Everyone loves good fried chicken, but not everyone loves the grease. Normally I brown my chicken on both sides, then put it in a pan in the oven at 350 degrees F. If you use a broiler pan, the grease will drop below just like it does when you broil food. This time, however, I decided to go ahead and fry it in my cast iron skillet. The trick to reducing the greasiness of fried food is to turn it just once during the cooking time.

Before you begin, gather the following ingredients.

1 large bowl

wooden spoon

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon dried mustard

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon ginger

 

Put the 2 cups of flour in the bowl. I prefer organic, but whatever you like is fine.

Pour the 1/2 cup of cornmeal on top of the flour in the bowl. You will mix this up later on.

Add the salt and any other ground spices to the flour and oatmeal.

This is what mine looked like at this point. I left the whole spices such as herb leaves, garlic cloves and paprika peppers out. I will add these shortly once they are powdered.

Put any whole herbs or spices into a grinder and process until they are finely ground.

Add the fresh ground herbs and spices to the mixture and stir well. This is what the flour mixture should look like when everything is well mixed.

Add the oil of your choice to your skillet. I used a cast iron skillet. I  add paste ginger to the oil instead of using powdered ginger. Remember that the 1 teapoon of ginger is enough for three chickens, so if you use the paste ginger or whole ginger, reduce the amount you use by 1/3.

The next step is to make sure the raw chicken is well coated on both sides with the flour mixture. I used a wooden spoon to scoop the flour out of the bowl, then used my hands to pat the flour into the chicken. When one side is well floured, turn it over and repeat. Do not let your spoon touch the chicken. I also wash my hands once I turn the chicken over. This way I can save the flour mixture and not worry about accidental contamination.

When both sides of the chicken are coated with the flour mixture, put it in the pan. Remember the oil in the pan is warm so it may want to sizzle. Use a utensil, such as tongs, to lay the chicken pieces in the pan.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat.

After cooking for 30 minutes over medium heat, use the tongs to turn the chicken over. This is what the side that has been face down should look like. Put the lid back on and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

We use a meat thermomter to check the internal temperature of any meat we cook just to be on the safe side. Chicken breast should register at 170 degrees F when it is done. Properly cooked food that reaches the correct temperture and is maintained at that temperature is an important step in preventing illness from improperly prepared meals. It is also important to maintain sanitary conditions in your kitchen or on any areas where food will be.