Kernel Gander’s Public 11 Herbs and Spices

Not stolen from KFC! No law­suit necessary!

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  • Ingre­di­ents:
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 cup but­ter­milk (the real thing, please!)
  • One 3‑lb. chick­en, cut into 6 pieces
  • 1 cup all-pur­pose flour
  • 1 tsp. ground oregano
  • 1 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. dried sage
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1 tsp. dried marjoram
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsp. paprika
  • 1 tbsp. onion salt
  • 1 tsp. gar­lic powder
  • 2 tbsp. Accent (MSG seasoning)
  • 1 can lard (or one 3‑lb. can Crisco), enough to cov­er chick­en in the fry­er (see tips below)

No shortcut buttermilk!

You got­ta get the real deal for this; mix­ing vine­gar and milk won’t work.

Mix the egg into the but­ter­milk and coat chick­en pieces.

Whisk togeth­er the rest of the ingre­di­ents and roll the chick­en in the mix­ture to coat. If you want to do it grand­ma-style, put the herb mix­ture in a paper bag, roll up the top and toss it.

Extra helpful tip:

If you’re not using a pres­sure fry­er (see below), you might find to your frus­tra­tion that when the bread­ing is per­fect, the chick­en will be under­cooked down by the bones; if you fry it till the chick­en’s com­plete­ly cooked, the bread­ing will be overdone.

Try microwav­ing the chick­en pieces for a minute or two before dip­ping and bread­ing; exper­i­ment a lit­tle and you’ll hit a sweet spot where the chick­en’s safe­ly cooked and the bread­ing is just right.

Here’s the (sort of) secret part:

If you want this to be exact­ly like Ker­nel Gan­der’s  chick­en, the two indis­pens­able parts are to use the MSG and to use the lard in a pres­sure fry­er at 365°. If you don’t have a pres­sure fry­er, you can pan-fry it or deep-fry it; it will still be excel­lent but not a per­fect imitation.

Options:

If you want it more crispy, use Crisco instead of lard and dou­ble-coat it in the flour mixture.

It’s okay if you don’t use lard or Crisco. Any cook­ing oil with a high­er smoke point will do just fine.