Southern comfort was the name of the culinary game on this morning's all-new episode of The Kitchen as the cast introduced a roster of down-home savory and sweet favorites. Native West Virginian Katie Lee shared the ultimate how-to for making the crispiest, juiciest fried chicken, while Sunny Anderson shared her take on another Southern classic: chicken and dumplings. Learn their tips below and find out how both co-hosts guarantee hearty, satisfying chicken dinners.

The secret to Katie's moist Fried Chicken is the buttermilk-hot sauce mixture in which she marinates her bird. This creamy mixture not only tenderizes and flavors the meat, but it also acts as the liquid when coating the chicken. Katie coats the meat with flour, then moves it to a peanut oil bath — to achieve the golden and crunchy crust everyone craves — and moves it to the oven to bake so the meat inside turns succulent.

If Katie's recipe promises crispy, crunchy results, then Sunny Anderson's Quick-n-Easy Chicken and Dumplings puts the spotlight on all things rich and creamy. Ready to eat in a hurry, this easy-to-make soup takes advantage of welcome timesavers: ready-to-go chicken (whether it’s some meat you happen to have on hand or taken from a store-bought rotisserie chicken), frozen veggies for the herbed broth and baking mix for the dumplings. Follow Sunny's lead and take care to not overmix the dumpling dough; this will help you turn out light, fluffy dumplings. Perhaps best of all is that there's no need to roll out the dumplings or shape them — just drop the batter into the soup and let them set up as they cook.