Fried Chicken

Good Eats – Alton Brown

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3-4 lbs), cut into 6 pieces

2 cups low fat buttermilk

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Flour, for dredging

Vegetable shortening, for frying

Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don’t drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it’s a gas oven.

Coleslaw

Good Eats – Alton Brown

1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 fluid ounces plain yogurt

2 fluid ounces mayonnaise

1 tablespoon pickle juice

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon chives, chopped

Kosher salt, as needed

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Generously salt the cabbage and drain in colander for 3 hours. Rinse thoroughly and dry.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the cabbage and carrot. Whisk to combine evenly. Toss the cabbage and carrot with the dressing.

No time. Seriously. I don’t know if I’m going to have a chance to cook before next weekend. This sucks. Working sucks.

ETA: Working does not suck. Working is great. I don’t mean to sound like I am anti-work. Work is not a joke to me. I say this because karma hates me. I was told that the place I am temping at has decided to go with another person for the full-time position. I am not despondent about this. Neither am I ecstatic. I am rolling with the punches and have high hopes for my interviews next week.

It’s just hard because I have no time to do anything.

Okay, the following recipe I made last night. “Why Sarah, it looks similar in many ways to the Jonsauce.” Well, yeah. I only had about half of the ingredients for Jonsauce, so I decided to try something a little different. I had a hell of a time figuring out what kind of cheese might go with the spicy Italian sausages. I finally settled on feta, because it’s salty (and not much else).

The recipe is adapted from Quick from Scratch Pasta. It started out life as Rigatoni with Sirloin and Gorgonzola Sauce. I used half-and-half and milk together because I didn’t have the heavy cream that the original called for, and given how expensive cream is, I’ll probably continue to use half-and-half in its place.

It turned out better than I was expecting. It’s definitely not a pretty dish, I have to say. I’ll definitely eat the rest of it, although I’m not sure I’ll ever make it again. This was pretty much an experiment combined with getting rid of stuff in my fridge.

Spicy Italian Sausage and Feta Cream Sauce

1 lb spicy Italian sausage, casings removed

8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 shallots (or 1/4 onion), chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsely

Salt and pepper, to taste

Place a large pan over medium-high heat. Add sausage to pan and cook, tearing sausages into smaller chunks with spatula(s). Remove from pan.

In remaining fat, and mushrooms and some salt. Cook until browned. Remove from pan.

Add shallot and garlic to pan and saute for about 30 seconds. Add broth and Worcestershire sauce to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer until liquid has reduced to 1/2 cp, about 5 minutes.

Return the mushrooms and sausage to the pan. Add the cheese, half-and-half, and milk to the pan. Simmer and wait for the cheese to integrate (it doesn’t really melt, but try to get it as incorporated as you can). Add the parsely and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta.

Must… blog….

I was in kind of a crappy mood when I got home, and I didn’t want to write. An old woman harrangued me on my way home from work for being slightly over the “Stop” line. It was very annoying. But I watched some Good Eats (the fried chicken episode- I want to make it!) and am feeling better now, thanks. Good story, Sarah.

Today at work, two women asked me for the recipe for the strata which I was eating. Yay! (One week, Mom. It was okay. It’s all gone now. Don’t worry.)

Anyway, below is the recipe for Jonsauce. I love it to bits. I realize my instructions aren’t the most poetic, but you’ll hopefully get the point.

Jonsauce

1 lb spicy Italian sausage, casings removed

1 lb mushrooms, sliced (I generally use creminis)

1 onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, pureed

Wine or stock for deglazing

1 tsp fennel, freshly ground (optional)

2 cans tomato sauce

2 cans diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh basil chiffonade (the more the better)

Olive oil

Put a fairly big pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown, tearing apart sausage into small pieces with a spatula (or two). When cooked, remove from pot. Don’t get rid of the fat.

Add the mushrooms and some salt to the fat in the pot. Saute and remove from pan when browned.

