Southern Buttermilk Fried Chicken

What's better than fried chicken?  Buttermilk Fried Chicken!!  Seriously, fried chicken is one of my "deserted island" foods, you know?  "If you only had one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?" Fried Chicken!

Anyway, the route to spectacular, crunchy, spicy, juicy southern fried chicken is easier than you think!  Let's do it:

You Will Need:

• 2 Cups Flour
• 2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs
• 2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 Tsp Chili Powder (I like Jalapeno Powder)
• 2 Tsp Creole Seasoning (Tony Chacheres)
• 8 Chicken Pieces
• Buttermilk

Ok, this dish does require a modest amount of planning.   The chicken needs to soak in the buttermilk for at LEAST four hours.  Just layer your chicken pieces into a big Tupperware vessel between generous glops of buttermilk.  Make sure they're completely covered with the buttermilk before you snap on the lid.  Gently rock it back and forth to ensure good coverage, and park it in the fridge for 4 - 24 hours so the milk can do its work!

When you're ready to fry, simply mix all of the dry ingredients into a gallon-sized zip-top bag and shake it up!  Leave this bag on the counter and go get your frying vessel.

100% of all GOOD fried chicken cooked in the south is done in either a cast-iron fry-pan or in an old fashioned electric skillet!  Why?  Good question!  The answer is HEAT.  Cast iron holds it, so your oil doesn't drop in temp when you load it up with the chicken.  Electric skillets are awesome because they have thermostats and they're "smart" enough to maintain heat on their own, with you having to monitor and adjust it during the cook.  Whichever your choice, add an inch of vegetable oil or Crisco shortening and load it up to 350 degrees.

When your oil is hot and you're ready to fry, grab a piece of chicken out of the buttermilk.  It should be goopy and slick with buttermilk!  Hold it over the Tupperware for a few seconds to allow the excess to drip off, then drop it into the bag and shake it until it's completely coated.  Pull it out of the bag and lay it on a plate.  Work in batches so that when you have three pieces coated, you can lay them into the hot oil in the pan!

When you have three pieces ready, lay them gently into the pan.  Set a timer for ten minutes, then shake up the next three pieces so that they'll be ready when the first three come off.  When the timer goes off, use a fork to flip the pieces over, and let them cook for seven more minutes.  Check the internal temperature of the chicken to make sure you've reached 165.

At 165 degrees, you can remove the chicken and allow it to drain on a rack.  Repeat with the next three pieces, etc.

TIPS:

• Work with a small "Frying Hen."  If the pieces are too big, you'll burn them before they ever reach an internal temperature of 165.  The ideal chicken to fry weighs 3.5lbs before it's cut. 
• This recipe worked perfectly for 8 modest sized skinless boneless chicken breasts 
• Before the buttermilk soak, you might want to use a mallet to gently pound out a large boneless breast so that it's about 1.5" in thickness.
  
• Don't crowd the pan!  Allow for the hot oil to easily reach all outer edges of the chicken
• Keep an eye on the temperature of the oil, don't let it cool down too much as you add new chicken pieces. 
• A side of your favorite hot sauce is an excellent choice!
  

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, I'm not a fan of store-bought "Crunchy" chocolate chip cookies.  Sue me... They're just not that flavorful and if I'm going to blow a diet, I'm going to blow it on the perfect cookie!  A balanced, chewy, large, nut and chocolate rich cookie... Let's do this!

You Will Need:

• 2 Sticks of regular Salted Butter
• 12 Ounces of Bread Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 Ounces of white sugar
• 8 ounces dark brown sugar
• 1 Large egg + 1 egg yolk
  
• 2 Tablespoons Whole Milk
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 12 Ounces of Chocolate Chips or "Chunks."  Chunks are usually chocolate chips, but they could be anything you like.  I prefer 3oz Milk Chocolate chips, 3oz Dark Chocolate Chips, and 3oz Pecans.  As long as your chunks total about 12oz, you're good to go!

