"COME AND GET IT" ... Fried Chicken! (or IN YOUR FACE Alton Brown)

 

Who doesn’t like fried chicken? I mean really, that would be un-American! However, I am not talking about the dry, chewy, overcooked, oily mess that I grew up choking down. I’m here to praise the goodness that is the savory, salty, CRUNCHY-crusted chicken with loads of juices that run down your hands from the first bite to the last!

But I have a confession to make: I have never made fried chicken before! Don’t get me wrong, I love the stuff, and I know how it’s made, but for some reason it’s one dish that has always scared me. I am here to say “NO MORE”! For better or worse I am cookin up some “yard bird”!

One of my many character defects is that once I decide to do something well, “good enough” isn't good enough for me!! It is a neurosis born out of OCD but it sure makes for some tasty grub!

My recipe ideas usually come to me many days in advance, and only in hindsight can I link together the train of thought that led me to my first fried chicken experience.  In my head I envisioned a CRISPY coated dark meat chicken, with garlic, whipped potatoes, and buttery, yeasty dinner rolls. There are a myriad of options if you just want some fried chicken, ranging from a trip to the Colonel’s for a bucket-o-chicken to raising, growing, butchering etc. Guess which end of the spectrum I lean toward!

Ok, I’ll give you the rundown, but my “recipes” are approximate at best, I just cook by feel. I needed some chicken stock for the potato recipe that came to me in my fried chicken dream, but I wasn’t about to ruin a culinary masterpiece with some sodium laden chicken-water from a can, or a dehydrated cube! I had FRESH celery, onions, garlic, and some carrots on hand, and a quick trip to the deep freeze produced not one, but TWO chicken carcasses from two birds we butchered some time back. It’s the little things that make me giddy! I also had FRESH sage, thyme etc. picked just days earlier from Lulu’s garden! A rough chop of all the above ingredients, and in they go to a stock pot with a few tablespoons of heated olive oil. After a few minutes I added about two quarts of HOT water, and both chicken carcasses!  Reduced to a simmer and moved on to wake up the yeasty-beasties.

I almost never use store bought yeast, instead I rely on my yeasty friends in my sourdough starter. These little fella’s sleep in my fridge when not in use so I have to wake them up and feed them to get em ready for bread making. Just add some flour and water, sit the jar on the counter and wait for them to start bubbling away.

My favorite cut of chicken is the thigh, so I opted for free range boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Trader Joes (thank you Christie). I removed the eight thighs from the package, and cut each in half giving me 16 pieces roughly  2”x2” for the perfect crust to chicken ratio. These little morsels were going into a buttermilk bath for the next 24 hours along with lots of savory herbs and spices.

By now the chicken that is in the stock pot has been simmering for a few hours I just strain it through a sieve, and refrigerate the 2-3 quarts of amazing stock!!! I only need a cup or two for my recipe so the rest gets frozen in separate freezer bags! How cool is that!? One more great benefit is the 2+ cups of chicken meat from the carcasses for any number of uses!

Day two:

Sleep late, then drink fresh black coffee, and eat my wife’s homemade potato bread French toast…. Oh wait, that’s another post!

A few hours before dinner I removed some sourdough starter, mixed it with flour water, salt, a dash of sugar and my secret ingredient (a tablespoon of homemade SCHMALTZ). Gently knead til smooth and set aside to double in size. After it doubled I punch it down, and form into balls the size of golf balls, and place then on a baking sheet to double one last time before baking. If the house is cool the rise may take a long time... I have a secret turbo method! Place a measuring cup with 2-3 cups of water in it into your microwave and nuke til it boils. Leave the water in there, but move the cup to the side and place your dough in the microwave and close the door. The warm moist environment will make it rise in RECORD time! You will have to watch it so it doesn't over-rise, this will ruin your bread. Once the golf-balls become baseballs, toss them into a 375 oven for 15 minutes, then brush with butter and do 5-8 more minutes. The smell of your kitchen at this point will probably have the neighbors knocking at your door!

The young golden potatoes are all placed in a single layer in a pan with a lid. Then I add just enough of my chicken stock to not quite submerge the spuds. Season them with fresh garlic, chopped onions, black pepper, and maybe some herbs. I pierce each tater with a knife to facilitate the absorption of the stock. My objective it to simmer the potatoes low and slow until the chicken stock is almost completely absorbed by the softening potatoes. Once the spuds are nice and soft, I just mash them with a masher and they are ready to go! I did add about a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt to mine to cut the richness.

