CRACKIN' CORNFLAKE FRIED CHICKEN

I think I've finally cracked it when it comes to making the perfect deep fried chicken. With the most delicious meat I've ever eaten on a chicken thanks to it having been in a bath of buttermilk overnight, I bring you my crackin' cornflake fried chicken. Not only does the crispy coating of the chicken taste delicious thanks to the combination of herbs and spices in the flour mix but there is also the best crunch ever to them thanks to the addition of oodles of crushed cornflakes. Perfect weekend comfort food after a long week in work!

This is definitely a recipe I'm not going to advise you to tamper with as I think it's perfect but the only thing I will say is that if you don't want to use drumsticks then feel free to use thighs, wings or even strips of chicken breast but just make sure you adjust the amount of time the chicken sits in the oven baking for dependent on the size of your cut of meat. Use the regular cooking times of the meat as a guideline.

Only thing left to say is to just be careful with hot oil. Keep a damp tea towel handy in case of fire and make sure all children and animals are out of the way. If we're all set, let's get cooking some fabulous fried chicken!

Cornflake Fried Chicken

6 Chicken Drumsticks

250ml Buttermilk

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

100g Cornflakes

200g Plain Flour

2 Tsp Sea Salt

1 Tbsp Paprika

1/2 Cayenne Pepper

1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

2 Tsp Oregano
Sunflower Oil For Frying

1. Begin by placing the chicken drumsticks into a large bowl and pour the buttermilk and Worcestershire sauce over them. Get your hands in and make sure all the chicken is coated in the buttermilk (wear gloves for this or make sure you have hot soapy water ready to wash your hands afterwards). Leave to rest covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).
2. Once the chicken has finished it's buttermilk bath, take the cornflakes and bash them up into smaller pieces (pieces around the size of your little finger nail). Mix these bashed cornflakes with the flour, sea salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper and oregano and arrange them evenly on a large plate.
3. Next, turn your oven on to 190 degrees (170 fan), have a non stick baking tray ready and get a large frying pan on the hob with enough oil to be 2 inches deep. Carefully heat the oil to 180 degrees using a thermometer (or you can test by throwing in some of the cornflakes mixture - it should fizz and brown within 3 minutes).
4. With everything ready you can begin frying. Take the chicken out of the fridge. Take one drumstick out and allow any excess to drip off before placing in the plate with the cornflake mixture. Coat the chicken all over with the cornflake mixture and then add the drumstick carefully to the oil. 
5. Fry for around 3 minutes, turning the drumstick halfway through until all the coating on the chicken is golden brown. Remove the chicken from the oil with metal tongs and place on the baking tray. Dab off any excess oil with kitchen paper.
6. Repeat this process with all the chicken pieces until they are all golden brown. Make sure the temperature of the oil stays around 180 degrees and you can fry more than one drumstick at a time if your pan is big enough. Make sure to wear gloves or have warm soapy water to hand so you can wash your hands if you need to step away from the chicken at this point.
7. Once all the chicken had fried and is on the baking tray, pop the baking tray in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.

With that, your chicken should be done and ready to eat! Check one piece carefully before you do serve just in case but mine were spot on with these timings so you should be OK. That golden brown cornflake coating to the chicken is so satisfyingly crunchy and the noise as you bite through it is so heavenly and that's even before you get through to that plump, juicy and moist chicken inside. For a chicken lover like me it's quite simply divine and totally worth the buttermilk marinating time the night before. Grab a drumstick and tuck in to some crackin' cornflake fried chicken!