Bring the water to a boil with salt, sugar, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Once the sugar/salt is dissolved, cool the brine down.

Cut the chicken into drumsticks, thighs, wings, and chicken breasts with skin. We use the chicken breasts for other recipes, so they should not be brined unless you want to cook for 4 people instead of 2.

When the brine is cold, place the chicken in it and let it sit overnight.

Remove the chicken from the salt/sugar brine and rinse the meat briefly to remove any remnants of pepper, bay leaves, and the mixture.

Pat the meat dry and place it in a new bowl with buttermilk. Let it sit in the buttermilk for at least 2 hours.

Mix the spices with the breadcrumbs and combine them in a large freezer bag.

Take the chicken out of the bowl with buttermilk and let them drip off a bit.

Place the chicken pieces in the bag and shake it well so the breadcrumb/spice mixture sticks to the chicken.

Place the breaded chicken pieces at the bottom of an ovenproof dish and pour oil into the bottom of the dish.

Cook the chicken for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) with a fan.

The meat is ready to serve.

We cooked the polenta according to the package instructions and cooled it in a square container.

Alternatively, you can see this recipe for polenta mash.

Once the polenta is poured into a container, it should be placed in the fridge to cool down.

This can easily be done in the morning or the day before you are going to serve it.

Once they are cooled, they should be cut into fry sizes.

Toss them in oil with salt and pepper. Place them in an ovenproof dish or on a baking tray with parchment paper and bake them for 25-35 minutes at 225 degrees Celsius (437 degrees Fahrenheit) with a fan.

Sprinkle fresh thyme leaves and salt/parmesan on top and serve immediately.

Serve the dish with coleslaw (see recipes at the bottom of the page) and dressing or homemade mayonnaise.