If the pan’s looking dry, add a little bit of olive oil. Add the diced onion and saute until softened. Then, add the chopped garlic and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Deglaze the pan with the wine or stock and scrape up the fond.

Return the sausage and mushrooms to the pan. Add the cans of tomato sauce and drained diced tomatoes.

Season with the cayenne pepper, dried oregano, fennel (optional), and salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 15 minutes to an hour.

At the very end of cooking, add the pureed garlic and the basil chiffonade.

Mm, Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Nips. More mm, no work today. I’m a big fan of not working. Unfortunately, this eventually leads to cash flow problems.

It was so great- I slept in. Until 8:30! That’s pathetic, but what is remarkable is that I got to sleep before 4:30am. “Why do you go to bed so late, Sarah?” you ask. Ah, but that’s not the time I go to bed. I usually get to bed between 11 and 12pm. “Why so early?” you further query. If I don’t get eight hours, I am wrecked the next day. I guess those all-nighters back in college have come back to haunt me. Anyway, I’ve been sleeping VERY poorly this week, and the fact that I think I got a full night of sleep last night is a very good thing.

I was supposed to spend part of today cooking, but it’s now 3:30 and I haven’t even gotten a start on my laundry yet. I had a list: Costco, bank, interview, Target/Marshalls, laundry, groceries, Tivo, cooking. I don’t think I’ll be getting to groceries or cooking, sadly.

I bought a LamsonSharp HandleHolder today at Marshalls. Actually, I bought two- one’s a gift for Jon. They will (I believe) be good with our Le Creuset skillets. LamsonSharp won first place in the Cook’s Illustrated testing of pot holders, so I’m hoping these handle sleeves (I’m not sure how to describe them) work. They are maroon, which doesn’t go with either of our skillets.

I was at Target, looking around in their newly expanded grocery section. They are selling a pound of butter for $2.19. That’s a pretty damn good price. I’d never heard of the manufacturer, though (and I’ve already forgotten the name). I’m not sure I trust it.

My feet hurt. I’ve been running around in heels because of my interview (it went well, thanks for asking).

Leigh is back in town! Leigh is Ryan’s sister, and she does wild and crazy things with pastries (it should be noted that this was her idea, although they both worked on the execution [so to speak]). They are going to be working together on Sara’s wedding cake, which I’m sure will be amazing.

I love having a toaster.

Trader Joe’s Spicy Hummus is amazing stuff. I have to learn how to make it. I am spending way too much money on it. Go buy some, it’s surprisingly cheap, as far as hummus prices go. I eat it with microwaved popcorn (Orville Redenbacher Light Butter, if you are really keen to know). It sounds weird, but it’s really good.

And… I’m done ranting.

Oh, Chevy’s. What has become of you?

Last night, Rob, Jeremy (his roommate), and I went to the Chevy’s in Mountain View. I had a hankering for their chips and salsa. I love Chevy’s salsa. (Side note: I’ve tried to copy their salsa several times, and it has always turned out incredibly hot. I haven’t tried lately since I don’t have a food processor. Although I wonder if a food mill would work better. Hm.) The service was very poor. It was a hurdle just to get our drinks refilled, and when our salsa vanished (quickly), we were unable to find anyone to refill it. I was very saddened. However, we were treated to a fire in “El Machino.” There was a glut of tortillas and they all got caught in the flame. Very amusing.

So I learned a new bagel technique at our Faux Mothers’ Day Brunch on Sunday. (That’s a faux day for mothers, not a day for faux mothers.) Ryan is very clever. Instead of putting the capers on top of the lox, where they’ll simply roll off, she sticks them into the cream cheese where they’ll stay secured. I still haven’t decided whether to put the red onion on top of or under the lox. It, too, has the danger of sliding off, but sometimes you need it to be the first thing you contact so that you’ll bite cleanly through it.

So, the order from top to bottom:

Red Onion

Lox

Capers

Cream Cheese

Bagel