What's for Dinner? ~ Wednesday May 23rd

What about you?

Which was greatly needed.
I want some cole slaw now! Yum.

with baked beans, cole slaw and potato salad. Mmmmm...fried chicken.

And I still haven't found "that" recipe. The perfect chicken one....

I pulled this out of my archived journal for you. I originally wrote this recipe out for hippywife but I've been using it since the early 1980s, when it was published in the NYT Sunday Magazine. I DO brine, and this chicken is always fantastic.

Chicken Betty insisted on using cast iron skillets and you will need two, one a very deep 10" skillet with 5" sides and a lid, and the other is a 10" skillet with 3" sides. My lid fits both skillets perfectly perfectly. Chicken Betty was the eldest of 11 children, had been frying chicken from the time she was a little girl and was a somewhat temperamental cook. Local restaurants around Kansas City hired her when they had the chance, although I seem to recall that she would get in a tizzy over one thing or another and indulge in a little drama and walk out taking both her clientele and her skillets. She likes her fryers about 3-1/2 lbs. so they have some meat on their bones. She washes the pieces in cold water, pats them dry, then lets them air dry long enough to shake the refrigerator chill off. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and roll them in seasoned flour. She likes salt, pepper, and a little paprika mixed in with about 4-5 C. of flour in a big bowl, and wisks all together with a fork. Divide the seasoned flour and make an assembly line with the flour on both sides and a bath of eggs beaten with milk and salt (and a drop of liquid pepper--I use sriracha) in the middle. Chicken Betty said to "tump" the chicken into the flour mixture one piece at a time, vigorously thumping the flour into each piece. Next step, dredge the floured chicken piece in the egg mixture and let the excess drip off before rolling it into the second flour mixture and again "tumping" the flour on so that it will stick. By the time you get all the pieces dredged, dipped and floured, the deep skillet should be about half full with the oil/lard just under the smoking point (about 375) and ready to fry. She insists on using lard for frying and disapproves of oil, she did say something about Crisco, I think, but times have changed. I got into the habit of making lard when I got into making tortillas, so I use some homemade lard to flavor the main frying medium (canola, usually) when I make fried chicken. Chicken Betty says it's important to let the chicken have room to float a little in the first cooking, then you transfer the pieces (when they turn golden) into the shallow skillet with the lid on tightly until the chicken begins to splutter, then you turn down the fire and set the lid ajar. Don't get into a hurry during this phase. You will be turning the chicken in the short pan several times and will take 15-20 minutes for the crust to become deep brown and very crisp. Keep the batches warm in the oven while you fry.

I have taken liberties with Chicken Betty's recipe in all ways over the years except for using cast iron. I have brined, not brined it, added several combinations of dried herbs and spices, and it has all been good. The success of her recipe is in the method, and the key to her method is cast iron.

Will give this a try next week! I am a big cast iron fan myself and I think my bigger skillet will be deep enough!

My guests went wild for the fried chicken on Saturday. I can't believe I had NO leftovers (4 people, 12# of chicken!!). I knew the director was a big eater, but I had no idea how much he could consume. LOL! I'm old enough to be mom to all of my guests and I can remember Mr. Pup and myself eating a baker's dozen bagels with cream cheese on Sundays. I have a hard time eating one whole bagel now. We had a great time together, took a little turn around the village and ended up at the local dive for a nightcap. I took them to the train station at 12:20AM, so the party lasted 10 hours. I was practically comatose yesterday, but so worth the effort.

Enjoy this recipe. I've used it for over 30 years and it has never let me down.

We are big fans of everything bagels but cant find good ones around here. Thanks again for the how to! I owe a neighbor a birthday dinner...unless he wants Bill to cook Chinese, I will cook the chicken then!

We have a local shop that makes sunflower seed bagels. I'm mad for seeds. I must've been a bird in a former life. Have fun at your birthday party!

roasted green beans w/garlic, tricolor new potatoes w/parsley&butter, a green salad and Chilean Chardonnay bought a local wine shop's 50%-off sale.

Spent most of the day gardening, so no feats of culinary daring tonight! (All the herbs used in dinner did come from said garden. )

Planning to watch the Sixers beat the Celtics online while we eat. This is what I am planning. I hope this is what the Sixers are planning too.

so it's just me. I did yard work all day, so I'll probably just munch on some guacamole and chips. I earned it!

GO SIXERS!!

(We'll be eating guac and chips for it b/c being TV-free we'll have to go to our local Mexican place to watch since it won't be on ESPN3 online. Hope it brings us the same good luck yours did tonight.... the EATIN' of the Green!)



edited for clarity

I was watching at home. I used to go to the games, but it's now it's nice for hubby and son time.

Well I guess I'll have to suffer through more guac for game seven!

nap-then-margaritas or margaritas-then-nap.

just saw it on ESPN.

And I love the sound of the Cranberry & Goat Cheese cutlets. How are they?

And the cutlets are really quite divine. Lots of goat cheese spread on top on the Quorn chik'n, sprinkled w/cranberries and then coated in bread crumbs. They cook up nicely in the toaster oven, so no need to fire up the big one. The only challenge is not overcooking so that the cheese disappears into the "meat", so in the toaster oven I reduce the heat to 375 and cooking time to 10 minutes (it's 425 and 18 minutes in the regular oven.) We have a convection toaster over, so YMMV.

I'll have to see if I can find them around here...I'd love top give that a try. Great flavor combinations.

store, not in the regular frozen section.

Here's Quorn's store locater: http://www.quorn.us/Stores/
(though I have found it in laces NOT listed, so still worth looking even if not shown in your area on the website)


Oh, and my poor Sixers went down to defeat in Game Seven last night.

I'll have Bill check Kroger next time he goes that way to work. We only have one grocery store in town, and they are pretty limited.

Sorry to hear about the Sixers! Hope it was an exciting game anyway!

And thanks for the condolences.... they actually made it farther than anyone expected, so I'm clinging to that.

Kroger is our one hope....other than online!

with rice and mushrooms and onions and some fresh french bread on the side. Tasty

so it's just a salad, and (ahem) steamed asparagus. Yes I know . . . a lame dinner, but that's what I'm having.

Sounds very tasty to me!

I've seen versions with squash and zucchini, and fancier ones with corn and black beans, and they all look sooo good!

veggies in some olive oil (with a pat of butter added at the end for flavor). The veggies are cut up in small pieces, of course. When they are done (just a few minutes), I sprinkle on whatever shredded cheese I have and let it melt all over the veggies. Mr Nay and I can eat a bucket of this stuff.

I'll have to play around with this technique/idea. I can think of a lot of combos that I would like!

i'm knocking out a box every couple of days lately. last week we were waiting for payday, this week i'm waiting for time to actually go to the grocery store and then cook. i don't like to keep a whole lot of fresh stuff around when i'm this busy because it will go bad as often as not.

with dairy, or I would have it more often too. It's great when you don't feel like cooking!