On to the star of the show, the thighs! At this point the meat has been in the seasoned buttermilk for 24 hours, and needs to come up for air. I removed all of the pieces and placed them on a rack to drain. It is then necessary to blot all the excess buttermilk from the chicken, before tossing them into a large bag of seasoned flour (see the pattern here? ... add flavor at EVERY opportunity). Each piece needs to be floured, then shaken well to remove the excess, and get this .... BACK INTO THE BUTTERMILK, then back into the flour! Trust me... it's SO worth it!

One very important pre-fry step is to let the chicken air dry on a rack for an hour to allow the crust to "crustify" and to allow the meat to reach room temperature. This facilitates uniform (and faster) cooking!

The only thing left to do now is get the hot tub ready for the guests. One of the reasons I even tackled this dish was so I could test drive "big Berth" my 100 year old cast iron skillet. I filled her just over an inch deep with almost a quart of lard that I made last year. Using a candy thermometer I waited for the temperature of the lard to reach 370, then I added 4 pieces of the chicken. I try not to put you all to sleep with the reasons for all of the steps, but I am happy to elaborate if you want. If you crowd the pan with cold chicken, the oil cools to the point where the oil can get into the breading. At a high temperature, the steam escaping from the chicken prevents the oil from passing through, and makes a CRUNCHY shell that keeps juice IN and oil OUT! I started with a quart of lard, and ended with a quart of lard! ...  back to the bird ... I have no idea how long they cooked but I think 7-9 minutes seems about right depending on thickness. I just kept an eye on them for that deep golden brown and removed them when they looked "finger lickin good". You need to manage your temps though, too HOT and you burn your lard, to cool and you get a greasy, soggy mess! I had the oven set to 200 degrees, the rolls, and the whipped spuds were staying warm in there. I also laid out some brown paper bags to set the chicken on once I pulled them from the skillet.

What we ended up with was a VERY crunchy/crispy, savory crusted chicken that was easily the most tender and juicy that I have ever had! I am not sure there is any one “secret” but every step in the process contributes to the amazing finished product! The cut of chicken, the buttermilk “brine”, the breading, the HOT oil, all came together to make the very best chicken that I have ever eaten!

I'm sure at this point you all are saying "that is a LOT of work for fried chicken" ... you are right, it was more work than a lot of meals, but when you want to just knock the socks off of someone, I think you can't go wrong with a fantastic homemade meal that you make with heart, and passion!

If any of you want an actual recipe just drop me a line!

Don

MMMMMMMM Æbleskiver !!

* Æbleskiver (Danish meaning apple slices (singular: æbleskive)) are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover.

Ok, so I had no clue what these things were either! I was researching online about grapeseed oil, and it's smokepoint, and whether or not I should use it to season a cast iron skillet. It was then that I notices some funky looking pan making some delicious looking "pastry balls"!

I just HAD to get me one of those pans... in cast iron please!

A short few weeks later it was at my door! I had already researched the recipe, now I just needed to master the technique. That is what makes the difference between an Æbleskiver and a "dumb old" pancake (well, that and the fact that I was going to fill mine with YUMMY stuff)!

As you all know we just don't do "processed foods" around here but I think this was a match made in heaven! I had never been exposed to Nutella until a friends daughter babysat for us and brought it over and left it. She may as well have left a bag of crack, but I digress. I put some of this evil goodness in a piping bag and squirted a grape-sized dollop into the center of each little aebleskiver before making the final turn that sealed the sphere.

The process is a tricky one to say the least. You have to heat up your pan, then add the batter to each individual "cup". Then IN THE ORDER YOU FILLED THEM, you need to employ a knitting needle or skewer to rotate/flip each Æbleskiver  1/4 turn at a time, timing each rotation to avoid burning, but also allowing the uncooked batter to pour out and become an extension of the sphere!
I watched this lady to get the "gist" of it.

Keep in mind that ALL of this has been done in secret so I could surprise my girls (wife included) on Saturday morning.

The big day arrived and I was ready to roll! I got the french press loaded with fresh coffee, made my batter and heated up my pan!

* They weren't perfect, but they were amazing alongside a cup of strong black coffee!

Between my wife, my 8 year old, my 1 year old and myself, I am ashamed to say we polished off 26 of them!!

"Just a sandwich"

Today I had a craving for a good old homemade sandwich! Of course I wasn't thinking of bologna and "American Cheese"! I was thinking something more substantial, something that would make me say a swear word or two (out loud)!

I knew I was going to have to make the bread from scratch...duh! I just whipped up some sourdough starter, flour, water and salt and let it sit out for a few hours. I then incorporated some garlic/herb infused olive oil, transferred the dough to a glass meatloaf dish and let rise another few hours. Before tossing it in a 450 degree oven I liberally coated the top with the remaining garlic/herb oil, cracked some black pepper and course sea salt on the top. I think it cooked for about 20 minutes. I was planning on using half the loaf for my sandwich.

