fried chicken

i have wanted to make fried chicken for a long time, but i never have because i thought it was too involved and would make a mess. last night i took some chicken thighs out of the freezer to cook today, but only this morning did i decide that i would go ahead and attempt to fry them.

around 9 am i decided that i should soak it in buttermilk, but didn't have any so i made some with vinegar and milk. i soaked the chicken until a little before fry time.

i have seen so many people fry chicken in so many different ways so i just combined a few different recipes. here's what i went with.

i had 4 chicken thighs with bone and skin on hand so that's what i used. it's just adam and me so there was no need for a whole chicken.

i made a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and paprika. took the chicken out of the buttermilk and patted dry. sprinkled mixture on both sides of chicken. put 2 cups of flour in a plastic bowl with a lid and put each piece of chicken in one at at time, shaking to coat. i then let the chicken sit for 20 minutes while i melted one cup of shortening over medium heat in my cast iron pot. just for good measure, i coated the chicken with flour a second time because after it sat i didn't think it had enough.

once the shortening was melted i put all the chicken in and fried for about 15 minutes. flipped and fried other side another 15 minutes. then i took it out to drain the oil. i used a cooling rack over a sheet pan. i salted it again.

this really made no mess at all. i guess because i used the pot instead of a pan. now that i know how easy and tasty this is, i am scared that i will make it too often.

i made garlic mashed potatoes to go with the chicken. i have made this recipe a million times and i call it my own, but it really belongs to tyler florence. the best thing about this is the cream that you put in the potatoes. it is so yummy. instead of chives i used green onions since we had some left over from sunday's tacos. adam had to have something green on his plate. by the was--these potatoes are NOT fat free.

for my green i cooked up some collard greens that i had in the freezer. my grandma gave them to me. when i cooked them the house smelled like christmas to me. something about greens cooking reminds me of my grandma's house at christmas. they were very good too.

so my first fried chicken was a success. AND i made another loaf of bread today for our neighbors. it came out just as beautiful as the first.

tacos

we made tacos for dinner and it was messy! sauce dripping to our elbows.

so good.

of course there is no recipe. just bought a kit with hard/soft shells and some hamburger meat. of course, when i browned the meat i added onion and garlic and then the seasoning packet.

the toppings we had were cheese, taco sauce, lettuce, tomato, green onion and sour cream.

ice cream for dessert!

no-knead bread

i cannot believe that i just made bread. and it's good bread. this was one of the easiest things i have ever made.

two things
1. you have to be patient because the first rising takes between 12-20 hours and the second takes 2.
2. you must have a cast iron pot over 5 quarts. mine is 7 1/4 quarts and i think it was perfect.

you can check out this blog to see adorable step by step instructions.

this bread has the same texture and flavor as the french baguette from panera bread. i could eat it everyday!

you should make this. there is a certain satisfaction that comes from making fresh bread at home.

adam's cheeseburgers

adam makes the best cheeseburgers in the whole world. i promise. i don't even know what he does, but they come out perfect every time. i request them very often. we had them tonight and we will have them again on friday night to use up the buns. we like to eat them with french fries and lots of ketchup. adam even likes to dip his burger in a1 steak sauce.

coffee and a warm brownie

my perfect afternoon snack.

mama's spaghetti

trust me, i did not get my cooking skills or my love for cooking from my mother. my love for food?...maybe. some of my most memorable moments with her include food. eating it, not cooking it. well, there was this one time we made my birthday cake together...but that's a different story.

even though i love to make each dish my own, sometimes i miss some of the meals my mom cooked. this spaghetti is one of them. since i made it for dinner last night i had to omit the green pepper because adam doesn't like it. i also used fresh garlic (3 cloves) that i diced in with the onion.

mama's spaghetti

1 lb dried spaghetti
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
1/2 green pepper
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato soup + can of water
pepper
salt
garlic salt

dice the onion and green pepper and saute with the ground beef until brown. add the tomato paste and mix well. then add the other canned ingredients and water. season to taste and simmer for as long as you have. cook your spaghetti.

at this point, in my mom's house, we would have dished out some spaghetti and topped it with sauce and ate, but at my house i like to mix everything ahead so that the spaghetti doesn't stick together. i guess everyone does it different. once i asked adam how his mom did it and he couldn't remember. i have no idea how he cannot remember this, but he often doesn't remember things that i ask him about.

how many does this feed? well... when i was younger we would eat this as a family of 4 and still have left overs for the next night. at my house somehow as a family of 2 we eat only 2 nights off of this. maybe we use bigger plates. it's goooooood.

i make spaghetti a million different ways and adam says this is his favorite.

a weekend of eating

last weekend we went to savannah, ga...to eat.  the main reason that we ever starting going there was to eat at the lady and sons, which is paula deen's restaurant.  it's southern cookin' at it's best.  we always get the buffet, but you can also order from the menu.  

if you want to go to the lady and son's you have to plan.  in order to eat there without reservations for 10 or more, you have to get in line in the morning to get your name on the list at the time you want to eat.  even though it is posted on the restaurant's website, people still do not know this.  the hostess starts taking requests at 9:30, but you better get there before then to wait in line.  we usually get there at around 8 and we are usually 3rd or 4th in line...then you just stand there and wait until 9:30, tell them the time you want to eat and your name, then you leave.  you come back 15 minutes before the time you chose and tell them you are there, then go into a waiting room and wait for your name to be called.  this time we got there at around 7:45 because it was a saturday and we had trouble getting hotel reservations because everything was booked so we knew lots of people would be in town.  we were like 10th or 12th in line!  

obviously you have to spend the night to eat there if you are driving in from the charlotte area.  that gives you an excuse to eat dinner the night before in town also.  last time we were there we went to an italian restaurant called fernando's that was amazing.  adam's dad had told us about it.  sadly, it had closed down and we had to go somewhere else.  luckily, we already had another place in mind so we went straight there.

the place we chose was b&d burger's.  it's a burger place that has probably about 40 different burgers.  adam had a cheeseburger with sundried tomatoes, mozzerella cheese and bacon and he went with standard fries as his side.

i chose the beer battered cod sandwhich with a side of fried pickles.  yum!before our food came the people next to us left and we eyed the mozzerella sticks and marinera sauce they left behind and decided to order some of those too.  everything was so good and we left with very full bellies.

so the next day we had lunch at the lady and sons.  as soon as you sit down you are given a garlic cheese biscuit and a hoe cake, which is like a small pancake made with cornmeal.  there is maple syrup on the table to eat with the hoe cake, but i like to use mine to clean up the collard juice!i had fried chicken, potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, lima beans, mac n cheese, collard greens and black eyed peas.  adam is not that interested in the veggies so he had fried chicken, pork ribs and mac n cheese. we both had seconds!  at the end of the meal you choose from one of three desserts.  i had gooey butter cake and adam had banana pudding.  

when we left we had to go straight to bed.  my belly hurt for days, but that didn't stop us from having an ice cream cone for dinner.

stacey, this is for you.

last week i was making fried zucchini to go with dinner.  i decided to make some extra to have for a snack...then i had a great idea.  i fried some pickles, too.  SO GOOD!

all you have to do is mix half flour and half cornmeal.  season to your liking (salt, pepper, garlic powder).  use the pickles that already come sliced in the jar (dill chips).  drain the pickles and add to the flour mixture.  heat some oil in a frying pan on medium.  carefully lay the battered pickles in the oil and let fry for about 2 minutes.  flip them over and let them fry another 2 minutes.  drain on a paper towel.

i like to eat them with lots of ketchup!