At family gatherings growing up, my grandfather would whistle and fry his special fried chicken. The chicken was absolutely delicious and I’m convinced the whistling was an important, even essential, ingredient. Granddaddy told me he got the fried chicken recipe from a tiny restaurant in southern Louisiana he visited back in the 1960s. The restaurant had a large sign in the dining room proudly proclaiming:
“If the Colonel had our recipe he’d be a general.”
Apologies to KFC, but if you tasted this fried chicken, I know you’d agree this proclamation was not hyperbole.
Granddaddy died in 2001. Several years ago I did a quick Google search and discovered the name of a restaurant with that slogan on the wall –Chester’s Cypress Inn in Donner, Louisiana (population 126). The little restaurant was also known for its fried frog legs, onion rings and chicken gizzards. I am certain this was the restaurant. I had planned taking a pilgrimage to southern Louisiana to experience the fried chicken firsthand but I never made it. Unfortunately, I recently learned the restaurant had closed after nearly 80 years of operation.
Well, at least I have the recipe.
And I can whistle!
For those inquiring culinary minds, the recipe…
“Granddaddy’s Fried Chicken”
(“Chester Boudreaux‘s Fried Chicken”)
Take skinned chicken pieces** pat-dry and salt and pepper them. Put a cup of flour and 1/2 to one teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less-adjust for taste) into a paper bag and bread the chicken pieces in the bag. Fry the chicken pieces in hot vegetable oil and season with garlic powder as the pieces fry.
Oh yeah-a few more things: Make sure you whistle a happy tune as you fry the chicken. This is critical. And when your seven-year-old grandson “helps” you fry that chicken, be sure to give him a sample to taste before dinner and remind him to keep it a secret. It’s a tradition.
That’s all there is to it! Enjoy!
** I believe the skinned chicken version was a modification my grandfather made to make it healthier. He would’ve strongly recommended learning how to cut up a whole chicken fryer. Buying precut pieces (leg quarters, breasts, wings, etc.) would’ve been something akin to sacrilege according to Granddaddy.
https://www.houmatoday.com/news/20180620/chesters-cypress-inn-to-close-as-restaurant
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