Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Name: Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: 6 cups buttermilk; Kosher salt; 2 teaspoons ground chile de árbol or; 2 tablespoons hot sauce; 2 (3- to 4-pound) chickens, each cut into 8 pieces; 4 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 1 tablespoon onion powder; 1 tablespoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika; 2 teaspoons cayenne; Freshly ground black pepper; Canola or peanut oil, for deep-frying; Honey–Pink Peppercorn Sauce (page 132); 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour; 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar; 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 4 cups buttermilk; 4 large eggs; 1/2 cup canola oil; 3/4 cup overcooked wild rice; Unsalted butter, melted, for the waffle maker; 1 cup honey; 2 teaspoons pink peppercorns, toasted (see page 250) and coarsely chopped; Grated zest of 1 lime; Juice of 2 limes; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; (makes 1 cup)

December 14, 2011

This dish is brought to you straight from Harlem. Fried chicken and waffles was invented by the singers and musicians who performed in Harlem’s storied jazz age. Those gigs would last until the early hours of the morning, when the musicians spilled out into the neighborhood’s restaurants. Hungry after a long night and still in their evening clothes and mind-sets, they found fried chicken fit the bill. At the same time, the sun would be rising, and a breakfast of waffles sounded pretty good, too. And so waffles became a bed for fried chicken, and a soul-food classic was born. I put my own riff on the dish by adding nutty wild rice to the waffles and serving the whole thing up with a sauce of honey and sweet, mildly peppery pink peppercorns.

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