By April 2020. I am 61 years old, retired from the Postal Service, my days now belong to me and the smoker and Rosetta and the slow unfolding of a life without a mailbag. The week arrived the way weeks arrive in Orange Mound — carried by the rhythm of morning coffee and evening porch-sitting and the steady, patient work of being present in a life that doesn\'t require grand gestures to feel meaningful. Virtual sickle cell fundraiser week.
Rosetta beside me through all of it, as she has been for 35 years — steady, opinionated, correct about things I haven't admitted she's correct about yet. She is the constant. She is the foundation. She is the woman I married in a parking lot and have been trying to deserve every day since.
I cooked this week the way I cook every week: with the ingredients at hand, the fire in the steel drum, and the understanding that food made with love in a home kitchen for people you care about is the most important food in the world. The recipe matters less than the hands that make it and the table that receives it. I stood at my smoker or my stove and I made something, and the making was the purpose.
Rosetta came to the porch as the light faded and said, "Good week, Earl." I said, "Good week." And it was — not remarkable, not historic, just good, the way most weeks are good when you have a smoker that works and a wife who loves you and a family that shows up and a God who watches. Good is enough. Good is everything. Good is what you\'re left with when you strip away the noise and the ambition and the worry, and what remains is a man on a porch in Memphis, sixty-something years old, watching the dark come, full of food and gratitude and the quiet knowledge that he did his best today, and tomorrow he\'ll do it again.
That week called for something that could carry the weight of gratitude without needing a whole production — something that said celebration without requiring me to tend a fire for six hours. The smoker had done its share, Rosetta had done hers, and what the evening asked for was chicken that comes out crispy and honest and ready to put on a table where good people are sitting. This air-fryer fried chicken is exactly that: the soul of Southern fried chicken without the fuss, which is about right for a man who’s learned that most of the best things in life don’t require as much complication as we give them.
Air-Fryer Fried Chicken
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (drumsticks and thighs work great)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
- Cooking spray or light brush of neutral oil
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken. Whisk together buttermilk and egg in a large bowl. Add chicken pieces, turning to coat. Cover and let rest at least 20 minutes at room temperature, or refrigerate up to overnight for deeper flavor.
- Mix the coating. In a shallow dish, combine flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, thyme, black pepper, salt, and cayenne. Stir until evenly blended.
- Dredge the chicken. Remove each piece from the buttermilk, letting the excess drip off, then press firmly into the flour mixture on all sides. Set coated pieces on a wire rack and let sit 5 minutes so the coating can set.
- Preheat the air fryer. Set your air fryer to 375°F and let it preheat for 3 minutes. Lightly spray the basket with cooking spray.
- Cook the chicken. Arrange chicken pieces in the air fryer basket in a single layer, skin side down. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray. Cook at 375°F for 20 minutes, then flip each piece, spray again, and cook another 18–20 minutes until the skin is deep golden and the internal temperature reaches 165°F at the thickest part.
- Rest and serve. Transfer chicken to a rack and rest for 5 minutes before serving. This keeps the crust from steaming and going soft.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 580mg