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Fried Chicken
This dish is best when the chicken is killed the same day it is fried. Cut off the wings and legs, cut the breast in two, and also the back. Wash well and throw in weak salt and water, to extract the blood. Let it remain for half an hour or more. Take from the water, drain and dry with a clean towel, half an hour before dinner. Lay on a dish, sprinkle a little salt over it, and sift flour thickly first on one side and then on the other, letting it remain long enough for the flour to stick well. Have ready on the frying-pan some hot lard, in which lay each piece carefully, not forgetting the liver and gizzard. Cover closely and fry till a fine amber color. Then turn over each piece and cover well again, taking care to have the chicken well done, yet not scorched. Take the chicken up and lay in a hot dish near the fire. Pour into the gravy a teacup of milk, a teaspoonful of butter, a saltspoon of salt, and one of pepper. Let it boil up and pour into the dish, but not over the chicken. Put curled parsley round the edge of the dish and serve.--Mrs. S. T. Fried Chicken.
Kill the chicken the night before, if you can, and lay on ice, or else kill early in the morning. When ready, wipe dry, flour it, add pepper and salt, and fry in a little lard. When nearly done, pour off the lard, add one-half teacup water, large spoonful butter, and some chopped parsley. Brown nicely and serve. Meal mush fried is nice with the chicken.--Mrs. Col. W.
Two versions from two contributors, both assuming a freshly killed bird and an open hearth or wood range. The mechanics translate directly; the assumptions need adjusting.
- The birdA late 19th-century frying chicken was a young bird of roughly 1.5 to 2.5 lb, dressed. A modern 3.5 lb supermarket chicken cut the same way will need longer in the pan; cook to 165F at the thigh joint rather than by color alone.
- Salt water soakThe half-hour in "weak salt and water" is a light brine that also draws out blood from a bird butchered at home. It is optional today but harmless and does season the meat. Dry the pieces thoroughly afterward or the flour will slide off.
- Fat and temperatureLard is still the best choice and worth seeking out; there is no need for more than half an inch in the pan. Hold the fat around 325 to 350F. Hotter and the flour scorches before the joints are done, which is exactly what the original warns against.
- Covered fryingMrs. S. T. covers the pan twice, which steams the chicken as it fries and speeds the interior along; it also softens the crust. (Mrs. Col. W. says nothing about a lid.) If you want the coating crisp, uncover for the last several minutes of the second side.
- "Amber color"A medium golden brown, not the deep mahogany of modern buttermilk-and-cornflake fried chicken. It is the color of flour just past pale.
- Liver and gizzardThese are floured and fried alongside the joints. The liver cooks very fast: add it near the end and pull it as soon as it firms. The gizzard is tough muscle and will take at least as long as the dark meat, so give it the full time.
- The milk gravyA teacup is an unfixed measure, somewhere between about 1/2 and 3/4 cup. The original simply pours the milk into the pan; if you want a gravy rather than a milky fat, pour off most of the fat first, leaving about two tablespoons plus the browned flour, then add the milk and butter. A saltspoon is about 1/4 teaspoon. Serve it beside the chicken, not over it, as instructed, so the crust stays intact.
- Meal mushMrs. Col. W.'s accompaniment is cornmeal mush, cooked stiff, chilled, sliced and fried. It is polenta by another name and needs to set several hours before frying.
- YieldOne chicken cut into eight to ten pieces serves three to four.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1879), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree from contributions by named and initialed Virginia housewives, gives fried chicken the multiple-recipe treatment that signals a household staple rather than a novelty. The pairing of flour-dredged pan-fried chicken with a milk gravy made in the same pan is characteristic of the Upper South. Two details suggest the world the page came out of: the insistence that the bird be killed the same day, which only makes sense where poultry is kept in the yard, and Mrs. Col. W.'s suggestion to kill the night before and "lay on ice" can be read as a nod toward the icebox, then still a mark of a well-appointed house. The recipes are shallow-fried in a covered skillet, not deep-fried, and the flour is dredged dry with no egg or buttermilk dip; the batter-heavy styles came later.