Recipe: Homemade Hot Chicken

John & I are long time fans & consumers of Nashville's infamous Prince's Hot Chicken Shack.  Alas, it is a pain in the ass to eat there, so over the weekend we took matters into our own hands & decided to attempt to recreate it at home.  Y'all, we kind of pulled it off.

Homemade Hot Chicken

Adapted from From Away - Cooking And Eating In Maine

Ingredients:

2 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup self-rising flour
10 ounces + 2 tbsp lard, divided
3 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
3/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4 slices white bread
sliced dill pickles

Directions:

In a baking dish, combine chicken breasts & buttermilk.  Cover & refrigerate *overnight.

*We didn't do overnight.  We did about one hour.

In a deep, heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat, heat 10 ounces of lard to 375 degrees.  Remove chicken from buttermilk & dredge in flour.

Add chicken to hot grease, & cook, turning every 3-4 minutes, until chicken is golden brown & a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees, about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken.  Drain chicken on paper towel lined plate.

Microwave remaining 2 tbsp lard for 30 seconds, or until liquefied.  Add cayenne, sugar, salt & garlic powder.  Stir well to combine.  It will form a paste.

Apply paste to bone-side of chicken using a brush, flip chicken over (so it is skin side up) onto 2 slices of white bread, & baste with more of the paste.  Repeat for remaining chicken breasts.

Serve with sliced dill pickles & a million paper towels.  And milk.  And crinkle cut fries.

Notes:

Allegedly, allegedly, the secret ingredient is sold at the Kroger next door to Prince's.  It's called "Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning".  It's also on Amazon for $8.  Not wanting to drive to Trinity Lane on a Sunday night, we went without it, but you better believe we'll have it by the time we make this again.  If you do have it, you change the 3 tbsp cayenne to 2 tbsp cayenne + 1 tbsp Slap Ya Mama.

File Under:  TMI

And yes, since inquiring minds want to know, the digestive effect, aka 'the reckoning', is the same, which, in my mind, means we successfully accomplished this feat.

Now, go forth & burn!