Assemble your stuff.  Note that I was out of Bread Flour when I made these cookies.  Yes, I was totally bummed about it!  Bread Flour makes a HUGE difference in the "chew" of this cookie, so make the effort to find/get it.

Start off by melting the butter.  I like to use the microwave, but keep an eye on it!  You don't want to boil/burn it so GENTLY melt the butter and set it aside to cool slightly.  

The best way to approach this recipe is with three bowls.  You'll have your melted butter bowl, a bowl for your flour, and a bowl for the egg mix.  

So... 

Sift your flour and baking soda together in a bowl, set it aside.

Whisk/beat your eggs, milk, and vanilla into a bowl, set it aside.

Combine the sugars and the melted butter into the mixing bowl of your cool stand mixer and strap on the paddle attachment.  Crank it up to medium speed and teach those sugars and butter a lesson!  Stir and mix them for at least two minutes.

Slow the mixer down a bit and dump in the egg/milk/vanilla bowl.  Spin it back up and let it ride for 2 minutes.

Use a silicon spatula to gradually slide the flour/soda from its bowl into the mix.  Keep the speed fairly slow or you'll have flour all over the kitchen!  Take your time and get it all mixed in there.  Scrape the sides of the bowl if you have to, but eventually you'll have a nice uniform cookie dough!  

Take the mixing bowl out of the mixer and fold in your chunks with the spatula.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and tuck it into the fridge for ONE HOUR!  Why?  Because the butter needs to get cold again.  Do NOT skip this step!  Your cookies will scoop, bake, and present so much better when you do this! 

Once the bowl is chilling in the fridge, preheat your oven to "Convection 350" or to 375 if you don't have a convection oven.

Time to scoop!  Meet my cookie scooper!  It's red for a reason... Many things in the restaurant industry are color coded, and serving scoops are no exception.  The red one is 1.5oz.  This recipe makes EXACTLY two dozen cookies if you make sure that each cookie uses 1.5oz of dough (and if you discipline yourself NOT to eat any dough during the process).

Place 12 cookies, 1.5oz each, onto a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or with parchment paper.  Don't mash them down, just line up your cookie balls so they all have equal space between them.  They'll fit!

Slide both sheets into the oven and set a timer for ten minutes.  They will NOT be done in ten minutes, but this is when you should turn on the oven light and start watching them.  You want to see a nice round cookie with a brown edge.  When the edges are nice and brown, pull them out and let them cool!

You'll be tempted to eat them immediately.  Don't!  Things need to cool and set for about ten minutes.  Good things come to those who wait!  

What you'll end up with is a nice firm chewy cookie!  It will still hold up to a dunk in a cold glass of milk!!

Cajun Jambalaya

One of the easiest Cajun dishes to make?  Jambalaya.
One of the most delicious Cajun dishes to make?  Jambalaya.

Jambalaya

What are we waiting for?  Let's do this!

You Will Need:

• 1 Tbsp Cajun Spice (Slap Ya Mama, or Tony Chacheres, etc)
• 1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tsp Oregano
• 1/2 Tsp Basil
• 1 1/2 Cups Long Grain Rice
• 3 Cups Chicken Stock
• 2 Cups Crushed Tomatoes
  
• 2lbs Meat (Your choice, Chicken, Andouille Sausage, Shrimp, or a mix)
• 6 Celery Ribs
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil

Common to many Cajun dishes is "The Trinity."  It's a mix of diced onion, celery, and bell pepper.  Jambalaya is nothing if you don't start with the Trinity!  Dice this all up and dump it into a large pot with the olive oil and saute it over medium high heat until the onions start to clarify and the veggies get soft.

