Tennessee Hot Chicken Recipe

On New Years Day, I stumbled across an article where chef's across the US named 2015 food trends. Something that grabbed my attention was Tennessee Hot Chicken. I was instantly intrigued and started googling away, only to find myself making this delicious dish hours later.

This recipe I used was from Foodnetwork.com and is from Hattie B's, a very popular restaurant in Tennessee. It is by no means a healthy recipe and if we eat fried chicken, I typically oven fry it. However, I was in a mood this particular day and didn't care about nutrition. I did draw the line on using melting lard and used hot frying oil instead. Tennessee Hot Chicken was the perfect mix of sweet and spicy and I will make this recipe again.

Hattie B's Hot Chicken Recipe from Food Network
Ingredients
For the dry brine:
1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds), washed, patted dry and cut into quarters
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dip:
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce

For the dredge:
2 cups all-purpose flour
Sea salt
Vegetable oil, for frying

For the spicy coating:
1/2 cup lard, melted and heated (or hot frying oil)
3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Pickle slices, for serving

Directions
Dry-brine the chicken: In a bowl, toss the chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper; cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.

Make the dip and dredge: In a bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and hot sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and 2 teaspoons sea salt.

Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, then dip in the milk mixture, then in the flour mixture again, shaking off the excess after each step.

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fryer to 325 degrees F. Set a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. Working in batches, lower the chicken into the fryer and fry until crisp, 15 to 17 minutes for breast quarters and 18 to 20 minutes for leg quarters. Remove the chicken and let it drain on the rack.

Make the spicy coating: Carefully ladle the lard or frying oil into a medium heatproof bowl and whisk in the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, the paprika and garlic powder. Baste the spice mixture over the hot fried chicken and serve immediately; garnish with pickles.