Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken

I have tried a lot of new recipes lately, but haven't really found many keepers. Except for this one. My husband has been begging me for the longest time to cook him some fried chicken. I finally agreed to give it a try last week. It was a bit messy and I'm pretty sure I washed my hands a thousand times during the process, but my hubby was so darn happy that I guess it was all worth it. Oh, and don't let the cup of hot sauce scare you off. Paula Deen knows what she's doing! This is finger lickin' good.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Note: If you make this much House Seasoning, you will have a lot left over for future recipes. I scaled it back quite a bit because I don't have an extra salt/pepper shaker to store it in.

Southern Fried Chicken:

4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup hot red pepper sauce (I used Frank's)
2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp pepper
House Seasoning
2 1/2 lb chicken, cut into pieces (I just used a package each of wings and breasts)
Oil, for frying, preferably peanut oil (I used vegetable oil)

To make the House Seasoning, mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs with the water and add the hot sauce. Stir well. In another bowl, combine the flour and pepper. Season the chicken with the House Seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg mixture, and then coat well in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil in a large pan or Dutch oven. (I used my 5 quart Dutch oven and poured enough oil in until I had about an inch and a half of oil on the bottom.)

Fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp on both sides. Dark meat takes longer than white meat. It should take dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes. (The chicken breasts I bought were huge and took about 15 minutes.)

Click here to see the recipe on the Food Network's site.