When the Trinity is ready, dump in the meat!  I had 2lbs of smoked chicken left over from the BBQ pit so that's what I used.  Normally, I use a pound of cooked chicken thigh meat and a pound of good quality ham or andouille sausage.  The word "Jambalaya" is a Cajun word that is derived from the French "Jambon" which means "ham" in English so... It follows that you should find a way to add some cut ham or at least some bacon fat to the pot!  I went the healthier route this time though, so don't judge!

Stir the meat with the Trinity until everything is heated through, then add the tomatoes and spices.  Stir and stir until it's all mixed well.

Now, add the rice and give it another good stir.  Dump in the chicken stock and bump the heat to HIGH until you see a steady boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and put a lid on it.  Set a timer for 30 minutes and walk away... Lots of things are happening in the pot, the rice is soaking up all sorts of flavor, tomatoes are breaking down, aromas are starting to swirl, good times!

When the timer goes off, just give the dish a final stir.  How easy was that?  You don't have to "Serve over rice" because the rice is already there, ready to rock!  Just dish some into a bowl, get yourself a cold beer or a nice glass of wine and put your feet up!

Amazing Biscuits

Behold, the humble biscuit (this one is covered in honey-butter):

Biscuits are so quintessentially American... They're versatile and universally delicious.  Seriously, who says "No" to a buttery flaky biscuit?  I'm going to let you in on a little secret, ready?  Here it is, "Biscuits are EASY!"  It's TRUE!  Let's make some!

You Will Need:

• 2 Cups A/P flour (250 grams)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tsp salt
• 1 Stick frozen butter (yes, frozen)!
  
• 3/4 Cup WHOLE milk

This recipe could not be easier.  From the time you think to yourself, "I could eat a biscuit" to the moment you're shoving a warm buttered biscuit into the hole in your face, less than 45 minutes will have passed!  You have to follow some rules though...

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Put a whole stick of butter into the freezer.
Get out a bowl and a fork (or your stand mixer).

Make sure the butter stays in the freezer for at least 25 minutes (overnight is even better).  I'm not kidding, this is the key to the whole thing!  The secret of biscuits is the integration of butter into the flour.  This is why "dough cutters" were invented, and it's why your grandmother swore by them.  We're going to take a shortcut...

Now, measure 250 grams of flour and dump it into the mixing bowl.  I prefer to weigh it because if ten different people were to measure "Two Cups" of flour, they'd get ten different amounts of flour, depending on how forcefully they pressed the Cup into the flour, etc.  So weigh it out!  Dump it into the mixing bowl with the baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Use a fork or the dough-hook on your mixer and spin it around slowly for 3-5 minutes.

Ok, if the butter has been in the freezer for 30 minutes, take it out and quickly grate it with your cheese grater!  The goal here is to cut the butter throughout the flour as quickly as possible, before it starts to melt.  When it warms and melts and mixes with the flour, you'll get gluten.  When it comes to pie crusts, biscuits, and other flaky morsels, gluten is BAD!  So move quickly and with purpose!!  Grate the butter and dump it into the bowl with the flour.  Grating butter is fun!

Fluff and stir the butter and flour together with a fork, or spin the mixer's dough-hook on low for a few minutes.  Use a rubber spatula to keep anything from trying to climb out!  Push the flour back down and into the middle as the hook spins around.  In a few minutes, the flour will look like a pile of fine crumbs!  This is perfect!  Don't spin to long, or the butter will warm up too much... Just combine it well.

Pour in the COLD whole milk.  Do not be tempted by the hoard of hippies who want you to use Skim Milk or even worse, Almond Milk!!  Use "whole" milk because you want the FAT!  Despite what thousands of California hippies would try to tell you, whole milk is not bad for you!  Biscuits need the fat and you'll appreciate the richness that whole milk brings to the party so spend the extra time at the grocery store looking for the Whole Milk (it has a red cap, and it's probably hidden behind the skim, or on the bottom shelf).  Pour it in and stir with your fork or let the mixer combine it.  When it looks sticky and lumpy, use the rubber spatula to turn it out onto a floured surface.  It will NOT look like smooth bread or pizza dough.  It will look more like Jabba the Hut.

