Aaron Turner's love letter to fried chicken

Part recipe book (40 recipes covering the best mains, sandwiches, sides, salads and sauces), part narrative, part pictorial celebration of the history and power hot chicken holds over the city of Nashville, it frames the stories of the people and families and communities who have cooked and eaten and appropriated it in Nashville over several generations.

When breaking down your chicken here, separate the dark meat into legs and thighs and cut the white meat in two, leaving the wings and the breast plate attached. The crust coating the chicken should be soft with just a little crunch and the chicken warm or at room temperature when serving.

Ingredients

250g rock salt

2.5 litres warm water

1 1.2 kg chicken, broken down into eight parts

500ml cottonseed or grapeseed oil

400ml canola oil

Coating:

300g plain flour

125g cornmeal polenta

1 tbsp table salt

1 tbsp celery salt

2 tbsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp dried oregano

Method

1. Add the rock salt to the water in a large bowl and stir to dissolve. Lower the chicken pieces into the brine and leave for three hours.

2. Meanwhile, for the coating, mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Remove the chicken pieces from the brine and transfer to a suitable container, pour over the coating mixture and push down to pack tightly, covering the surface of the chicken.

4. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

5. The next day, remove the chicken from the fridge and leave for two hours to come to room temperature.

6. Preheat the oven to 100C.

7. Heat the cottonseed and canola oils in a large heavy-based skillet or saucepan to 180C.

8. Gently lower the chicken pieces into the hot oil, maintaining the temperature as best you can, and fry until a golden crust starts to form around the chicken pieces, about six minutes. (At this stage the chicken won't be cooked through.)

9. Remove from the hot oil, transfer to an oven tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Season and leave to sit on the bench for 20 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.

This recipe is cobbled together from countless hours of trial and error and lots and lots of burnt chicken pieces, and if there's only one thing you take from it then make it this: don't skimp on the lard here. If you do, your chicken will be dry and nasty. One more piece of advice: don't cop out on the skillet. Invest in quality, take care of it and you'll be frying for a lifetime. (A splatter screen is also pretty much a chicken fryer's must-have - it'll save both your kitchen and your favourite metal-band t-shirts from ruin.)

Finally, when breaking down the chicken, be sure that the bones are left in and the skin is left on. There is no place in this world for skinless, boneless skillet-fried chicken.

Ingredients

1 x 1.2kg chicken, cut into eight pieces (2 wings, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 breasts)

500ml buttermilk

lard, for deep-frying

sea salt

Breading:

600g plain flour

2 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp table salt

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp dried oregano

Method

1. Place all the chicken pieces in a bowl, pour over the buttermilk and toss to coat all over. Leave the chicken to sit for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack set above a tray to let the excess buttermilk drip away.

2. Mix together the breading ingredients in a large bowl. Individually coat all the chicken pieces in the breading mix, then transfer to a tray. Refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, coat the chicken a second time in the breading mix and leave to sit at room temperature on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

4. Half-fill a heavy-based skillet with melted lard and heat to 180C. Carefully add the leg and thigh pieces to the hot fat and cook for four minutes, then add the breasts and wings and cook for a further four minutes. Turn the pieces and continue to fry, turning as you go, until the internal temperature reaches 75C when measured with a probe thermometer, the juices of the chicken are running clear and the spices are golden and crisp. Remove the chicken pieces from the skillet and place on paper towel to drain off any excess oil, then season with salt and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

You can really use whatever cheese you like here-I like to use equal parts gouda, smoked gouda and cheddar. I've dusted the mac with a little smoked paprika and dived right in after covering it with the cheese sauce, but it's also good spooned into an ovenproof dish, covered in breadcrumbs and baked in a 200C oven for 20 minutes.

Ingredients

250g macaroni

150g butter

150g plain flour

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 fresh or dried bay leaves

1 cardamom pod

1/2 onion

2 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

1 litre (milk

300g shredded cheese mix (such as gouda, cheddar etc.)

smoked paprika, to serve

Method

1. Boil the macaroni according to the packet instructions until just cooked. Strain and run under cold water for five minutes, then set aside in a dish.

2. Melt the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time, stirring continuously, to form a smooth paste (roux). Continue to cook, stirring, for eight minutes to cook out the taste of the flour, being careful not to burn the paste as you go.

3. Continuing to stir, add the nutmeg, bay leaves, cardamom, onion, salt, white pepper and milk to the pan, and cook, lowering the heat if necessary to prevent the milk from boiling or catching on the bottom and burning, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the spices and onion, then return to the pan together with the cheese and stir together over a medium heat until the cheese has melted and combined.

5. To serve, pour the hot cheese sauce over the macaroni and mix through until all the pasta is coated. Spoon into bowls, sprinkle over a little smoked paprika and dive in.

Serves 4-6 as a side.

Chicken ribs are more of a butchering trick than anything, really - they're just another way to cut down the bone-in chicken breast. Take note: the blue cheese sauce for dipping here is non-negotiable.

Ingredients

250g rock salt

2.5 litres warm water

1 kg chicken ribs

250g plain flour

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cracked black pepper

200g butter

200ml hot sauce

vegetable oil, for frying

Blue cheese sauce (see below), to serve

Method

1. Add the rock salt to the water in a large bowl and stir together to dissolve. Lower the chicken ribs into the brine and leave for one hour. Drain and pat dry with paper towel.

2. Mix the flour, oregano and black pepper together in another large bowl. Add the brined chicken ribs and toss to coat. Set aside.

3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, then whisk together with the hot sauce until combined and emulsified. Keep warm.

4. Half-fill a heavy-based skillet, saucepan or deep-fryer with oil and heat to 185C.

5. Working in batches and being careful not to overload the pan (which will reduce the heat of the oil and make your ribs oily), lower the chicken ribs into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden brown, about six minutes.

6. Remove the ribs from the oil, drain on paper towel and season well with salt, then toss them in the hot sauce/butter combo until really well coated. Serve with blue cheese sauce.

Serves 4-6.

Blue cheese sauce is addictive and will go with just about anything - it's my go-to sauce for all my fried chicken needs. This might seem like a large quantity but trust me, it's worth making more than you think you need.

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Ingredients

80g Danish blue cheese

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

75ml buttermilk

240ml double cream

240g sour cream

175g whole-egg mayonnaise

2 tbsp apple-cider vinegar

Method

1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blitz together until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a jar or bowl, cover and store in an airtight container in the fridge until needed (it will keep for two to three days).

Makes 800ml.