I once read a review of a southern chicken house that was published in gourmet, written by the Sterns. I was so excited by the description of the food, and there was enough info for me to replicate the meal…fried chicken , green beans and mashed potatoes with white gravy, I did for my wife’s birthday.

The technique at this joint was to dry the chicken, season with salt pepper and paprika, and fry it naked…no flour, so its the crispy skin you get…The fry oil was lard (I couldn’t bring myself to go all the way…did half lard, and half corn oil).

I followed the advise to boil the potatoes whole to avoid them soaking up too much water…

I cooked the crap out of the beans with plenty of butter ( as a crispy bean loving northerner, that was hard to do, but worth it).

I did screw up the gravy a bit, but all in all…Came out right tasty…