I've been pondering my Father's Day menu. I always ask my parents over for lunch on their parental and birth days and so I've been trying to decide what to fix this coming Sunday. I finally decided on fried chicken. I don’t know when my father last had fried chicken, but I'm fairly sure he hasn't had good Southern pan-fried chicken since my mother last made it and I'm guessing that was 25 or more years ago.
I've had edible deep-fried chicken, but I still prefer the more delicate crust produced by pan frying. My recipe is not my mother's recipe, but I like it even better (and I loved her's). The buttermilk marinade gives it more richness and helps the crust adhere. The double dredging gives it a bit more crust than the traditional method - and the crust is the best part.
Ideally I'd serve it with fried green tomatoes, a plentiful ingredient at the moment, but I don’t want to take on two frying tasks at once when I should be enjoying my parents' company. So instead I'm going to slice summer squash, toss it with olive oil and dried herbs, then bake it. Potatoes are almost a requisite part of such a meal, and I decided on another old family favorite - our ancestral potato salad.
For dessert, something light and I think I'll hearken back to something Dad used to make when I was growing up: Pineapple/Buttermilk Sorbet. This is rich enough to stand against the preceding dishes, and yet still light and refreshing on what promises to be a 90+ degree day.
