Fern's Fried Chicken

We butchered some of our young roosters in May and froze them for fryers. We have always enjoyed fried chicken. 

There is a definite difference between homegrown and store-bought chicken. Our chickens are smaller even at an older age. The meat has less water in it too. It is hard to describe. Even though we buy commercial laying crumbles, sweet feed and scratch grain to feed them, they will never put on the weight of broiler house chickens due to the difference in feeding rations.

When we butcher the chickens for freezing, we wrap them in plastic wrap and newspaper. In the past we have tried butcher paper which costs more than keeping old newspapers. We have also tried freezer bags which cost more and don't cling to the bird as well, thus allowing  more freezer burn. We also cut the carcass into pieces that will 'nest' into each other to protect from freezer burn. The leg/thigh pieces are tucked into the backs and covered by the breast pieces. After a lot of experimentation, this seems to work the best.

 I cut up the bird.....

roll it in flour seasoned with seasoning salt and pepper. We fry it in olive oil, which is the only type of oil we use, besides WD-40.

We had fresh purple hull peas from the garden seasoned with cured ham hocks to go with the chicken. We bought the pig from a family at church. Their kids raise and show pigs for FFA, Future Farmers of America. When they are finished showing them, they usually sell them to help cover some of their feed costs. This works well for us because then we don't have to raise them. I don't like live pigs much. But they sure taste good!

This was a great meal! Simple, good, homegrown and no leftovers! Frank really likes fried chicken.



Until next time - Fern