Now, on to the filling! I had envisioned the real word equivalent to the Dagwood sandwich so I needed to really dig deep for this one.
I had some fresh THINLY shaved pit smoked ham from Steve's Meat Market. This stuff was so thin it only had ONE side! We always have plenty of produce and condiments, so this should be a snap!
I fire roasted a red pepper and placed it in a plastic bag to steam the skin off. I then sauteed some onions, mushrooms, and garlic.
What is a sandwich without great condiments? I made an olive oil, rosemary, garlic, basil, and black pepper mayo, I also planned on using plenty of dijon mustard. I would prefer arugula for my greens, but all we had was baby spinach so that would have to suffice. Of course you HAVE to have some greatcheese in order to make a great sandwich! I am lactose intolerant, but I'll suffer for my craft! I still had some FRESH raw mozzarella cheese in the fridge, and if I toast this bad-boy while it's open faced and that cheese gets all melted and toasty.... oh yea!

So, when all was said and done, the bread was VERY aromatic, crusty, and delicious! Steve's shaved ham is like nothing you have ever tasted... trust me on this! Better yet, go buy some! It melts in your mouth! The herbaceous herbed mayo, and the dijon added the zesty "glue" needed for a sandwich of this magnitude. Fire roasted red peppers, with toasted fresh mozzarella, played off the olive oil to really give it that Mediterranean feel!

I really did eat until I had to lay down, but not before uttering a few swear words and proclaiming out loud how awesome this sandwich was!

Remember, life is too short to eat bad food!

BEER.... it's what's for dinner !

I often wonder what my "objective" is with this blog. I don't post recipes, my punctuation is atrocious, my writing style has got to be difficult to follow for anyone other than myself, so why am I doing this? I think more than anything else I am trying to open your eyes to the full spectrum of culinary experiences available to you! Like so many things in life, you don't know what you don't know! I am here to point you in the direction of amazing food and drink, you just have to go get it!

What is amazing food without amazing beer? There are literally thousands of breweries in North America alone, but the vast majority of those breweries make the fizzy yellow stuff that blue collar workers drink by the $12.00 CASE! Once again, I am NOT judging, I am just saying that if you want to REALLY treat yourself to an amazing culinary treat, you do NOT go to Arby’s! I guess fast food, and Bud light is acceptable for tailgating, or a backyard barbeque, but when you are really ready to redefine what beer can be you need to treat yourself to something truly unforgettable! 

This brings me to the greatest brewery to ever fill a bottle (or can for that matter).

Hair of the Dog 

Hair of the Dog brewery was founded in 1993 in Portland Oregon by Alan Sprints. Alan brews only a few select beer styles, but once you have tried any one of them you will be ruined for all other beers for the rest of your life! I am so smitten with their beer called "Fred" (created to honor beer writer and historian Fred Eckhardt) that even though I cannot buy it in the Midwest, I find ways to "acquire" it by any means necessary!

Fred !

Adam !

Doggie Claws !

 These beers range anywhere from 10% to almost 12% alcohol by volume (still less than wine). That being said this is no more a beer you would drink while mowing your yard than a $100 a plate fillet would be drive-through fare.

Any one of these beers is meant to be savored! In fact a single 12 ounce bottle of Fred may last me well over an hour. Each and every sip is an amazing sensory experience! The aroma, the flavors the fact that with every sip you realize you are one sip closer to your glass being empty, and it makes you enjoy it even more.

I know it was cruel of me to post this when you can't even by these beers in the Midwest, but there are MANY other exceptional beers to pair with your favorite meal. The food pairing science is no longer just for wine, and any GOOD "bottle shop" will be more than happy to help you pick a great beer for your next special dinner. Be it an ale, stout, lager, pilsner, IPA or bourbon barrel aged porter, it's bound to be an experience you will remember!

There are even dessert beers brewed with coffee, cocoa, and bourbon! Grab some flourless chocolate cake and share a bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout with someone special and I promise you it will change everything you ever thought about "beer"!

"Cheers, Prost, and Salut" !

Don

Chicken, Greens and Fries !

Since the wife had to work today, and I had the day off, I figured I'd make dinner. I had nothing planned so a quick trip to the deep freeze was in order. HMMMMM, so many decisions! Lamb, goat, venison, wild turkey, pork, wild caught fish, guinea fowl, beef, or chicken? I only had a few hours til the boss got home so chicken drew the short straw. I had to speed thaw the four leg quarters in warm water, before a liberal seasoning and a quick sear in a hot cast iron pan that already had grape seed oil, garlic and rosemary in it.

