Thursday, August 20, 2009

Lightly Fried Chicken Drumsticks

I was thinking how lovely it would be to have a picnic on one of these Saturdays, these long, sizzling August Saturdays that are dwindling in number. August. August. I love the word August. I love the heavy, throaty, roundness of the sound. To me it is almost an onomatopoeia; I can almost feel the weighty heat, the lengthy hours, the sticky anticipation of Fall, just in the word "August." If you use august as an adjective it means "inspiring awe, imposing." You can even use the related adverb "augustly," as in, "Augustly, and with an air of assumed innocence, she sauntered into the courtroom." Or the noun, "augustness" as in "Struck by the augustness of her demeanor, he regretted his trite gesture of flowers." Or you can use the proper noun August, the one we know so well, the one that means the eighth month of the year. Or in bold augustness, you can skip the grammar indulgence, and just augustly plan a picnic in the august heat of August. Either way, I hope you'll include these chicken drumsticks.
Drumsticks are ridiculously cheap, and you know why? Because no one wants them anymore. We all want our boneless, skinless chicken breasts and so the other parts of the bird are shipped to other parts of the world, or are left languishing in the refrigerated section. Snatch them up and take them home. Drumsticks are just perfect for a picnic, a sort of savory lollipop, that can be made ahead and enjoyed later. I made my recipe with just a minimal amount of oil for frying, so they need to cook a little longer than most. Have a happy August day.
Money Saving Tips: You could easily you use a whole chicken cut up as well. I paid $1.69for eight large drumsticks, plenty for a hearty meal for four. You can deep fry these drumsticks, but I cook them in just a generous slick of oil. It saves money and you know what else.
Fried Chicken Drumsticks
Estimated Cost: $4.00 for 8
1 cup buttermilk
2 pounds chicken drumsticks (or equivalent amount of bone in chicken)
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
about 1/3 cup vegetable oil
In a zip top bag, combine 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, buttermilk and drumsticks. Marinate for at least two hours or up to overnight in fridge. Remove from bag and discard marinade. In a separate zip top bag, combine flour, chili powder, ground red pepper, plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Place chicken in bag, a few pieces at a time, zip top shut, and shake to coat well. Place chicken on a rack to dry for about 15-30 minutes, if you can. (This will help the coating adhere.) Heat about 1/4 inch vegetable oil in a heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Place the chicken skin side down in skillet. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. (if they are getting to brown turn the heat down.) Turn the chicken over and cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, or until nicely browned. Drain on paper towels.
P.S. Thank you so much to my sweet reader, Anella (sp?) M, for your kind words. It's readers like you that keep me going and going and going.
Up Next:
Those Homemade Biscuits Up There

27 comments:

MK and Co. said...

My family would love this meal! Thanks for another great recipe Prudy.

The Finlinsons said...

I love this blog and I think I've LOVED everything I've tried from it. I've always wanted to try fried chicken (but not deep fried). The one time I did, it didn't work out for some reason...so I'm gonna try this one and see if it works.

Question...this may sound dumb...do you leave the skins on or off? Can you do it either way (for fat content purposes)?

Prudy said...

Bethany:
Great question. You leave the skin on for traditional fried chicken, but I'm sure that it would work for skin off too. Thank you soooo much for your kind words; truly, it makes my day!

Dakotapam said...

Yum! We love drumsticks hear...they are cheap, and no one needs to have their meat cut for them! I never thought of lightly frying them, that sounds great. Too bad our August days are more Fall like for weather!

And Prudy, your blog is one of my favorites. I aspire to your foodieness!

Patsyk said...

This looks like a perfect picnic lunch! My boys adore drumsticks, and wings... wings are pretty inexpensive also.

crabigail adams said...

The music on this blog is the best! My 11-year-old daughter thinks it sounds like the Kit Kittredge movie from American GIrl!

Never thought of just using drumsticks! Thanks for the idea.

The JR said...

The chicken looks great, so do the biscuits. Heck, just pass me a plate all of it looks good.

Ramona

The Blonde Duck said...

Prudy, may I come over and have drumsticks with you? No one else in the Pond will eat them with me!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

My family loves drumsticks and this is a gerat picnic meal!

wosnes said...

The whole meal looks great!

Adrienne said...

I agree with the other gal about the music. My kids love it too. Sometimes I just leave the webpage up and we all groove to it while they clean their rooms.

This recipe looks like a winner! I love fried chicken. What a good idea to use buttermilk as a kind of marinade. I've only ever seen the directions as as "dip it in". Question: does it have to be real buttermilk or can I use clobbered milk?

Prudy said...

Clabbered milk will work just fine, Adrienne. Thanks for your kind comments everybody!

Aimee said...

These look AMAZING! I made a chicken recipe earlier this week where I bread breasts in flour and a mixture of cayenne pepper with vanilla wafers....this one is on my list for the weekend! LOVE your blog!

Anonymous said...

Try frying the drumsticks in a nonstick pan without oil. The buttermilk and skin on the chicken has enough oil so you don't need to add anymore. I also fry thighs this way.
Ladybug

Prudy said...

Thanks Lady Bug. I'll try it for sure.

Tanji said...

August? Hmmmm. Me thinks Miss Prudy must live in a "dry heat" kind of place. ;) No, really. I do have more respect for the month after reading your post. I always liked the word August because it was my German great-grandfather's name. Oww-Goost. The chicken looks delicious!! Please share your secret for being wonder woman with me. You're amazing!

Ali said...

Yum Yum! I am still a BIG fan of your reipes! I come check your blog several times a week! Thanks for the great recipes!

Ali

Ali said...

oops, I misspelled recipes :)

crabigail adams said...

These were Sunday dinner today! Mr. Adams, who does everything better than I do, including fry chicken, RAVED! I felt like my Irish grandmother, sitting down to fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans for dinner ... and everybody ate something. This is a beautiful day. Thank you, Prudence!

Bill Bird said...

Prudy,

Made this last night with mashed potatoes -- using freshly harvested "All Blue" and "Cranberry Red" potatoes from the backyard garden, fried Okra and tomatoes from the backyard garden and topped it off with chunks of our first ripe watermelon of the year (a 40 lb. Tom Watson -- an heirloom). The wife proclaimed, and I had to agree, that this was one of the best meals of the summer to date. The chicken recipe is outstanding.

Marie Rayner said...

Oh my Erin, those look just wonderful. I never like drumsticks as I more often than not find them a bit tough. I wonder how I could get past this. ANy suggestions?

deeceemorris said...

Nice Recipe! I always hate music on websites, but for some reason I got sucked in by yours and left it on while cooking and had a swinging time with it. Thanks,

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Anonymous said...

Great post! You should definitely follow up to this topic?!

Joshua Sheehan said...

Prudy, may I come over and have drumsticks with you? No one else in the Pond will eat them with me!

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