Blue Corn Fried Chicken with Ancho Honey and Buttermilk-Bacon Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients

Chicken:

• 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds) cut up
• 3 cups buttermilk
• Peanut oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 cups all-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper
• 4 large eggs, mixed with 2 tablespoons of water and seasoned with salt and pepper
• 2 cups blue cornmeal, seasoned with salt and pepper
• Ancho-Honey Sauce
• 1 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder

Buttermilk-Bacon Potatoes:

• 2 pounds red bliss potatoes, skin on and boiled
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 cloves roasted garlic, smashed to a paste
• 1/2 cup cooked bacon, crumbled
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

For the Chicken: Place chicken in a large baking dish, add buttermilk, turn to coat. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Heat 1-inch of the peanut oil in a cast iron skillet to 350 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk, pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in the flour and pat off excess. Dip in the eggs then cornmeal. Slowly add the chicken pieces to the hot pan skin-side down in batches. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to medium high and cook for 7 minutes, remove the cover, turn the chicken over and continue to cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels and transfer to a platter. Drizzle with the Ancho Honey Sauce.

For the Ancho Honey Sauce: Mix all ingredients together until blended.

For the Buttermilk-Bacon Potatoes: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and smash, don't puree.