When making fried chicken, you have to start soaking it in the buttermilk at least overnight. The best batch I ever made was one I just couldn't get to and wound up making it after it soaked in the buttermilk for 48 plus hours. I usually stick to 24 hours.
I buy cut up organic fryers or, if I have to, a whole fryer and cut it up myself. The larger, yellow skinned chickens do not work as well nor do they taste as good as the thin, transparent skinned smaller chickens. In this area we blessed with a very good producer of chickens; Allen's out of Delaware.
If you have to cut up your own chicken, start by removing the back bone, but do not cut off the "oyster". This is the best part of any poultry and is found in a pocket on the back bone where the thigh bone joins it. You have to cut up and around the base of the thigh bone. Take a look as to where the breast rib bones join into the back bone and you can usually see where to cut cleanly through. When removing the wings and thigh bones, cut through the skin until you hit the bone and then "pop" or break the join apart with your two hands. You can then slice through the connective tissue easily and not cut any bone. For the breast, "pop" the bone by spreading the two breast halves flat. It will also be very easy to cut out. I then cut each breast section in half at a 45 degree angle not a 90 degree angle. This is basically
along the lines of the rib bone underneath. Do not remove the bones as they add flavor and prevent the breast from drying too much.
1. Put he pieces in a large bowl and sprinkle with the juice of 1/2 lemon.(I sometimes will add a package of wings to fry as well because there are never enough wings!)
2. Toss and sprinkle very lightly with salt.
3. Completely cover with about 1/2 quart or more of buttermilk and toss to coat well.
4. I now put the chicken pieces and buttermilk into gallon ziplock freezer bags and squeeze out all remaining air. Put them on a plate or in a bowl (in case they leak) and refrigerate to soak at least overnight.
Pre heat the oven to 325 before you start the chicken.
5. Take a large bowl and add about two cups of all purpose flour. Dump the chicken pieces and buttermilk out of the bag into a separate bowl. Making sure they are "sloppy with buttermilk", put half of the chicken pieces into the flour and gently throw more flour over the top to cover them. Let them sit for about 10 minutes or so and then toss them around. Put these to the side and do the same with the remaining pieces of chicken adding more flour if you need it. Put all of the chicken back into the flour bowl and do one last tossing adding flour if needed.
Now the trick is to let the buttermilk soak up as much flour as possible. By tossing it, the flour becomes moist . You will have a thicker, crumbly texture to the coating. You have the chicken coated so it's more like a very light, moist but not wet batter as opposed to being just dusted with flour.
6. Take a CAST IRON pan. No other pan will do. No nonsticks, not stainless steel. No enameled cast iron. No copper. Nothing but cast iron. You can find them at Wall mart.
You can buy one and use it right away as the best way to season a cast iron pan is to make fried chicken. If you want to start seasoning it before, smear it with some oil. Sprinkle with salt and heat it on a burner until it starts to look dry. smear with more oil and rub the salt in. You can keep doing this over the course of a few days, a month, and years. Do not use soap on it ever. If it gets something on it that won't brush off or dry off, rinse while it is still very hot with running water and smear with oil when dry.
Fill it with peanut oil (not corn oil, veg. oil or any other oil) until it is one third full.
7. Heat the oil on a medium heat until it is 350 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, take a few bigger pieces of left over buttermilk flour dregs and put it in the pan. If they sizzle with ambition and a sense of purpose, the oil is hot enough. Don't let it smoke of course and don't go anywhere while frying chicken!
It's easy to let it get too hot and it is dangerous to walk away.
8. Place in the chicken pieces so there is some space around each one. Don't pack them in. Give them room to fry. Here is something you have to watch and gauge for yourself. I fry them med. slow (each side should take 12 mins. plus)you should never have to have your temp. above med. heat. On most med. low is good. when you first put some new chicken in, you might have to bump up the flame a little. I have never fried chicken without adjusting the flame at times and moving the pieces around as you will find your pan will have spots that are hotter than other spots.
