Buttermilk Fried Chicken

(All pictures in this post were taken by Alex Hsu.)

A few weeks ago, right after my Japanese-Style Strawberry Shortcake post, I got a message from my friend Alex asking if I would cook him delicious food for his birthday. He lives in Jersey City and I live in VA, so my first instinct was to say "Haha...good one...no." But, I'm a sucker for compliments about my cooking, and I like to feed people, so I told him I'd do it. I didn't think to run the idea by Dan until after I had already committed us to a road trip, but to his credit he just rolled his eyes and said "Guess I need to take some time off on Friday..."

When I asked Alex what he wanted for dinner, his response was "Meat. Lots of meat." Well. That's helpful. I knew he was inviting a bunch of people over, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it to Jersey City before 5pm, so my main concern was feeding a lot of people and being done with all the cooking by the time everyone showed up at 7pm. I knew right away that my sides would be chive-garlic mashed potatoes, baked mac n cheese, and roasted carrots -- they're easy to make, very filling, and I can pretty much put them on the stove and forget about them while I cook the main course. With those sides decided, it was pretty clear I was going to have to make fried chicken to accompany all those carbs. Alex was going to get a good ol' Southern-style birthday dinner.

Have I ever made fried chicken before this dinner? Nope. Is it a good idea to cook something totally new and unfamiliar for a lot of people on short notice? Not really. But hey, lets live on the edge a little. Fortunately, Alex's roommate bought all the ingredients a few days ahead of time, and our friend Andy was hanging around the apartment all day, so all I had to do was tell Andy to soak the chicken in buttermilk and we were good to go.  When Dan and I finally made it to the apartment, I got right to work on the chicken. I tossed together large amounts of flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder for the breading, threw the buttermilk-soaked chicken directly into the dry mixture to coat, and pan-fried everything in very hot vegetable oil. I honestly didn't have high hopes, but the chicken turned out to be amazingly delicious. At least, the pieces that I didn't flip obsessively and actually cooked all the way through were delicious -- there were definitely some pieces that were kinda sorta really raw near the bone. Oops.

Thankfully, Alex ate the good pieces and was pretty happy with his meal. He had multiple helpings of everything, and that made me happy. But when he told me I should open my own fried chicken joint, I just laughed nervously and casually slid the under-cooked pieces away from his plate. What he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Ingredients: (I sort of haphazardly threw ingredients into a bowl when I made my chicken, so these measurements are my best guesses for how much of everything I used.)

- 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or, just a whole bunch of wings/legs/whatever)

- 3 cups buttermilk

- 2 cups flour

- 1/4 cup garlic salt

- 1/8 cup paprika

- Lots of salt and pepper (I like my food salty, so I used a lot of salt -- probably about 1/2 cup)

- Lots of vegetable oil (peanut oil would be great too)

Steps:

(1) In a large bowl, pour buttermilk over chicken and soak overnight, or at least a few hours.

(2) In a separate large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients until well-combined.
(3) Fill a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet about half-way full of oil. Heat until very hot -- if you flick flour into the oil, it should immediately sizzle/bubble up.
(4) Throw buttermilk-soaked chicken directly into the bowl containing the flour/seasoning, and toss to coat. Shake off excess breading, then slide the chicken into the bubbling oil.
** The chicken should be mostly covered, but it's fine to have some of it peaking out above the oil. The longer you fry, the less oil you'll have anyway, and you'll be flipping the pieces eventually.
(5) Cook chicken until golden-brown, about 8-10 minutes on each side. Don't overcrowd your skillet -- 3 to 4 pieces at a time is best.
** I would say it's better to over-cook than under-cook in this situation. Do NOT flip your chicken obsessively like I did. Just throw it in there, walk away for a while, then flip once and leave it alone again. The breading will keep the meat nice and juicy, so it's fine to cook the chicken longer. There's nothing grosser than biting into raw/bloody meat near the bone...
(6) Set cooked pieces aside on your serving plate -- don't use paper towels or your chicken will be soggy. Keep frying until all your chicken is done.
(7) Eat immediately with sides of your choice.
** I suggest buttery mashed potatoes, biscuits, greens, and creamy mac n' cheese.


For other great recipe ideas, click here.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

I secretly look forward to the days when we run out of deli turkey. Why? Because it gives me an excuse to make chicken salad. I mean, I could probably just make chicken salad whenever, but turkey goes bad so quickly that I feel like I have to eat it for lunch everyday when it's around so that I don't end up throwing any away.

