After a tough home loss to Mississippi State on Saturday, in which the Tigers became the first defending national champion to lose their season opener since Michigan in 1998, LSU heads up to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores this weekend. Vanderbilt is, of course, located in Nashville, Tenn. As I thought of what to make for this week’s Tailgate Tuesday, two things jumped out that are synonymous in my mind with Nashville: hot chicken and biscuits.

Believe it or not, I’ve never actually had hot chicken in Nashville. I’ve had it elsewhere, but true Nashville hot chicken is high on my list for my next visit to the Music City. I have, however, enjoyed Biscuit Love and Loveless Cafe, so as my recipe plan was coming together I thought, why not use biscuits as the bun for a hot chicken sandwich?

A Brief History

According to legend, hot chicken came about in the 1930s from a woman who tried to sabotage her cheating significant other’s breakfast by dousing his fried chicken in cayenne pepper. Instead, he loved it, and went on to open his own restaurant, BBQ Chicken Shack, which is still in operation today as Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, run by that man’s great niece, Andre Prince Jeffries.

While hot chicken is claimed by Nashville, it can be found across the world now, including at fast food chains like KFC.

However, a further look into Nashville hot chicken’s history reveals a racial disparity. That story about the jilted lover? It happened in East Nashville, which in those days was an African American community. The dish has become so popular by places like Hattie B’s and hipsters that its history gets forgotten.

Fried chicken was developed and perfected “by enslaved cooks, who combined West African culinary traditions with those of indigenous North American peoples and European colonialists.”

Yet, it became such a stereotype about African Americans, who were depicted in advertisements and newspapers because of it, that they became reluctant to even be seen in public eating fried chicken — even some to this day.

Prince’s Hot Chicken built its reputation on serving the black neighborhoods of Nashville, and while others have brought it into the mainstream, it’s dishonest to talk about Nashville hot chicken without paying credit where it’s due.

This is my humble interpretation of a Nashville hot chicken.

Biscuits? Let’s start with biscuits!

Let me get this out of the way up front. I can smoke and grill meat all day, but when it comes to baking, I’m what you would consider an underachiever. When I try to bake, I can never seem to get it right, so once I found this biscuit recipe I’ve stuck with it instead of trying to develop my own.

This recipe is from Mom on Timeout. Am I embarrassed about using a recipe from a food blogger? Heck no! Why mess with something that works? I don’t know her at all, but I like her biscuits! And best of all, they’re super easy. Since it’s not my recipe and it’s not the most integral part of this dish, I won’t give the whole recipe here, so I you’ll have to click the link to visit her page to make your biscuits and then come back here for the chicken.

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

I do my Nashville hot chicken with chicken thighs but you can also use breast or quarters. The traditional way is quarters served on top of white bread, but I wanted to go the sandwich route for this recipe so I went thighs.

You’re going to want to plan ahead a little bit to marinade your chicken thighs. If you can do it overnight, great! If not, give it a couple hours if possible.

Start by mixing a half gallon of buttermilk with a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce in a high-sided pan. I used my own home-grown cayenne pepper hot sauce, but you can use whatever you like. Place your chicken thighs in the mixture, making sure they are completely covered. Cover the pan and place in the fridge.

Once you are ready to cook, fire up your peanut oil to 350 degrees. I used a high-sided cast iron dutch oven my Big Green Egg. Basically, you just want to make sure your oil doesn’t splash out and cause a flare-up. If you’re doing this at home, you can do it on the stove, or you can use a deep fryer. But as with any frying recipe, safety is paramount.

While the oil is getting up to temp, mix together 3 cups of all-purpose flour with a few shakes of Thunderbird Chicken Scratch. Thunderbird Wings is based in Nashville and run by my buddy Trace. It’s an excellent rub on wings or whole chicken, so that’s why I like to use it in my fried chicken batter. If you want even more heat, you can use Chicken Scratch Fiery Hot. I just didn’t have any left when I made this recipe.

Take a chicken thigh out of the buttermilk and let it drip off, then put it into your dry batter. Cover completely, then submerge back into the buttermilk. Let it drip off again and put it back into the dry batter one more time and cover it. Now, place it on a wire rack while you do the rest of your thighs.

Once they have all been dredged, carefully put them into your peanut oil, making sure it doesn’t splash. You’ll probably have to do it in multiple batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Let them fry for 10-12 minutes until golden brown, carefully flipping halfway through.

