Mary Lou's Easy and Tasty Fried Chicken

Each of us has his own way of cooking chicken. My method is one I learned from my mother when I grew up in south Mississippi.

My sister Ruth and I often had the job of slaughtering a chicken from the yard. The chicken and the sisters suffered great pain. Usually I didn't want to eat the chicken by the time it made it to the table.

Here's my method:Buy a chicken. That way you can be noble like Brutus and have someone else commit the poultry murder. Buy it previously cut up or cut your own chicken.

My mother always cut the chicken so that she had a large piece containing the wishbone--we called it the pulley bone. My brother Buddy and I would have a negotiation over that piece. I usually won.

If you cut the chicken, use a sharp knife. Cut it into halves, then cut it into fourths, and finally cut the pieces fourths into eighths. Cutting a chicken is not, as we thought when we were children, rocket science. I'll let you decide whether you want to remove the skin.

Be sure to trim the globs of fat off the chicken pieces.Wash the chicken, everything that touches the chicken, and your hands with care.

Marinate the chicken covered and stored in the refrigerator in buttermilk overnight.The next day wash the chicken and drain it on paper towels.Dredge it in a mix of self-rising flour that has been seasoned liberally with your favorite seasonings, such as seasoning salt, black pepper, ground red pepper, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, rosemary, and salt. Or you may prefer a spicy south Louisiana blend.

Pour enough oil to halfway fill a heavy Dutch oven or very deep iron skillet. You want the oil to cover the chicken. Heat the oil until it is really hot.

Place the chicken in the oil one layer at a time. You will want to place the pretty sides down.

Fry it until no blood oozes out if you stick it or until it is 180 degrees inside the biggest pieces.Drain it on a rack.

Serve it with some garlic mashed potatoes or some rice and homemade gravy.

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