This is not just fried chicken, but very crispy, buttermilk-soaked, fried chicken adapted from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc recipe.  We made it LIVE on Facebook and you can see the video here or on YouTube.  We were live but the chicken, alas, was not.

1 whole chicken, cut up into frying parts

3 cups buttermilk

6 cups canola oil

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon pepper

In a medium bowl, put 2 cups of the buttermilk and then the chicken pieces, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow the chicken to chill overnight (or at least 2 hours).  Mix the flour, salt, paprika, & pepper in a small or medium bowl and set aside.  Pour the remaining cup of buttermilk into a similar bowl. When ready to fry, place 6 cups of canola oil in a large, heavy pot such as a dutch oven or a deep fryer.  Heat the oil over medium heat until it is very hot (about 320).  While the oil is heating, shake the excess buttermilk off a piece of chicken, dredge it through the flour mixture, then dip it in the buttermilk, shake off the excess, and dredge it through the flour again.  Shake off excess, the carefully lower the chicken into the hot oil.  Cook until golden brown with an internal temperature of at least 165.  OK to pull chicken pieces out of the oil and cut inside to check for doneness – meat should be tan or light gray, not pink.  Fry 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time, then drain them on paper towels when they are ready.