I use TONGUES to handle and turn my chicken. No forks. The chicken will fall off the fork and burn you as it splashes oil all over the stove. If you do this, you will find that your fried chicken attains the aristocratic "mahogany brown coloring" sought by many and attained by few in the cooking of fried chicken. Part of this coloring comes from blood bleeding out of the bone marrow into the chicken coating which is why a slower fry is needed.
9. When a piece is done and still HOT, I place it on a terry kitchen towel and press down with another towel on top to blot excess oil out. I place it in a dish in the oven to keep it warm and as the rest of the chicken finishes frying. I sprinkle it with a seasoning of lemon pepper and dried rosemary processed in a food processor until finely ground.
Note: If you have a lot of chicken to make, you can use two pans at once
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Here It Is...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Dinner Tonight
Cold Berry Soup
Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc
Broiled Chilean Sea Bass( legally fished!)Encrusted with a Sun
Dried Tomato Bread Crumb Puree
Saffron Basmati Rice
Seared Asparagus
Baily's on the Rocks
Here is the recipe for the Cold Berry Soup. It uses buttermilk !
This recipe makes about 3 1/2 cups of soup. This is plenty for 4 people and can be served to 6 or even 8 if you extend it a little. I have found that with a cold soup, it is somewhat deceptive in that it is a lot more filling than you realize! I find servings of 4-6 oz. are perfect and refreshing while more than that becomes a chore to finish and unduly filling at the beginning of a meal.
1 cup chicken or veg. stock
1/2 light white wine (Champagne, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, no Chard.!)
Combine in a small pot and heat until the alcohol evaporates.
If you have some fresh thyme, chop 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon and add it as you take the broth/wine liquor off the burner. Refrigerate until cold or transfer the liquor to another cooler container and put it into a bowl full of 1/2 ice 1/2 cold water to do a quick chill. ( this 1/2 ice, 1/2 water will chill a bottle of white wine in 15 mins.)
Puree 2 cups of fresh whole berries in a small food processor. If you need to, add some of the stock/wine liquor to facilitate the blending. The berry combinations you can use are: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or just use one kind alone. Whatever is freshest and best at the moment. Strawberry/Kiwi combo. is great too. I am going to try a blueberry, lime combination in the near future. The combination of lime with blueberry is magic. (Anytime you use blueberries in pies, tarts, etc. add a little lime juice or grated lime zest.)
Mix the berry puree and remaining stock/liquor together and add
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Now, depending on what berries you used and the tartness add 1-3 TBS. of sugar or honey. Taste the soup after adding one, if not enough, add more.
Finish the soup by adding 1 TBS. lemon juice and, when it is served in chilled bowls, swirl or drip about a TBS. or so of heavy cream into it as a garnish. A sprig of fresh mint or thyme makes a lovely garnish. A small piece of citrus rind is very nice as a garnish as well.
As I said before, just 4 oz or 1/2 c. of this soup is enough as an appetizer and a normal soup bowl will do not do it justice. You can get creative as to how you serve it. Margarita glasses rimmed with sugar are great! You could also use those champagne saucer shaped glasses. How about funky votive candle holders?
For a cocktail party, just put some into shot glasses.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Back from a Whirl Wind Vacation
I will post more on the website about our vacation including lots of pictures from the Keys, the Cruise to Mexico and Belize and the Miami Boat Show.
I did promise a few people I would start the food blog as they were very interested in the adventures of a yankee woman into the world of Southern Cuisine. I do approach Southern Cuisine with a classic French and Italian background, but you will see no pretentious mingling of Souther Cuisine with French sauces and such unless I warn you first! Instead I have used my classic experience to refine and improve on cooking techniques. I am interested in southern ingredients that have an African , Caribbean and South American heritage and I am guilty of getting creative with them (Okra and boiled green peanuts with corn and habanero pepper)
Let me get started with a simple ingredient synonomous with southern cooking and often over looked as an improvement to many recipes that would normally call for milk. Buttermilk.
Get buttermilk and keep it in your 'fridge. It has a long shelf life because the domesticated bacteria culture used to ferment it uses all of the nutrients in the milk to reproduce and leaves none left over for any undesirable bacteria. If it gets mouldy, then you can chuck it. If it sits a while and seperates, I often pour off the clear liquid to have a more concentrated buttermilk. Yummm.
