Fried chicken anyone? Family, friends enjoy former restaurateur’s cooking passion
Phyllis Wyatt has a passion for food and she readily cooks for family and friends. This Blue Springs resident raised two industrious, creative children. Now she enjoys time with her five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Q: While retired, you were an entrepreneur and it appears you stay busy. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
A: I met my husband when we both attended Blue Springs High School. I worked at AT&T, while my husband owned a construction company. After he passed away, I opened two restaurants in the Blue Springs area. One, named City Limits, was in Kansas City, and the second, named Edge of Town, was in the Blue Springs, and they were open from the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Plus I ran an antique business. Now, I play pool twice a week and cards three nights a week. I am very involved in my church, enjoy time with my family and I love to cook.
Q: How did you learn to cook? What foods do you enjoy cooking?
A: I watched my mother as she cooked, not only at home, but often for events at our church. I love to cook for my family, and trying the new recipes I get from family and friends or find on Pinterest is fun.
I enjoy cooking for church events, such as Bible school, and have also done some catering. I have enjoyed cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the Red Hats and have hosted a Christmas gathering for my high school friends. When cooking for myself, I prepare dishes such as spaghetti red or pasta salad and am known for my brisket and for this fried chicken.
Q: What is the secret to your fried chicken?
A: When I owned the restaurant, Edge of Town, we served fried chicken every Wednesday. I would fry chicken for four to five hours that day to have enough to serve.
I start with a whole chicken and cut it up myself. The breast is always so large, I cut it in half, then cut each breast piece in half again. I cut off the back of the chicken and freeze it, along with any other bones. When I collect enough bones and have time, I make chicken stock.
Once the chicken is cut up, I brine the chicken pieces in saltwater overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to fry it, I coat it in buttermilk and seasoned flour.
I always fry it in my cast-iron skillet. I got my skillet from my mom and it is over 100 years old.
Q: Do you have any tips on cooking with cast iron?
A: It seems some people question how to wash it, but it is easy to wash. Just be sure to get the skillet really dry after using it and to do that, I put it back on the stove for a few minutes.
Fried Chicken
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 chicken, cut into pieces
½ cup table salt
1 quart buttermilk, or as needed to cover the chicken
4 cups all-purpose flour
Salt, pepper and seasoned salt, to taste
Vegetable oil
Place the chicken pieces in a deep bowl. Add the salt and cover with cold water. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook, drain the chicken, rinse and drain well. Pat the chicken dry. Place the chicken pieces in a deep bowl and pour the buttermilk over the chicken, covering it.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a shallow pan, season the flour with salt, pepper and seasoned salt.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil, to a depth of about an inch, and allow the oil to heat until the oil is hot and sparkles. Lift a piece of chicken out of the buttermilk, allowing the excess to drain back into the bowl, then coat the chicken completely in the seasoned flour mixture.
Place the chicken in the oil. Repeat with remaining pieces, but do not crowd the chicken. (If needed, brown the chicken in batches.) Cook until well browned, turning to brown the chicken evenly. Place the browned chicken in a baking pan. Place the chicken in the oven, uncovered, to bake until done and cooked through. (The chicken is done when a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 165 degrees.)
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Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore are cookbook authors and food consultants that make up The Electrified Cooks. They have published over fourteen cookbooks and thousands of recipes. They are members of Les Dames d’Escoffier and blog at pluggedintocooking.com.