Southern Fried Chicken with Buttermilk Biscuits

• Prep40 min
• Cook45 min
• Total5 h 25 min
• Serves4

Ingredients

Chicken and marinade

• 1.6 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces: drumsticks, thighs and breasts, breasts cut in half (3 1/2 lb)
• 480 g buttermilk (2 cups)
• 15 g hot sauce (1 tbsp)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sweet paprika

Seasoned flour

• 300 g all-purpose flour (2 1/3 cups)
• 60 g cornstarch (1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp baking powder

Buttermilk biscuits

• 300 g all-purpose flour (2 1/3 cups), plus more for the counter
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 g sugar (2 tsp)
• 90 g cold unsalted butter, in cubes (6 tbsp)
• 220 g cold buttermilk (1 cup minus 1 tbsp)

To fry and serve

• About 1.5 L vegetable or canola oil (6 cups), for frying
• Honey, to drizzle

Instructions

1. Place the buttermilk, hot sauce, salt, garlic powder and paprika for the marinade in the mixing bowl and mix 10 sec/speed 4. Pour it over the chicken in a large bowl, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Rinse and dry the mixing bowl.
2. Place all the seasoned flour ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix 10 sec/speed 4. Transfer to a large shallow dish, drizzle in 3 tbsp of the marinade and rub it in with your fingertips to make small clumps, which become the crunchy bits.
3. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cold butter for the biscuits in the mixing bowl and chop 6 sec/speed 6, until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add the cold buttermilk and knead 10 sec/dough mode, just until a shaggy dough forms.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter, pat it into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter and pat it out 2.5 cm (1 in) thick. Cut 8 rounds with a 6 cm (2 1/2 in) cutter, set them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate.
5. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). In a large, deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven on the stove, heat about 4 cm (1 1/2 in) of oil to 175°C (350°F). Set a wire rack over a baking sheet.
6. Lift the chicken pieces out of the marinade, letting the excess drip off, and press them firmly into the seasoned flour on all sides. Let them rest on a plate for 10 minutes so the coating sticks.
7. Fry the chicken in batches, without crowding the pan, 12 to 15 minutes, turning every few minutes, until deep golden and the thickest part reaches 74°C (165°F). The oil will drop when the chicken goes in; adjust the heat to keep it around 160°C (325°F). Drain on the rack.
8. While the chicken fries, bake the biscuits in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until tall and golden.
9. Serve the chicken hot with the biscuits and honey to drizzle over both.

Tips

• Use a deep-fry thermometer for the oil and an instant-read thermometer for the chicken. Thick breast pieces take the longest, so check them first.
• To keep finished batches crisp, place the rack with the fried chicken in the oven after the biscuits come out, with the oven turned off and the door ajar.
• Biscuit trick: press the cutter straight down without twisting, so the edges stay open and the biscuits rise tall.
• Leftover chicken keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat it on a rack in the oven at 200°C (400°F) for about 15 minutes to bring back the crunch.