Mama Nel’s But­ter­milk Herb Chicken

1 large chick­en, or 2 breast fil­lets and 2 whole legs

2 cups/484g buttermilk

1/4 cup/32g cornstarch/cornflour

3/4 cup/96g plain flour

1 tbsp each: dried sage, basil, oregano, gar­lic pow­der, onion pow­der, papri­ka, cel­ery salt

3 tbsps olive oil

Quar­ter the chick­en if using a whole chick­en (reserve the spine for stock).

In the morn­ing of the day you want to eat the dish, place the chick­en pieces in a large zip­pered plas­tic bag and pour in the but­ter­milk. Squeeze the chick­en pieces around in the but­ter­milk to coat thor­ough­ly and refrigerate.

Shake the corn­starch, flour and all the dried sea­son­ings in anoth­er large zip­pered plas­tic bag.  One at a time, place the chick­en pieces in the bag and shake until thor­ough­ly coated.

Line a large bak­ing dish with foil and pour in the olive oil.  Place the chick­en pieces skin-side-down in the oil.  Bake at 425F/220C for 30 min­utes, then turn skin-side-up and bake for anoth­er 30 min­utes.  Per­fect with mashed or dauphi­noise potatoes.