The lactic acid produced by the bacteria will gently cut the palate and perk food up while still maintaining the smooth creamy taste of milk. It is magical in fresh, cold fruit soups and I use it as a base instead of palate cloying cream. Any time a recipe calls for milk, ask yourself if buttermilk can be substituted for the milk. You will be pleasantly surprised ( mashed potatoes ie.)
Southern Buttermilk Buisquits
This recipe is different from any other one you will ever see and it goes back to classic pastry technique. Keep the butter COLD as you work it into the flour. The less you handle it the easier is to keep it cold and it will remine seperate from the flour which will absorb the liquid (buttermilk). The butter, upon baking, will melt and produce the fluffy exquisite layers and texture found in buttermilk bisquits and other pastries. You will be able to get an idea of what the the texture of your buiscuits will be when you roll them out. This recipe is for four people. You can halve it for two. I make square buiscuits because I can't stand waste. They are soooo good.
1. Preheat the oven to 450. I use a baking/pizza stone, but a cookie sheet is fine. I put this in to heat up as my oven preheats and I will put the buscuits on them right in the oven. I find this makes a crispier bottom and helps them get hot faster and rise higher.
2. Take a generously large bowl and chill it in the freezer or 'fridge for a few minutes. You can also fill it with ice water, dump it out and dry it to have it cold quickly
3. Sift toghether ( I use a screen colindar or a little old fashioned hand sifter):
2 cups cake or all purpose flour
I use Southern Buiscuit Flour ( available at Food Lion) it works better than cake flour . I have even used bread flour and the recipe will still work and be good. Bread (high gluten, high protein flour) will yield a tougher, crunchier biscuit. I recommend low gluten cake flour for delicacy. Southern Buiscuit is the best or a general all purpose flour. Avoid Robin Hood. I have never had a good baking experience with that flour. In other words, if you want to make buscuits on the spur of the moment make them with the flour you have and don't stress. "Better to have made slightly imperfect biscuits than to never have made biscuits at all" No one will know and next time they can be better. If you are using them for sausge and biscuits at breakfast with a heavy sauce, really don't worry.
If they have to stand on their own with a fine black raspberry jam, a steamed veg. and chicken for dinner, better to use Southern Buiscuit.
2 cups sifted Souther Biscuit Flour or all purpose flour.
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
A note on measuring teaspoon and tablespoons. I can't always find my little plastic measuring sets and, yes, I have more than one set . A small every day coffee or teaspoon that you use everyday is a standard teaspoon. Use it. A large soup spoon ia a standard tablespoon. Use that and don't stress. It will work.
Dump the dry ingredients in the chilled bowl .
Now here comes the best part. Most recipes will tell you to cut in the butter which is a pain in the ass, takes too much time and nobody knows what that means. It usually involes two knives held side to side and cutting the butter into little inconsistant pieces. This is what I do:
4. Take 10 tablespoons butter and make sure it is straight out of the 'fridge and COLD. Just use the markings on the paper wrapper to measure. Take a hand grater and using the large holes of the grater grate the chilled stick of butter on top of the flour / baking soda/ powder mixture in the big chilled bowl as you might grate cheese. Very quickly, toss the butter and flour so the individual butter strands are dusted with flour and don't stick together. This accomplishes the "cutting into the flour " step and gives you beautiful long consistent, strands of butter which will yield a much better texture.
5. Add all at once 3/4 cup buttermilk. Using an open hand with extended fingers mix /toss coursly until ingredients at least stick together and form a ball. If you feel the dough is a little unevenly drier or wetter in some areas, don't worry. Lightly form it into a slightly flattened patty and put it in the 'fridge for 30 mins.
6. Roll it out quickly about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into squares and place each one individually onto the hot oiled cookie sheet/baking stone and bake for about 10 min.s or more or until it is lightly or strongly golden brown; your choice. My husband likes his very lightly browned where as I preffer them crispier.
These biscuits have a distinctive soda taste. If eaten on their own, they taste best with a fine sweet berry or apple jelly( not jam). I have served them as an appetizer with a sweet hot habanero apple jelly. Crab apple is good. Black berry or raspberry jelly is best. Forego the butter.