I read in one of my chick lit books that Southern women judge the measure of a lady by the quality of her chicken salad. That can't be true, but if it were...I'd be a pretty low maintenance lady. I don't use chicken that I've personally roasted, I don't make my own mayonnaise, and I don't throw in any fancy pants ingredients for textural/flavor contrast. I just throw some chopped chicken (usually Perdue grilled chicken strips), diced red onion, Helmann's, and paprika in a bowl and mix it all together. Done in fifteen minutes, but super yummy. Great on top of a spinach salad or sandwiched between toasted wheat bread.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

- 1 packet of Perdue grilled chicken, chopped; or, 1 grilled chicken breast, chopped

- 3 tbsp mayonnaise

- 1 tsp paprika

- 1/4 cup red onion, diced (I like the spicy crunch of red onion in my chicken salad, so I usually use more)

- 1/4 avocado, sliced thinly

- 3 tomato slices

- 4 large lettuce leaves, or 1 handful baby spinach

- 2 slices wheat bread, toasted

Steps:

(1) In a medium bowl, mix chicken, mayo, paprika, and red onion until well combined. (If you're feeling fancy, chop up some green onion or apple slices and throw that in too.)

(2) Layer one slice of toast with lettuce and tomatoes.
(3) Scoop two large spoonfuls of chicken salad on top of the lettuce/tomatoes. Spread out in one even layer.

(4) Arrange avocado slices on top of the chicken salad. Cover with second slice of bread.

(5) Cut in half and serve with pickles and chips.

Aaron's Chicken with Rice and Beans

I know April showers bring May flowers, but...it's been raining all freaking day. Yuck. On days like these, the only thing I want to do is stay home and be lazy. And, maybe eat something simple and tasty. My friend Aaron's chicken and rice/beans dish is just that: no frills, super tasty. He made it for his housewarming party a few weeks back, and it's been on my mind ever since. I don't even like beans, but I was loving them in his chicken and rice! After some wheedling and cajoling, I finally convinced him to give me the recipe. And, because I am a great person, I am sharing it here with you, with some minor adjustments. Enjoy!

Aaron's Chicken with Rice and Beans

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 can of tomato sauce (Not pasta sauce. Tomato sauce...from a can.)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup red onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup Adobo spice
- 1 cup red beans, uncooked

Steps:
(1) Soak beans in water, 1 hour. Set aside.
(2) Throw chicken breasts, garlic cloves, onions, and Adobo spice into a pot. Cover with chicken broth and tomato sauce. Simmer for 1-1/2 hours.
(3) About 30 minutes into simmering, add red beans to the pot. Continue simmering.
(4) While the chicken is cooking, start cooking some rice. (I just use my rice cooker...I don't even begin to know how to cook rice on a pot.)
(5) The chicken is done when you can easily pull the meat apart. The chicken/tomato sauce should have also cooked down into a thick paste. Pull the chicken out of the sauce and shred the meat.
(6) Dump cooked rice into the pot with the saucy chicken, and mix well. Eat while hot.

One year ago: Simple Artisanal Bread

Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

Dan and I have a friend visiting from Hawaii this week, and he came over for dinner today. Originally, we were supposed to go out to eat but, (1) the weather stinks, (2) we've spent way too much money on restaurants lately, and (3) I stumbled across this recipe in my Gmail recipe archive and I just had to make it. 

Yeah, you read that title right. It's not a typo. There are FORTY cloves of garlic in this chicken dish. Forty! Forty deliciously fragrant cloves of garlic, slow-cooked until they melt in your mouth. Mmm. So. Good. Just don't make any romantic post-dinner plans. 

Kissing jokes aside, this dish is actually not overpoweringly garlicky. The cloves infuse the chicken and cooking broth with lots of flavor, but garlic is really not the main focus of the dish -- it's the chicken and the yummy broth. Seriously, this is a really great recipe. Even though I used a pack of drumsticks instead of butchering a whole chicken into several pieces, the meat turned out to be incredibly juicy and tender. And the broth...oh man. It was packed with flavor. Great for bread dipping. Or, you know, drinking through a straw. As for the garlic...well, who doesn't love roasted garlic? I think I ate about twenty cloves in a row, plain, before I realized that certain male individuals in my life may not appreciate the aftermath. Oops. Pucker up, sweetie!

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

One year ago: Caramel Cookie Sandwiches with Ganache Filling

Kale and Lemon-Pepper Chicken Pizza

(I got a new camera! Can you tell?)

