to the rack. Repeat until all of the chicken is cooked.

And now, this is what makes Nashville Style Hot Chicken so HOT:

Ladle 1 cup of hot oil into a small saucepan or heatproof bowl and whisk in the cayenne pepper, dark brown sugar and chili powder. Brush or baste the sauce over the Nashville Style Hot Chicken. Serve on a slice or two of white bread with a few pickles.

Mini Jalapeño and Chipotle Cornbread Loaves with Tupelo Honey Butter

prep: 15 minutes
cook: 15 minutes

you’ll need…
1 24 ounce package Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Cornbread Mix
2 cups water
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup corn, divided
¼ cup chopped jalapeño, seeded and deveined
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

let’s get to it…
Place a rack the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 350°F. Place 12 Welcome Home Brands Rectangular Mini-Loaf Oven-Safe Paper Baking Pans on a baking sheet. Spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. (You can also use a muffin baking pan and make cornbread muffins.)Have a medium mixing bowl on hand.
Pour the cornbread mix in a large bowl. Mix in the water, oil, eggs and corn until just blended. Pour half of the batter into the medium bowl.
Stir the jalapeños into the batter in one bowl. Stir the chipotle peppers into the batter of the other bowl. Fill six loaf pans with the jalapeño batter and six with the chipotle batter.
Bake for 15 minutes or until just set. Don’t overbake or the cornbread will be dry!

Tupelo Honey Butter

prep: 5 minutes

you’ll need…
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, softened (not melted!)
¼ cup Tupelo Honey (or your favorite honey)

let’s get to it…
Blend the softened butter and honey together in a medium bowl. Spoon into a small serving dish and chill until ready to serve.

Caramel Cake
prep: 30 minutes
cook: 20-25 minutes

for the cake you’ll need…
2 cups cake flour, sifted (cake flour is supposed to be sifted already, but sift it again anyway)
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

for the icing you’ll need…
½ cup butter
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar (about a pound)
1/2  teaspoon salt
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla

let’s make the cake…
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make sure the middle rack is in place.
Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans. (In the image you see 3 layers. I used a jelly roll pan to bake the cake and then cut out three circles for three layers after it was baked.)
Sift the flour and salt together and set aside. I do this on a paper plate so that I can bend it when adding it to the mixture later.
Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer on medium low speed.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla. Continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Turn the electric mixer up to medium and alternate adding the sifted flour and salt and the buttermilk to the butter mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar and add to the mixture.
Pour equal amounts of the batter into the pans, using a rubber spatula to remove all of the batter from the bowl and to evenly distribute the batter in the pans.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the middle.
Cool cake in the pans for 10 minutes; flip onto a wire rack and cool at least 1 hour.

let’s make the icing while the cake bakes….
Melt the butter on medium low heat in a heavy saucepan.
Whisk in the brown sugar and salt.
Add the evaporated milk and continuing stirring until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (about 235°F).
Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes.
Stir in baking powder and vanilla for 10 minutes, or until at a spreadable consistency. (Remember this is an icing so you won’t slather it on like you would a frosting).
Cool completely before icing the cake.

cooking know how…
Icing and frosting are different. Icing is usually sugar based and is thinner, almost like a glaze. Frosting is thicker and tends to be cream or butter based.