After removing the chicken from the pan I deglazed it with chicken stock. The chicken went into a baking dish with some celery (just for taste), some rosemary and the liquid from the deglazed skillet. Popped into the oven at 350 for about 90 min. While the chicken is cooking, I move on to the "sweet taters".

I cut a few large sweet potatoes into "fries" as a side dish. I didn't want to fry them although I DID want that crunch that frying imparts. The "culinary scientist" in me had the bright idea of putting the fries in a bag with a cup of corn starch, shaking to coat, then placing them in a colander and shaking even more to rid them of any excess. After removing the chicken from the oven I bumped the temperature up to 450. I then began placing all the fries one by one on a wire rack. I walked out into my back yard, fries in one hand and a spray can of olive oil in the other. A liberal coat of olive oil will give the same effect as frying without all the calories! Once the oven is HOT, I place the fries in and let them cook on the wire rack so heat could surround each fry without getting soggy.

The boss had requested sauteed  kale, so I quickly stemmed, and roughly chopped the entire head while my garlic and butter was warming in the stainless saute pan. Once chopped, all of the greens pile into the pan for a quick wilting. In a relatively dry saute pan a few tablespoons of the chicken's cooking liquid will add the steam needed to finish the job and add the flavor necessary to tie the dish together.

The fries will get some black spots, but that is fine! The natural sugars in the sweet potatoes caramelize and add a great sweetness! Just try and be patient and don't remove them from the oven too early.

Now just pile everything on the plate and dig in! 

Decadence !

At least once a week have a crazy scratch made culinary masterpiece! Today it was homemade ravioli, with a mushroom, pancetta, dry cheddar, filling. I also made two rosemary, garlic focattia loaves  to go with it.  One for us and one for a dear friend!

I wish this were a blog imparting great recipes, and techniques, but unfortunately I never use recipes. I have been “faking it” long enough that I just rely on instinct. If you should happen to see something on here that you would like to reproduce just drop me a line and I am sure I can set you in the right direction.

The pasta was 50/50 semolina and AP flour, 3 eggs, and some salt…. I think that was it! The important step is letting it rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two in order for the gluten to develop.

The filling was made the night before using butter, shallots, garlic, a BUNCH of mushrooms, and at the last minute some amazing dry white cheddar.

After the pasta dough came out of the fridge, I cut it in half and rolled out each half about as thin as a dime. Then square off the ends, slice all the way down the center, and make a cut every two inches or so making several squares. One egg and a dash of water makes the egg wash that will be your “glue” to hold the halves together.

One small dollop of the filling then “glue” the edges, and set aside til your salted water is at a rolling boil. Boil your ravioli for 6-8 minutes. Sauce with whatever makes you smile!  

The focaccia is a bit harder to explain! Like I have said in earlier posts, I have harvested brewer’s yeast from an amazing beer and that is what I use instead of store bought yeast. I am NOT a baker by anyone’s definition, but I like making bread. I know the fundamentals, and from there I improvise everything else. I use a cup or two of my starter, then add some flour, salt, and maybe some water. From there I let it double in size, punch it down, and form it. I let it double again then bake it at 450 til it looks done.

Like my daughter says, “if it looks good, eat it!” and that looks GOOD!

Weekend breakfast is one of my most favorite dining experiences!  It’s not JUST the food, it’s the fact that I don’t work, that day, I get to spend time with my girls, AND my wife cooks some KILLER grub, and makes me some great coffee! I just leisurely roll out of bed and start eating!

The bitter roasty coffee plays oh so well with the sugary-sweet strawberry filled crepes (with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar).

Sitting there with my hot black coffee, my plate full of crepes and a full weekend ahead of me…. Life is good!

                                                      

Contrary to what you might think, I am a simple man with simple tastes! And this morning my wonderful wife had the French press loaded with fresh black coffee, and plenty of crepes and strawberries to go with it!

Make it FUN!

Most of my cooking / baking “skills” have come by way of trial, error and television! My DVR has about 80 hours of food network shows queued up and ready to watch. That is not to say that I watch these shows, copy recipes, and then start cooking. Ever since I was a little kid watching Julia Childs, Graham Kerr and the Frugal Gourmet, I wanted to cook like they did! Not necessarily cook WHAT they did, but cook in the same flashy manner.  I was the poster child for ADHD, I had no time for measuring cups and timers! I was all about “a dash of this, a pinch of that, then chop-chop-chop, and get my hands in it and start tasting until it was something that I wanted to eat.