Both the Pioneer Woman and the Crumbly Cookie assured me that their favorite pizza dough is at its best the longer it's kept in the fridge, so I took their advice and let the second half of my dough chill for a few days. I didn't have the patience to wait 3-4 days, but I figured that two days was plenty, so I pulled the dough out of the fridge today for another round of pizzas.

Now that I know what kale is, I'm eager to work it into my vegetable rotation. I bought a big bag of it at BJs the other day, but have been kind of at a loss as to what to do with it. I mean, I ate it bunch when I was younger, but I'm pretty sure my parents just sauteed it and served it with rice. Sauteed kale is delicious, of course, but there's gotta be more you can do with it, right? Toss it onto a pizza with chunks of tangy, savory lemon-pepper chicken, for instance?

Man, when I tell you this pizza was delicious...you really need to take my word for it. The dough, which had become even more malleable with a few extra days in the fridge, was perfectly tender and chewy, and had a smoother and more uniform consistency/texture than my last batch. The saltiness of the sauteed kale complemented the tangy-peppery-ness of the chicken, and in the absence of sauce, the gooey melted mozzarella was the deliciously fatty glue that held it all together. Nom nom nom!

Kale and Lemon-Pepper Chicken Pizza 

Ingredients: (makes 3 personal pizzas)

- 1/2 of the pizza dough from the Pioneer Woman's recipe
- 3 tsp olive oil + more for greasing baking pans
- 2 cups kale, chopped

- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1 chicken breast

- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- Salt/pepper to taste

Steps:

(1) Preheat oven to 500.

(2) Grease two baking pans with olive oil, making sure entire surface is coated in oil.

(3) In a pan, cook kale on medium-high heat with a dash of salt until leaves are just wilted. Set aside.

(4) Cut chicken breast into strips, and season each side with salt and lots of pepper. Soak chicken strips in the lemon juice for about 10 minutes. Cut into bite size pieces, then set aside and start prepping the pizza dough.

(5) Cut dough into 3 pieces. Take one piece of dough, lightly flour both sides, and then stretch and smooth into the desired shape/thinness. Do this with all three pieces. Please stretched dough into baking pans. (I used a 13x9 cake pan + 9x9 square pan)

(6) Spread 1 tsp on the surface of each pizza.

(7) Divide 1 cup mozzarella between 3 pizzas.

(8) Divide cooked kale and chicken bits between 3 pizzas, spreading them evenly on top of the mozzarella.

(9) Sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella between 3 pizzas, on top of the chicken/kale mixture.

(10) Bake for 8 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

One year ago: Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Chicken Pot Pie

I noticed the other day that I've been making a lot of desserts lately. My last five or six posts have been sweet things -- girl scout cookies, molten lava cake, mini pies, etc. Come to think of it, I haven't made a proper meal since the day we had Chicken Fried Steak for lunch. This is not good. A girl can't live on desserts, you know. So when I came home from work tonight, I was pretty determined to cook something tasty that didn't involve any amount of sugar. Luckily, there was chicken in the fridge, and leftover pie dough + frozen mixed vegetables in the freezer. Chicken pot pie, hollaaaa!

The thing about chicken pot pie is that it's awesome. Like, really awesome. Definitely one of the top ten comfort foods of all time. Let's break it down, shall we? First, there's the buttery, flaky crust that melts in your mouth with every bite. Then you have the morsels of juicy chicken and softened vegetables that not only explode with flavor but also add a nice textural contrast to the mix. And finally, there's the thick, creamy, and fragrant gravy that binds it all together and amps up the comfort-food quality of the dish. Mmmmm. What's not to love?

I only had enough dough to make two 4-oz ramekin-sized mini pot pies, but that actually turned out to be the perfect amount of pot pie. Dan and I each ate one for dinner and felt totally satisfied. Chicken pot pie is both filling and delicious, after all. And, the mini pies were adorable! What a great day in the kitchen.

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of AllRecipes.com.

One year ago: Grilled Sirloin with Roasted Potatoes and Caprese Salad

Salsa Chicken

I woke up this morning and my brain immediately turned to dinner. For reasons I can't fathom, I really wanted to make a dish that involved baked chicken and salsa. Have I ever eaten this dish before? No. Have I ever seen it made? Nope. I guess I was just feeling kind of zesty.

A quick search on Google revealed that salsa + chicken is actually a real thing. Not to be confused with fiesta chicken, of course, which is far more complicated and involves more ingredients. Salsa chicken is literally just chicken smothered in salsa. Canned salsa. Oh yea, there's some fancy cooking going on in my kitchen.

