This is part two of our trip last year to Nashville for hot chicken.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009: Test Day

After days of planning, mapping and debating, the weekend is upon us. We decided to start our journey not in Corbin, Kentucky…where the infamous Colonel started, but in Nashville, Tennessee, home of "Hot Chicken" - a local specialty that promises good fried chicken with a hot twist. Five joints to hit in less than 24 hours. Sounds good. Sounds greezzee.

But our boss Valinda has requested that we crack the champagne bottle on this bow by having a fried chicken day here. Not a competition mind you, just some recipe testing for a good baseline and to get all of us in the mood. The results are less than stellar. Fried chicken four ways, or six if you count the wings. A traditional soak with cream, garlic, onions, bay leaves, etc., a traditional with the addition of a little sugar and some melt your face hot sauce added, a curry soak for an ethnic edge and an out there experiment of a lemonade marinade. Too much sugar in the sugary traditional and the lemonade. They were both adequate, good even, but just not worth repeating. The curry was very nice, a different look at a standard and was worth doing again. The traditional was great but being that we started this party with no buttermilk!!! our results were lacking. You would think we have never fried anything before. The wings had a brief soak and were the first to go in the hot oil. Half in lard and half in peanut oil. Dipped in seasoned flour then allowed to rest for about an hour before being dipped again into the oil. The rest of our grub fest was boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Not the traditional cut of Southern fried chicken but it'll do and do it well. We let them soak too long. Two days in the marinade has a tendency to cure as well as flavor a piece of meat. The lemonade chicken was almost jerky like. Another day or two and you could have eaten it straight out of the bucket. As I said, the wings were good. In our haste to make a 12:00 feeding time we rushed the first batches of breasts into the oil as soon as the wings were removed. Oil needs time to recover its heat and this we did not give it. Not hot enough oil has a way of penetrating under the well formed layers of flour you work so diligently to get. "Oil not hot enough." we said, and it wasn't. But the fixins'. Well we tried a few things out. Seems hot chicken is dipped or brushed in a fat mixture containing oil, lard, etc. and cayenne. Mine contained lard, diced onion, garlic, paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, salt and a teaspoon of bacon fat. The lard itself was tasty but the goop in the bottom of that pan...oh my, spread that on a bun, dip your crispy chicken, hopefully with all the crust intact, into that lard, place it on a bun with a couple of extra special additions and you have a great sandwich.

Extra special additions: My favorite pickle in the world is from Sims Foods in Alabama. They are called Wickles. "Wickedly Delicious Pickles" is the slogan. My wife and I thought we were buying enough of these sweet and spicy cucumbers from our local grocer for them to keep them on the shelves but we obviously were not. After searching area markets, trying other brands of sweet, hot pickles that didn't compare we had had enough. A quick internet search led us to the company's website, www.wickles.com, where we found, much to our culinary delight, the ability to place an order directly from the factory. So we did, and in a week we had a case of 64-ounce jars of Wickles. Perfect for fried chicken fest and a testament to how much I love my co-workers that I would bring in my personal stash. So a few Wickles, some black pepper vinegar and believe it or not some Wickle juice and a fried chicken sandwich Mecca had been reached. Of course I would be remiss if I didn't include another Brian favorite way of eating fried chicken. The plain variety notwithstanding I am also a fan of the honey drizzled over a hot piece then sprinkled with your favorite vinegary hot sauce. Sweet, spicy, vinegar to balance it all out…what's not to like.

Friday morning it's off to the South. Music City. Fried Chicken. Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. The Ryman. The Opry. And let's not forget to bring some trunks for the hotel pool otherwise the kids will never let me forget it.

Next week look for part three of our Hot Chicken odyssey to Nashville.