Country Cozy Fried Chicken Picnic
Holy cannoli, we made it to the weekend! I don’t know what’s going on in your week but this one for me has been a doozy. Between scheduling cookbook signings and appearances, keeping up with the blog, and dealing with the builder next door splashing concrete on my house (that’s a story for another day), our vacation in a few weeks can’t come soon enough. I’m not complaining about being busy, being busy is good, but man on man am I tired. I’m betting you’re looking forward to the weekend just as much as I am, so let’s celebrate with some Fried Chicken Picnic inspiration, shall we?
I’m sharing one of the menu plans from the Picnics, Potlucks & Porch Parties cookbook because I want to give everyone an idea of what exactly the cookbook was designed to do. It’s a little different than a traditional cookbook where you only have recipes and stories. My book has the recipes (150+ of them) and stories, but we also sprinkled in what I’m calling the “lagniappe” of the book. We’ve included 10 complete menu plans taking you from beverage to dessert outlying suggestions for a celebration of your own but we’ve also included some fun DIYs or helpful entertaining ideas to give your menu a little oomph….in each and every one of the 15 chapters.
The Country Cozy Fried Chicken Picnic is one of the examples.
Here’s what is included in the menu plan:
Southern Sweet Lemonade
BBQ Deviled Eggs
Southern Fried Picnic Chicken
Sautéed Green Beans with Pecans
Baked Mac & Cheese Muffins
Grandma’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Blackberry Bars
Now, let’s talk about the fried chicken recipe. Are you a fan of frying? Frying anything myself scares the beegeebees out of me. I’m just not confident with the oil and I’m a bit high maintenance about the crispiness of the chicken. I have found, though, that with a little bit of tinkering, controlling the ingredients actually allows me to get the chicken just the way I like it. And once you’ve gotten the dredging down, there’s really nothing better than enjoying homemade fried chicken.
And I’m sharing a little secret. The oil still scares me, so I let my husband handle that part!
It’s a match made in marriage heaven.
- 1 (2 to 3 pound) whole chicken, cut up
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 3 cups shortening
- Rinse the chicken with cold water; pat dry with paper towels and set aside.
- Whisk together milk and eggs in a bowl.
- Combine flour, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper and Creole seasoning in a quart-size zip lock plastic freezer bag. Dip 2 chicken pieces in flour mixture then into the egg/milk mixture. Place chicken back into the flour mixture; seal, shake to coat. Remove chicken, and repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Melt the shortening in a Dutch oven over medium high heat to reach 350 degrees on a cooking thermometer. Fry chicken in batches 10 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle the chicken with remaining 2 teaspoons of salt and pepper.
With chicken looking that lovely, wouldn’t it be a shame to have the wind blow the tablecloth into your food? I love having picnics at this little cabin in one of our Baton Rouge subdivisions because the picnic table is ready to go for the occasion, but boy do I hate when a gust of wind comes along and the edges of the tablecloth go whipping around. You’ve got one hand on your chicken and one hand swatting down the edge of the tablecloth. It’s fun for no one.
Here’s a solution: Tablecloth Weights
Simply spray paint some metal washers you get from the hardware store for like .33 a piece.
Add a bright ribbon. Adhere with a safety pin to the back of the ribbon loop.
Attach to each corner of the tablecloth.
Voila.
Looks cute, like it belongs on the tablecloth, and it keeps your tablecloth nice and snug on your picnic table.
Easy as pie! And speaking of pie, those Blackberry Pie Bars can be found here: Blackberry Pie Bars
Wishing you a weekend full of picnic perfect weather!