When I told Dan what we were having for dinner he was very skeptical. "So...you just poured some salsa over the chicken and baked it?" "Well, yea. But the chicken breasts are seasoned!" Truth be told, I was pretty skeptical too. I don't even like salsa all that much! But, we were both very pleasantly surprised. The baked chicken breasts were unbelievably tender and juicy, and time in the oven took away some of the salsa's artificial zing and replaced it with a wonderfully smooth, tangy flavor that perfectly complemented the chicken. Delicious! I just wish I had some rice or corn to go with it.

Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com.

** I don't like taco seasoning, so I actually went with salt/pepper/garlic to flavor the chicken breasts. Personally, I think taco seasoning would have made the whole dish too zesty.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

Anyone who went to college in the Boston/Cambridge area has ordered from Quan's Kitchen at least once. Generous portions of greasy Chinese food, low prices, and delivery until 1am -- what more could a college kid want? Pulling an all-nighter to study for a test? Order some Quan's to keep your energy up. Hungry after a night of drinking with your friends? Greasy Chinese food cures hangovers. Tired of dining hall food? Q-U-A-N-S!

Quan's actually has pretty decent authentic Chinese food, but the majority of its young clientele are of the Kung Pao Chicken persuasion. Yuck. Dan used to be one of those people. Back when Dan was a Chinese food noob, he was a huge fan of the Orange Chicken at Panda Cafe. When he discovered Quan's, he loved the General Gao's Chicken. He eventually moved on to the Udon Noodles, and then finally settled into a long Salt and Pepper Chicken phase. In fact, after I graduated and moved away to start law school, Dan quickly fell into the habit of ordering SPC from Quan's multiple times per week, and sometimes twice a day. Delicious, yes. Healthy, no. Is he any fatter? No. Unfair!

Thankfully, since moving down here with me, Dan's eating habits have improved, largely because I am the Decider of Meals. But, even I still get the occasional Quan's craving, and after watching Dan gaze longingly at a fraternity brother's Salt and Pepper Chicken during our most recent visit up north, I decided to replicate the dish for him in our kitchen.

None of the recipes I found online seemed quite right, so I winged it. I chopped up a couple boneless chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, dredged them in a flour/salt/pepper/garlic powder mixture, and pan-fried them in some olive oil. Result? Delicious! But not all were as crispy as they should be. I over-crowded the first batch in the pan, and the chicken took a long time to crisp up, and even then not by a whole lot. The second batch had room to breathe, and they not only cooked all the way through more quickly, but were also wonderfully crispy. Dan was a happy camper!

Salt and Pepper Chicken

Ingredients: (All measurements were eyeballed, so...good luck!)
- 4 thin boneless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces.
- 1 cup flour
- Salt + pepper + garlic powder to taste (I used probably 3 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp pepper, and 1 tbsp garlic)
- 2/3 cup olive oil

Steps:
(1) In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until well combined.
(2) Add chopped, raw chicken to the mixture, and toss until each piece is completely coated.
(3) Heat olive oil in skillet on high heat.
(4) Cook chicken in two or three batches, making sure not to crowd the pan.
(5) Cook until chicken is golden and crispy.
(6) Serve with a big bowl of fluffy white rice.

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Lately Dan and I have been eating a lot of mozzarella sticks, leftover takeout, and cold pizza. My mom's birthday lunch kind of burned me out on the cooking front, and I haven't been able to muster the energy to whip up anything blog-worthy. There were the glazed, grilled pork chops last Friday, but...I was hungry and didn't remember to take pictures until the chops were a mere grease smear on our plates. Alas.

Not that Dan ever complains about what I put into his stomach or anything, but I was feeling a little guilty last night after work. There was a time -- not so long ago, really -- when I painstakingly planned our dinners hours in advance and eagerly looked forward to putting home-cooked meals on the table every night. That lasted...2 weeks, I think. How did I get so lazy so quickly? Anyway, I was bound and determined to whip up something delicious last night, but it was late-ish, and neither of us could wait long enough for anything really involved. So, what is quick and delicious and filling? Skillet chicken parmesan.

Because we ran out of eggs this weekend, and I only had panko breadcrumbs, I was originally just going to pan fry some chicken breasts, smother them in sauce and throw the whole thing into the oven for a while. Who says chicken in chicken parmesan has to be breaded? Imagine my delight when I discovered a canister of Italian-style breadcrumbs in the pantry and half a container of heavy cream in the fridge! In case you were wondering, cream with a dash of salt/pepper works just as well as eggs + milk when it comes to breading chicken.