Now, get some flour on your hands and work the dough for a bit.  Pat it down so it's flat, fold it over, pat it down (or roll it down with a rolling pin), spin it a 1/4 turn, and repeat 8-10 times.  This will build layers!  On the final flip/pat/turn, pat it down until its about 1/2" inch thick.  Use a biscuit cutter, or cup (2 3/4" in diameter) to cut the biscuits.  Place them on a nice Silpat or non-stick baking surface.

If you used 250g of flour, and you're using a 2 3/4" cutter, you should get 7 or 8 biscuits, depending on how thick the dough was when you cut it.  Just cut them out, re-work and re-pat the dough into another 1/2" patty, cut another biscuit, and repeat until you've used all the dough.

Bake them at 425 for about 12-15 minutes, or until they start to brown on top.  If you've done your job right, they'll nearly triple in height!  Let them stand there for a minute or two.  Brush the tops with some melted butter and serve!!

My last batch produced "The Perfect Biscuit!"  Note, the height, the girth, the symmetry... I built a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich out of it.

Smoked Rack of Lamb

I'm just going to tell you right away that this is not your grandmother's traditional Passover lamb.  I'm not a real fan of most traditional herbs, especially when it comes to fennel and rosemary, so... I thought I'd work up a nice chimichurri sauce and lay this rack out on the BBQ pit!!

I must say, the results were unbelievable.  I will no-longer wait for lamb to go on sale, post-Easter!

What You Will Need:

• 1 Bulb of Garlic
• 1 "Bunch" Cilantro or Italian Parsley
• 1 Strong blurb of Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tsp Chili Powder
• 1 Tsp Salt
  
• 1 full rack of Lamb (2 blades of 8 bones each)

Begin with the chimichurri.  Peal all of the garlic cloves from the bulb, and smash each of them under your knife.  Add a healthy pinch of salt to the garlic pile, and dice, smear, and mash the garlic into a chunky paste.  Chop the greens and put them both into a bowl.

Drizzle the olive oil over the garlic and herb, and stir in the spices.  It should be as thick as mud, and you should be able to spread it like butter.

Now, turn your attention to the lamb.  There's a fat-cap on them.  Some will tell you that "Fat means Flavor" and that you should leave them on.  While I usually agree with that, in this case I don't.  There's a LOT of fat here, and not much meat.  I'd rather marinate the meat and enjoy it.  The alternative (marinating the fat and trying to chew through THAT) isn't as attractive.

SO, put on a glove and clean this thing up!  Literally, grab a corner of the fat cap and peel it off.  This is super easy to do, just be prepared to assist the removal with a sharp filet knife.

Once the cap is gone, have a look at the silver-skin.  Slide the tip of your filet knife under it.  Now, pull the skin with one hand, while you shave it off of the meat with the other.  You may need to shave several pieces of it to get it all.

Here's a pic of the two halves of the rack, one with the fat cap, and the other fully prepped and ready for the marinade.  Think less of the cute little lambie frolicking around the barnyard, and more about the tasty meal you're about to present!  It helps if you take the time to pour and enjoy an adult beverage during the prep.  I suggest a Pino Noir, or some good Bourbon!

When the rack is prepped, spread the chimichurri sauce all over it.  Use gloves, or your hands will smell like garlic for the rest of the day.  They may even smell like garlic into the night, where they'll wake you up when you roll over and mash your nose into your fingers.

Ok you know how they say, when it's time to marinate something, that "At least an hour, but overnight is best?"  In this case, I would strongly recommend that you marinade this for at LEAST 8 hours if you can't do it overnight.  Why?  Well, the salt and the garlic oils are definitely going to penetrate this piece of meat, but they're not going to do it quickly.  Trust me on this, put the lamb into a bag, squeeze as much air out as possible, park it in the fridge, and walk away!  It will still be there later...