Once done, remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

In a bowl, mix together 2-3 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic, and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Use a ladle to scoop out 2-3 scoops of your hot peanut oil and mix together in the bowl with the dry ingredients. If you want it hotter, use more cayenne and less peanut oil.

The traditional way to make your sauce is by mixing cayenne pepper with lard. I’ve done it that way and it turned out great, but I like the simplicity of using the hot oil.

Now, use tongs to dunk each of your fried chicken pieces into the sauce, making sure to cover all sides with the sauce.

Cut a piece in half and place it on the bottom half of a biscuit. Top it with 2-3 bread and butter pickles. Yes, the traditional way to do Nashville hot chicken is dill pickles, but this is my variation. I love a sweet-heat flavor profile on everything — I mean, that is how I did my first rub, Down With the Swine — and in my opinion, the sweetness of bread and butter pickles goes perfectly with the heat of the cayenne sauce.

Next, drizzle some Mike’s hot honey overtop — again, sweet-heat — and then place the top half of the biscuit on. Finally, use a toothpick to stick a mini dill pickle on top for presentation and your vinegary bite of dill.

It’s not necessarily the easiest tailgating recipe, but it is rather easy if you’re at home, and it’s so flavorful that your family or guests will crave more.

Wash it down with some Peg Leg Porker 8-year Tennessee Straight Bourbon.

Nashville Hot Chicken

My take on a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich pairs fried chicken thighs covered in a hot cayenne sauce with a buttery biscuit, hot honey, and pickles.

• 4 Boneless skinless chicken thighs
• ½ gallon Buttermilk
• Hot sauce
• Peanut oil

For the Dredge

• 3 cups All-purpose flour
• Thunderbird Chicken Scratch Rub

For the Sauce

• 2 TBSP Cayenne
• 1 TBSP Light brown sugar
• 1 tsp Granulated garlic
• 1 tsp Smoked paprika

For Garnish

• Bread & butter pickles
• Dill pickle minis
• Mike's Hot Honey

For the Biscuits

• 3 cups All-purpose flour
• 3 TBSP Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• 4 tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp Cream of tartar
• ¾ cup Cold butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Whole milk

1. Pour a ½ gallon of buttermilk into a high-sided dish or foil pan, then add a few shakes of hot sauce. Mix together, then add your chicken thighs, making sure they are fully covered. Cover and put in the fridge for 2 hours or up to overnight.

Make your biscuits

1. First, preheat the oven to 450.

2. Combine the 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon cream of tartar.

3. Dice up your butter and then use a pastry cutter to cut it into the dry ingredients until it looks like small pea-sized pieces of butter throughout.

4. In a separate bowl, mix an egg with a cup of whole milk, then mix it into your dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Don't work it too much.

5. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface, knead the dough with your fingers 10-15 times. You will likely need to use more flour on your hands and the dough to keep from sticking.

6. Pat or roll the dough to ¾ to an inch thick and cut your biscuits. Don't turn the cutter (or glass) as you cut them because this seals the edges and keeps them from fluffing up.

7. Place the biscuits on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

8. Brush the tops with melted butter.

Fry the chicken

1. In a bowl, mix together 3 cups of all-purpose flour and a few shakes of Thunderbird Chicken Scratch.

2. Heat up your peanut oil to 350 in a frying pan or high-sided cast iron

3. When your oil is ready, take a chicken thigh out of the milk, dredge it in the flour/Chicken Scratch mixture, then back in the buttermilk, and back into the flour/Chicken Scratch again. Set it on a wire rack as you do the others.

4. Carefully place your chicken thighs into the oil and let fry for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. You may need to do these in 2 batches so you don't overcrowd the pan.

5. Once done, carefully remove from oil and rest on a wire rack.

6. In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of cayenne, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic, and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Use a ladle to put 2 or 3 scoops of your hot peanut oil into the bowl and mix it all together.

7. Use tongs to dunk each fried chicken thigh individually, ensuring you coat all sides.

8. Cut a thigh in half and place on the bottom half of a biscuit. Top with 2-3 bread and butter pickles and a drizzle of Mike's Hot Honey. Put the top half of the biscuit on and top with a dill pickle mini, held on with a toothpick. Serve.