Sould Food ----- Fried Chicken

Many recall back home cooking and refer to it as "soul food" . Where did that term come from?? "Soul Food" is the cuisine that the African slaves primarily from the south originated. While it is a time in history that is sad and often not brought up in conversation the United States did learn a way of cooking that came about because of a life style that was very unpleasant. Soul food is created from what meager ingredients were available to the slave and sharecropping black families. Meat was the leftover parts after the white family took there share and often more. The veggies and sometimes they were more weeds than vegetable were all that the families had to work with.

In highschool I was lucky enough to make friends with a black girl named April. Many times we hung out together and I often was able to eat delicious food at her house as well. There was a great difference between the food at her house and mine. My mother cooked in a manner that she grew up with on the farm, her mother cooked what I would refer to as "soul food". Oh I can still recall the pigs feet, fried chicken, polish sausage, stuffed pepper, and the list goes on so yummy and delicious.

This recipe for Fried Chicken is one that has been passed down over the years. look for it and many others here


  2     3 1/2 pound  Frying chickens,  cut into 8 pieces
   Salt
   Freshly Ground Black Pepper
   2      cups all-purpose flour
   2      tablespoons paprika
  1       tablespoon paprika for the finished chicken
   vegetable oil

1) Trim the excess fat and skin from each piece of chicken.  Sprinkle the
pieces with salt and pepper.  Stir the flour and paprika together in a
shallow bowl.  Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour to coat on
all sides.  Shake off the excess flour.

2) Pour enough vegetable oil into a heavy deep skillet (cast-iron is
perfect) to fill it to 2 inches.  Heat over medium heat to 375¼ F. (A small
cube of bread dropped  in the dropped in the oil will brown in about 20
seconds.)

3) Add only as many of the chicken pieces as will fit without touching.
Overcrowding will lower the temperature of the oil and make your fried
chicken greasy.  With a long-handled fork or tongs to prevent getting
splattered, turn the chicken pieces until they are golden brown on all sides
and cooked through, about 6 minutes.  The easiest way to tell if the chicken
is cooked is to poke a fork down to the bone near the thickest part  -  if
the chicken is cooked the juices will run clear, not pink.

4) Remove the chicken pieces from the skillet to drain.  If you have to fry
the chicken in batches, keep the fried chicken warm on a baking sheet in a
250¼ F oven.  When all the chicken is fried, sprinkle the pieces with paprika
and serve hot.

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