                              

Forty years of this style of “training” has given me a much more tactile sense of what is going on with my ingredients. This is both good, and bad. I can’t follow a recipe to save my life, but I can make something delicious out of the most random ingredients.

Bakers are fond of saying that you MUST measure everything precisely!  I certainly agree with that sentiment if you are baking cakes, and soufflé’s that must be exactly the same each and every time, but if that’s the case, I’ll keep my baking to artisan breads alone! I think part of the excitement for me is waiting to see just how it will turn out.  I am not disparaging anyone that follows a recipe, in fact “good for you”! My ADHD kicks in before the second rote ingredients and I drift off. 

When I bake bread I use yeast that I captured from the dregs of a beer bottle and propagate in a mason jar, flour of unknown composition, water, and salt (if I remember to throw it in). I start mixing a bit of everything until it FEELS right, then I let it rest until it looks “puffy”.  I then shape it however I want it, let it sit for a while then toss it in the oven until it looks done.

Cooking / baking should be a FUN process that results in even more fun eating and feeding others!

One of my favorite forms of people watching is watching what people eat, and how they eat it. Some people mindlessly stuff all sorts of "edible" what-nots into their mouths, while others seem to scrutinize every single morsel as if  contemplating the molecular makeup of each and every bite.

Regardless of your dining decisions I think everyone should aspire to eat amazing foods, that recruit all of the senses! Now this is not to say that every meal has to be a masterpiece, but I think that a last minute dash into McDonalds on the way home from work on anything but the rarest of occasions shows a sad lack of forethought. I am not passing judgement I am simply saying that every meal eaten from a frozen box, or a drive-thru sack is one less opportunity that you have to partake in one of life's greatest pleasures.... eating GREAT food!

Until my next installment do your best to make every meal an opportunity to do something great for your taste-buds!  :)

Pizza Friday.... (Took place on Sunday this week)

We always look forward to "pizza Friday", and this week was no exception, however it took place on Sunday due our packed "social calendar".

Today I made a honey-wheat crust, using the sourdough starter that I harvested from beer yeast this summer! I actually harvested in from my favorite beer on earth - Hair of the Dog Fred.
For all intents and purposes one can only get this magical brew in Oregon. When they bottle the beer the brewer adds some of the brewers yeast to the bottle to allow the flavor to continue to develop for many years to come. More on how I harvested it and propagated it on an upcoming post.

While the crust was proofing I took advantage of the hot oven and tossed in a loaf of rosemary-basil chiabatta bread. Before tossing it onto the baking stone I brushed it with an oil blend that I made using garlic, basil, and rosemary. Finish it off with a liberal sprinkling of flaked seas salt and in it goes for 45 minuted at 425.



When the boss got home with the girls the declaration was made that they were starving! I sliced the warm bread and slid the butter to them so I could get on with the pizza making. I was told that it was the best bread to date! "Pnut" kept saying "more-more-more". It was certainly a hit, with it's salty,herbaceous, garlic encrusted exterior, and that perfect warm chewy interior soaked with melted butter!

On to the pizza!
I rolled out the huge rectangle crust that is roughly the size of my pizza stone, and slipped it into the oven to bake off. A bit earlier I caramelized three whole onions, until they were golden and sugar-sweet. I sliced the kalamata olives, FRESH mozzarella, peeled, seeded, and diced three tomatoes. Thinly sliced several porcini mushrooms, and raw garlic. Our friend Karen was kind enough to let me pick a LOT of fresh basil from her garden last night, and my intent was to made this aromatic herb the star of the show!

Once the pizza crust is almost cracker-crispy I pull it out and brush it with the garlic herb oil, then begin the layering of all the goodies! The sweet caramelized onions were first, then a thin glaze of scratch-made pizza sauce, those earthy porcini mushrooms, huge discs of fresh mozzarella, kalamata olives, diced tomatoes, slivered garlic, then LOTS of fresh picked basil!




Back onto the HOT pizza stone for about 8 minutes, then under the broiler for 2-4, and VIOLA!

Seriously the best pizza on earth!



Sunday is our crazy make-all-the-food-for-the-week day!
While I was making bread and pizza I was also grilling chicken out on the BBQ.
I am a little biased but I think I make the best chicken you're ever likely to find!
I made 8 breasts, then they get sliced and placed in freezer bags for the weeks lunches.



Come on over, we'll feed ya!




As time goes on I will be posting recipes, and techniques, however feel free to contact me if you should have any questions about the things we whip up in our kitchen!

"life is too short to eat bad food"