This turned out to be one of the yummiest meals we've eaten in a while (although, note to self: brown the chicken longer to crisp it up more), and it took only 30 minutes from start to finish. Eat your heart out, Rachel Ray!

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 1/3 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs

- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

- 1/3 cup heavy cream

- 1 jar pasta sauce
- 1 tsp minced garlic

- Salt

- Pepper

Steps:

(1) Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

(2) In small bowl, season cream with salt/pepper to taste. 

(3) In separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan.

(4) Dip chicken breasts into the cream, then dredge in breadcrumbs.

(5) Cook chicken breasts on a skillet over medium heat with the minced garlic until lightly brown. Turn once to brown both sides.

(6) Pour pasta sauce over breasts. Place cover on skillet and let everything cook for 15-20 minutes.

(7) Serve with pasta, salad, and garlic bread. Pile on the grated Parmesan!

First Ever Dinner Party

Happy early Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year, everyone! In honor of these two special holidays, the boyfriend and I decided to host our first official, true blue, not-just-booze-and-snacks, dinner party. "Firsts" are always an exciting event, and we were eager to start out strong.  Unfortunately, by the time we got around to cooking, we were running a couple hours behind schedule, so we had to really fly to get food on the table by 7 as promised.  Which means I had less time to take pictures -- after my 3rd attempt to get the perfect action shot of him buttering the chicken, Dan suggested that we maybe forgo the step-by-step photos this one time and get cracking on the actual cooking. Such a wise man.

Overall the dinner was a success -- a pain in the ass to make, yes, but a success.  Everyone ate well and drank well and left happy.  Still, Dan and I may need a few months to recover before the next party.

Appetizers:

- Sliced Italian Bread served with herbed olive oil

- Creamed Mushrooms on Chive Butter Toast (Recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

The recipe called for brioche or good white bread, but I couldn't find any at the local grocery store so I just went with a french baguette.  I also had to substitute portobello mushrooms for cremini mushrooms, because, surprise, my store didn't have any.  Either way, this dish was a big hit with everyone, and was polished off in short order.

Dinner:
- Poulet Roti a la Normande (Roast Chicken Basted with Cream, Herb and Giblet Stuffing)

This was my first time roasting a chicken, so I figured a Julia Child recipe was the way to go.  This proved to be a fantastic decision, as the chicken was juicy and flavorful, the cream cheese/giblet stuffing was a revelation (none of us had ever tasted anything like it!), and the accompanying gravy was the best I've ever had.  

But I have to be honest --- I didn't actually follow Julia's instructions for roasting the chicken.  She called for a lot of flipping and turning and basting and monitoring, and I just didn't have the time to be that involved. So I used this recipe instead for the roasting instructions, but stuck with Julia for the stuffing and gravy. No one complained!

- Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives

OK, 8 gigantic Russet potatoes may be just a tad too much for 7 people to eat.  The picture above was actually taken after everyone had eaten multiple helpings  at dinner -- we barely finished 1/2 of the potatoes, delicious though they were.  Next time I'll just stick with 4 taters and call it a day.

Super easy recipe:

(1) Boil 4 potatoes until soft. (Jab a fork into one of the potatoes and if it feels soft vs. crisp, it's done.)
(2) Peel potatoes. (Or, if you're like Dan and enjoy a little texture with your taters, keep some of the skin on.)
(3) Mash potatoes with 1/2 cup milk (use more milk if you're using more potatoes), and 1/2 cup sour cream.  If you don't have milk on hand, heavy cream works too -- it's just more fattening. Yum.
(4) Throw in a handful of chopped chives.
(5) Add salt and butter to taste.

- Creamed Spinach (Another Smitten Kitchen recipe)

Spinach is probably my favorite leafy green vegetable -- nutritious yet delicious, and so versatile.  I had my first creamed spinach experience when Dan and I went to a fancy steak joint for our 3 year anniversary, and it blew my mind.  Spinach + butter + cream looks mushy and unimpressive, but the delicious flavors just wrap around your tongue and the whole thing melts in your mouth.

One minor edit to the recipe: no nutmeg. I hate nutmeg. Except for when it's baked into cakes and I can't taste it.  So I left it out of this dish and just went about my merry way. No one missed it.

Dessert:
- Strawberry Cream Pie (Recipe courtesy of Crumbly Cookie)

My picture may not look as awesome as Bridget's, but the pie itself was an unqualified success.  Who can resist the siren call of strawberries, chocolate, and cheesecake filling? No one.