Place chicken strips into a large, resealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk and garlic powder. Pour mixture into bag with chicken. Seal and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.
In another large, resealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, bread crumbs, salt and baking powder. Remove chicken from refrigerator, and drain, discarding buttermilk mixture. Place chicken in flour mixture bag. Seal, and shake to coat.
Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet to 190 degrees Celsius.
Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.
Slice the potatoes into ½ inch thick sticks. Using a French fry cutter makes this much easier.
Soak the potato slices in cold water for a minimum of one hour, and up to overnight. The longer, the better as this process removes the starch which makes for extra crispy fries.
Rinse the fries twice with cold water.
Lay the fries on paper towels or a clean dishcloth and pat them as dry as possible.
Heat oil in a deep fryer or dutch oven to 150 degrees Celsius. You’ll need to fry in about six batches, begin with a quart of oil and add more as needed. Frying too many at once makes them less crispy.
Use a slotted spoon to add the potatoes to the oil and fry for about 5-6 minutes. The oil should bubble lightly, we’re only heating the potatoes, we don’t want them to crisp yet.
Place the cooked potatoes on a paper towel lined plate and fry the rest of the remaining batches.
Increase the heat to 204 degrees Celsius and fry each batch a second time until they are crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes or so.
Remove them and place them on dry paper towels. Sprinkle with salt as soon as they come out.