Prep?  CHECK
Marinate?  CHECK
The rest is EASY!  Gently slide a temperature probe into the thickest part of the loin, and stand the rack up in a smoker, or anywhere away from the direct heat.  Bring your pit or your oven up to about 275, close the lid, and leave them alone until they touch 128 degrees.  Yes, 128.  Then pull them off, and cover them with foil, and watch the temperature continue to climb up to 135 or so.

When the temp stabilizes, it's time for the slicin!  Carefully slice the portions between the bones.  Personally, I like to serve them atop a small mountain of garlic mashed potatoes, seasoned with the juice from the rack!

Shrimp in Garlic Cream Sauce with Angel Hair Pasta

Recently, we were snow-bound in the house during a two-day blizzard here in Colorado.  It was time to get creative with whatever I could find in the freezer and/or pantry.  Luckily, I found some raw shrimp in the freezer!!  I also found a bit of heavy cream in the fridge and some past in the pantry: 

So, how about some pan fried shrimp in a nice garlic cream sauce, over Angel Hair pasta?

You Will Need:

• Several servings of pasta (I like Angel Hair, but Linguini works, too)
• Two pounds shrimp, raw
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 1 "Bunch" green onions, diced and split into two piles.
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 8 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 Spicy Chili Pepper (Jalapeno or Hatch Chili works well) diced
  
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1.5 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• Freshly shaved Parmigiano Reggiano
  

Melt the butter together with the Olive Oil in a large saute pan over medium low heat.  Dump in the garlic, chili pepper, red onion, and one of the two piles of green onion.  Season with salt and pepper and stir.  Let it sweat there in the fat for 30 minutes or so (yes, "minutes!"  if it sizzles, it's too hot and you'll burn the garlic.  Use low heat and just let the garlic sit and maybe bubble a bit for awhile)... long enough to infuse the oil/butter with garlic and onion.  The kitchen should smell AMAZING while this happens.

While you're sweating the aromatics, get the shrimp ready!  Thaw them out, peel them, rinse them well, and season them with whatever you like!  Old Bay is nice, but I prefer creole seasoning.  Be sure they're all evenly seasoned.

When the onions are clear and the oil is infused with your garlic, turn the heat up to Medium High and add the shrimp!  Watch them like a hawk, they'll cook FAST!  Using some tongs, flip them after they've cooked for a minute or two.  

It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to cook them all the way through. Flip them a few times and look for them to curl up and turn a nice shade of pink.  Don't walk away!  Over-cooked shrimp are "bouncy" and rubbery.  Yuk!

When the shrimp are done, use your tongs to take them out of the pan and place them in a bowl.  Whisk the flour into the pan until it's mixed together into a thick roux.  When it's all bubbly and nutty and "tight," pour in the heavy cream....

...and whisk it quickly!  With the heat still on Medium High, it should not take long at all for the cream to bubble!  Keep whisking until the sauce thickens.

When it's nice and thick, dump the shrimp back in!  Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the shrimp into the cream sauce.  Resist the urge to flip them over themselves by doing that "chef trick" with the pan.  That takes a LOT of practice and you're just not that good!  You don't want hot cream sauce all over your stove-top... 

Look at THIS!  Look what you did!  Nice and this creamy sauce that didn't separate, perfectly cooked shrimp with the sauce clinging all over it!  Look at you go!

Now, dish up a plate of your pasta, and ladle some of the shrimpy goodness on top.  Garnish with some of the green onions from the second pile, and sprinkle on some freshly grated Parm.  Yes, I capitalized "Parm."  Why?  Just look at it!!

 

 

I LOVE this dish!!  With some shrimp and a few odds and ends from your pantry, you can turn an otherwise mundane evening into a proper DATE NIGHT!  I suggest a nice Sauvignon Blanc with this dish, but my wife prefers a snappy cold beer.