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This weekend, McCree said \"we're pushing the idea that Juneteenth is a celebration of what the foundation of America is based on, of freeing everyone and being able to allow everyone of different cultures be able to experience what America has to offer.\"

The restaurant's menu also features fried chicken with red beans and rice, which he said he remembers \"from the past Juneteenth celebrations with my grandfather.\"

\"We would do fried chicken and then wrap it up in paper bags and bring it out to the park and eat it,\" McCree said. \"I wanted to do a recipe to share how we make the chicken in house that my grandfather taught me.\"

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Growing up in Boise, Idaho, McCree said he developed an early love of cooking with his grandfather, who would prep and grill mass quantities of dry-rubbed ribs and barbecue chicken for their church picnic on Juneteenth.

His grandfather's larger than life personality has been an integral part of his restaurant's concept. \"I tried to make everything large, southern style portions -- and that was a play off of my grandfather, Tiny. It looks big, but the titles on the menu make it seem small or dainty.\"

McCree shared his full recipe below for their family's Juneteenth fried chicken, which he advised is most delicious at a picnic served room temperature.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Ingredients

Buttermilk bath 32 ounces buttermilk
15 grams Cajun seasoning
10 grams crushed red pepper flakes
20 grams kosher Morton Salt
25 grams hot sauce
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

Dredge
150 grams all-purpose flour
17 grams Cajun seasoning
23 grams kosher Morton Salt

Method

Combine all buttermilk bath ingredients into a large bowl.

Add chicken pieces into bath, fully submerged for 24 hours.

Preheat oil in a Dutch oven to 300 F. Remove chicken from bath and toss in a brown paper bag filled with flour, dredge and shake. Shake off excess flour and add chicken into oil.

Fry until chicken floats to the surface of the oil and reaches an internal temperature 165 F with a meat thermometer.

Take out chicken and season immediately with Cajun seasoning.

This article was originally published on June 17, 2022.

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