LISA'S ORIGINAL HERBED FRIED CHICKEN MIX--UPDATED!

Steps:

• 1. Mix together in Ziploc bag. I separate into portions so that I don't get the whole batch all messy! I store the unused portion in the freezer for the next time around. This will probably be enough for you to fry up multiple batches, and it's great to keep a bag on hand for last minute cravings for chicken!
• 2. The way I do my fried chicken is this...I either buy boneless thighs and breasts (chicken tenders are also great) and chunk them up into chicken strips; or I cut up, skin, and bone a whole chicken and cut into strips and bite-side pieces. (the leftover carcass is awfully good to make chicken stock!) Keeping the chicken boneless makes it fry faster and is a lot more kid-friendly, but there's nothing wrong at all with doing it bone-in, the good old-fashioned way either! I've done it that way too! If you're like me, you generally look for what's the better bargain at the time. There IS no bad fried chicken...some's just better than others!
• 3. If you're interested in how I actually marinate my chicken prior to frying, I soak my cut-up chicken pieces several hours or overnight (refrigerated) in a mixture of about 4 cups buttermilk, ½ cup apple cider vinegar and about ½ large bottle Frank's Red Hot (you can half this...when I fry, it's usually for a crowd, and the marinade goes a long way). Don't be fooled by the hot pepper sauce...this chicken is not "Cajun spicy" as you might imagine...just very flavorful instead of hot. When ready to fry, I add a couple beaten eggs to the buttermilk & chicken with about a cup of the coating flour mix, and stir it with my hands. It should be about the consistency of pancake batter.
• 4. Lift chicken out of buttermilk marinade, drain off excess and dredge in a plate of the coating to thoroughly coat. (If you'll gradually add dry coating to the dredging plate, you won't waste your whole bag of coating by getting it wet and clumpy) Fry the way you normally prefer to fry your own--deep fried at 350 degrees, or low and slow in a cast iron skillet. When it's tender on the inside and deep, golden brown on the outside, you're there. There is no wrong way to do this...marinated or just washed and rolled in the dry mix. Before the buttermilk kick we got on, I just washed and cut up the chicken and left to soak in a light brine mixture...but if you do this, don't add too much salt or your chicken will be too salty. The kosher salt is good to get excess blood out of the chicken (I hate that white gunk that forms on chicken when it's not bled well), but the chicken does absorb some of the saltiness. Just be aware of that, and adjust accordingly! Some folks also prefer to do an egg dip instead. I've done that and it's good too. Fix this the way YOU like it!
• 5. Drain fried chicken on paper towels and serve. It's good hot, it's good cold-- and maybe, just maybe, you'll have a few pieces leftover for a midnight icebox raid!