“Grab a piece, out from the grease. It’s finger lickin good
Heat down south gonna slap yo mouth with a piece of ole hickory wood
Done run this race this second place, don’t sit too well with me
At the Hot Fried Chicken Contest in East Nashville Tennessee”
Hot Fried Chicken Contest
Nashville, Tennessee is home to the Cumberland River, The Station Inn, and Hot Fried Chicken. This spicy summer original has been the star of weddings, funerals, and picnics since before kudzu showed up. Passed down through generations of Tennessee kitchens, this recipe received second place at The Music City Hot Fried Chicken contest and has now, found it’s way into your plastic basket. Blame the chef, not the recipe. But don’t be in a hurry. Come sit a spell.
Naturally, if you’re in Nashville you don’t need to make your own hot fried chicken when you can visit Prince’s or Bolton’s and have them take care of you. There’s really no sense in trying to reinvent the wheel. This recipe is for the cracker who wants to get it done in the confines of their own kitchen. If you are visiting the Music City though, there are several other things you may want to check off your bucket list.
THINGS TO DO IN NASHVILLE
- The Station Inn: Since 1974, it has become internationally known as the place to go in Nashville to hear bluegrass music. It’s storied history can be heard through the microphones and seen in the layered music posters all over the walls. It can also be smelled in the wet, musty odor that come with all banjo pickers.
- Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop: Founded by the legendary Texas Troubadour, they’ve been taking care of country music fans’ needs for 69 years. I found the greatest Willie Nelson poster there and the rumors are true. Willie does hang out in the parking lot after a show until everyone gets their autographs. Nice.
- Demo’s Steak House: The Demos family has established their restaurant as a place where people can enjoy a unique dining experience. One that features great service and a menu of heritage dishes, all handmade with fresh ingredients and served in generous portions. Welcome to Tennessee.
This recipe is all about the big-time flavor and how it just keeps coming. Peppers and El Yucateco® Red Habanero Sauce go in the brine, the dry mix and the spicy coating. It never stops. El Yucateco® is a flavorful sauce that is part of our everyday life. My mother carries it in her purse so my father has enough hot sauce when he goes out to restaurants. It’s summertime and the kids are in the pool. Y’all need to get to fryin some hot chicken.
It’s time to celebrate the summer and enjoy nature, outdoors, friends, family, and El Yucateco®. Think about all the dishes that need two tablespoons of habanero sauce to make them perfect. Most everything.
El Yucateco® Red Habanero Sauce is made with fresh red habanero peppers, tomato, and premium seasonings. Think of it as “all purpose” sauce for anything your heart desires. It has more kick than the average hot sauce with less vinegar, so the true flavor of the pepper comes out when you add it to the mix. It adds a perfect slant to everything from Bloody Mary devotionals to Christmas eve oysters.
It may seem asinine to have a hot fried chicken contest outside, in the middle of a Tennessee summer, but there’s something truly special about hundreds of people hanging together, sweating like pigs in the sun, covered in hot chicken grease.
- For the dry brine:
- 1 whole chicken, cut into quarters
- salt, black and white pepper
- For the wet mix:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons El Yucateco® Red Habanero sauce
- For the dry mix:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- salt
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- For the spicy coating:
- ½ cup hot grease
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- salt
- ½ tablespoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pickle slices, for serving
- In a bowl, cover chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1½ teaspoons black pepper.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- In a bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and hot sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and spices.
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, then dip in the milk mixture, then in the flour mixture again, shaking off the excess after each step. Use one hand for the dry mix and the other for the wet mix. Don’t mix up your hands and you’ll keep yourself and your workspace cleaner.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fryer to 325 degrees F. Cook the chicken until crisp, 15 to 17 minutes for breasts and 18 to 20 minutes for legs. Remove chicken and drain on the rack or old Southern Living.
- Ladle the hot grease oil into a medium heatproof bowl and whisk in the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, the paprika and garlic powder. Baste the mixture over the hot fried chicken and serve immediately;
- serve over white bread and garnish with pickles.
All of our products were purchased at our local Wal Mart. Visit the El Yucateco® site and follow their social media sites on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Maybe you just don’t know enough about hot sauce.
Visit some of our other fusion recipes like Cajun Chicken and Dumplings.
This is the record of the East Nashville Hot Fried Chicken Contest with Turner and Shrimphead in the Loose Goose
On the loose down in the Goose, left just yesterday
It ain’t no joke them brakes will smoke, down Chattanooga way
The heavy Chevy’s salvo wires got crossed and frayed and fried
Heard a knock, done got unlocked, crashed in a Krystal sign.
Grab a piece out from the grease, it’s finger lickin good
heat down south gonna slap yo mouth with a piece of ole hickry wood
run the race, this second place don’t sit too well with me
at the Hot Fried Chicken Contest in East Nashville Tennessee.
Shrimiphead’s like a row of corn, grinnin ear to ear
I’m crashed out on the couch, covered up with cans of beer
The driver’s seat is complete with Plant City trash
NASCAR tatoo cross his foot and pushin down the gas
Grab a piece out from the grease, it’s finger lickin good
heat down south gonna slap yo mouth with a piece of ole hickry wood
paprika and the spice are sneakin up on me
at the Hot Fried Chicken Contest in East Nashville Tennessee.
Hotter than a Corinth church, found our way to the lake
tried to find some walleye fish, used hummingbirds for bait
someone said let’s try to ski, landed on our head
cried just like a little girl that looked like she was dead.
Grab a piece out from the grease, it’s finger lickin good
heat down south gonna slap yo mouth with a piece of ole hickry wood
boats are made to fish, no wish to surf or ski
at the Hot Fried Chicken Contest in East Nashville Tennessee.
In the holler with the coach, let’s have another lid
Super Dave fell in the fire. He’s cussin at the kids
Plant City trash picked up some sass, a monster rack of class
I sleep in poison ivy, ticks and chiggers up my ass.
Grab a piece out from the grease, it’s finger lickin good
heat down south gonna slap yo mouth with a piece of ole hickry wood
If I die fall don’t make me crawl, just haul me home to be
buried back down south and not East Nashville Tennessee. Yall come back.
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