Fried Chicken and Gravy

• 1 G water
• 38 regular black tea bags or 4 oz loose tea, such as Charleston Plantation Tea
• 1 C kosher salt
• 1 C sugar
• 1 chicken (about 3 lbs)
• 2 q whole-milk buttermilk
• 3 T Husk Hot Sauce
• 1 T +1 t freshly ground black pepper
• 11/2 lbs chicken skins cut into ½" squares
• 6 C flour, preferably Anson Mills White May Flour
• 1 C fine cornmeal, preferably Anson Mills Antebellum Fine White Cornmeal
• 2 T cornstarch
• 11/2 t garlic powder
• 11/2 t onion powder
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 t smoked paprika
• 1 C RENDERED FRESH LARD
• 1 C canola oil
• 2 oz Benton’s slab bacon, diced
• 2 oz Benton’s smoked ham, diced
• 2 T unsalted butter

sea salt

GRAVY

RENDERED FRESH LARD

• 1 q pork fat, diced into 1/2" pieces
• 1/2 C water

GRAVY

• 3/4 C + 1 T cooking fat from the fried chicken
• 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 2 C whole milk
• 1 T kosher salt
• 1 T freshly ground black pepper
• 1 T soy sauce

RENDER THE LARD

1. Put the pork fat and water in a medium nonreactive pot and place over low heat. Cook for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a lidded container. Discard the browned bits that remain in the sieve. You will end up with about 1½ cups lard– more than you will need for this recipe. Covered, the lard will keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
2. MAKE THE BRINE
3. 1 Put the water in a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the stove, add the tea bags, and let them steep for 8 minutes.
4. 2 Remove the tea bags, or strain the liquid if you used loose tea. Add the salt and sugar to the hot water and stir to dissolve them. Pour the brine into a heatproof container and cool it to room temperature, then refrigerate until completely cold.
5. 3 Cut the chicken into 8 pieces: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, and 2 breast pieces. Rinse with cold water. Place in the brine, cover, and refrigerate for 12 hours.
6. PREP AND FRY THE CHICKEN
7. 1 After the chicken has spent 12 hours in the brine, make an ice bath in a large bowl with equal amounts of ice and water. Place the chicken in the ice bath for 5 minutes. (The ice will rinse away any impurities.) Remove the chicken and pat it dry.
8. 2 Combine the buttermilk, hot sauce, and 1 tablespoon of the black pepper in a large container. Add the chicken to the buttermilk mixture, cover, and let marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
9. 3 While the chicken is marinating, put the chicken skins in a small saucepan over very low heat, adding a small amount of water to prevent the skins from sticking and burning. Cook the skins, stirring frequently so that they don’t burn, until their fat is rendered. Strain the fat; you need 1 cup.
10. 4 Drain the chicken, quickly rinse under cold water, and pat dry.
11. 5 Combine the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, the remaining 1 teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika in a large bowl and mix well. Add the chicken and toss to coat thoroughly. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes, then shake off any excess, transfer the chicken to a wire rack, and let sit for 15 minutes.
12. 6 Meanwhile, put the chicken fat, lard, and canola oil in a large, deep cast-iron skillet. Add the bacon and ham and heat the fats to 275°F. Turn the heat off and allow the bacon and ham to infuse the fats and oil for 10 minutes.
13. NOTE If you use a large, deep cast-iron skillet and the recommended 3-pound chicken, a small bird called a fryer, you shouldn’t have any trouble frying all the chicken at one time. If that isn’t possible, use two skillets and mix two batches of fat to achieve the flavor and crispness imparted by the combination of fats.
14. 7 With a skimmer or slotted spoon, remove the bacon and ham from the skillet (discard them or eat as a snack) and heat the oil to 300°F. Add the breasts and thighs and cook for 3 minutes. Add the legs and wings and cook for 5 minutes. (Remove the fat needed for the gravy at this point and start the GRAVY, instructions below.)
15. 8 Turn the chicken over, cover the skillet, and cook until the pieces of chicken are the color of hay, about another 5 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the pieces again, cover, and cook the chicken until golden brown, another 3 minutes. Add the butter and continue cooking, turning the pieces once, for another 2 minutes or so on each side. The chicken should be crispy and golden brown. Let the chicken rest and drain on wire racks or on a plate covered with paper towels for about 8 minutes, but no longer.
16. 9 Sprinkle with sea salt and serve with the gravy.
17. MAKE THE GRAVY
18. 1 After the chicken has fried for 8 minutes and is ready to turn, carefully remove the fat needed to make the gravy from the skillet. Put ¾ cup of the fat in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in the flour to make a roux, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the gravy, stirring occasionally to be sure that you don’t have any lumps, for 15 minutes to cook out the taste of the raw flour.
19. 2 Add the salt, pepper, and soy sauce, then whisk in the remaining tablespoon of cooking fat to make the gravy glossy. This recipe yields about 2½ cups of gravy. It can be kept warm, covered, over the lowest heat for up to 20 minutes.