No, not that I tried eating hot chicken. Having lived near Nashville for over a decade, of course we’ve eaten hot chicken. Though, I don’t ever order the crazy hot stuff. I stick to mild and actually enjoy eating it.
No, I mean I tried making my own hot chicken here at home for family dinner. It’s no secret that cooking isn’t something I really enjoy. I’m starting to enjoy it more as I’ve learned to successfully cook some things beyond a cold-cut sandwich. Angela really enjoys cooking (and is also really good at it), but her style is more of experimentation. I’m one who can follow directions so if they’re clearly written, then I can generally pull it off reasonable well. A few years ago, we started Blue Apron meals and more recently made Hello Fresh meals. Both are great and I learned a lot about cooking (and also learned I wouldn’t last a day in a professional kitchen setting). I also learned about frying a bit more. Doing some more research, I found a really good Bobby Flay recipe for fried chicken. More importantly, frying chicken for chicken parmesan — one of my all-time favorite dishes. So I got some practice making that at home.
Angela suggested I try making some hot chicken and I found a copy-cat recipe for Hattie B’s chicken which is arguably just a copy-cat of Bolton’s, but that’s for another day. I used a lot less cayenne than the recipe calls for (that much is crazy) and I used the frying oil as the base for the hot coating. Therefore, mine is a lot browner and runnier than most glamor shots of hot chicken. But it did taste pretty good and the whole family enjoyed it.
