Winner Winner Best Fried Chicken Dinner EVER...

OK...no secret am a fan of FoodNetwork and Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa.  In recent weeks to replace the Paula and Friends there's Barefoot and Friends.  A great combo, not that Barefoot needed help in the ratings department, bringing in celebrity chefs that compliment her simple food done well philosophy can't hurt.

Yesterday was one of my favorite chefs, Tyler Florence.  Among the stuff they made...fried chicken, something that I can get into when its done well, and this recipe is amazing.  Who knew simple fried chicken could be so good.  The Tyler Florence Fried Chicken recipe HERE.

I took their tips and added a few of my own to make this recipe work.  Here they are so you too can easily duplicate the results I got.

First...use peanut oil, it has a higher smoking point and doesn't impart a bitter burnt oil taste as easily as the less oils with a lower smoking point.  It made a difference as the house didn't even smell of oil when I was done frying.  Because it can take a higher heat less is absorbed when cooking too.

An interesting thing Tyler did was to flavor the cooking oil with herbs and garlic.  Hmmmm I thought, this could be something big and it is.  Wow, I used a whole head of garlic since we are fans of the garlic here.  The process is so stupid easy I don't know why I never thought of it before.  Simply halve your garlic head, add the prescribed herbs and slowly heat the oil to temp.  Tip...watch the garlic as it does get bitter when burnt, so yank it and the herbs out when the garlic head is a rich golden brown...somewhere around 300-325F.

A step included in this recipe is brining, or marinating in a salt solution.  I've always skipped this step as the one time I had brined poultry it as so salty it was inedible...WTF it was nasty.  Flash forward 10 years and I give it a try using Tyler's recipe and it was pretty amazing.  Moist flavorful, even the breasts, and not salty.  I think my friend Harry overdid the salt when he brined which made it mealy and disgusting.  I'll use this formula and timing with future chicken recipes as it really made a positive difference in the chicken tonight.

The other think I've learned over the years is allow the chicken to rest after its battered for 10-15 minutes while the oil and herbs come up to temperature.  Doing this allow the batter to adhere well to the chicken and not flake off while cooking or on the plate while you try to eat it.  It made the world of difference with this chicken.  Am glad I did it.  It was a home run with everyone including my UBER picky daughter.

Vanilla Bean Pancakes

Yippee... I found a source for cheap bourbon vanilla pods.  3 for 2.99. You can't beat that if you tried as the local Pavilions market sells 3 for 19.99...dabastads!

This is a simple process, scrape and steep the beans and pods to impart a heavenly vanilla flavor to the pancakes.  Really yummy and worth the extra step.

Vanilla Bean Pancakes

• 3 c flour
• 3 T sugar
• 3 t baking powder
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 3/4 t salt
• 3 c butter milk
• 1/2 c milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 c melted butter
• 1 vanilla bean

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.  Whisk together the buttermilk and milk in a non-reactive pan.  Add vanilla bean seeds and pod.  Over  low flame heat mixture until it just starts to steam and  bubbles form at the edge of the pan.  Do not boil or scald.  Cover and remove from flame.  Cool to room temp or overnight in the fridge.

Sift together the dry ingredients.  Fish out the spent vanilla pod and discard.  Beat eggs into the buttermilk mixture and stir into the dry ingredients.  Stir in melted butter.  Fry up on a hot griddle and serve with your favorite syrup or fruit compote.

Roasted Raspberry Sherbet

The original recipe came from a magazine and used Strawberry instead of Raspberry.  I simply swapped out the berries and voila there was a tasty treat that is better than ice cream for you.  Stupid easy to make, if you can turn on an oven, switch on a blender and ice cream maker you're in.  It's a wonderful raspberry sherbet that isn't overly sweet and nicely balanced with the acid of the buttermilk and sour cream.

The one thing I forgot about was all the seeds that a raspberry has.  Tons of little seeds that irritate some folks.  For them I'd say just strain the mixture to eliminate them if you think they will be a bother BEFORE you churn the sherbet.  If not don't worry about it.

Roasted Raspberry Sherbet

• 4 cups raspberry
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• 1 1/2 c buttermilk (I use low fat variety)
• 1/3 c sour cream
• 1/2 t sea salt

Preheat oven to 425F.  In a glass baking dish mash 1/2 the berries.  Stir in sugar and remaining berries. Split the half vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out seeds.  Add seeds and pod to berries and stir to mix. Bake for 20 minutes until bubbly and sugar is dissolved.  Cool overnight in refrigerator.

Remove vanilla pod and discard.  Add berry mixture to blender with buttermilk, sour cream and salt.  Blend on Puree speed until well blended and uniform in color.  Pour into ice cream maker and churn according to your maker's instructions.  When churned serve as is...will be very soft, or scoop out into a storage container and freeze for a couple of hours until firmer.

New to the blog with this post, and it will happen more often than not, I will use the SparkRecipes.com nutrition calculator and include nutritional information on the recipes I post here.
Based on 8 servings from a batch of the Roasted Raspberry Sherbet here is your information...and its way better than an egg and cream based ice cream!

 Click to embiggen and get the full readable facts.  Definitely worth the read and look at the calorie savings over ice cream!

Kung Pao Shrimp the stupid easy way

Ok, I'm a guai lo, and damn proud of it.  I'm not much of a sauce maker and am in ABSOLUTE heaven with the introduction of the Panda Express Sauces at my local grocery store.  Gone are the days of the over salty sauces, sauces that didn't thicken right or were too bland as I was to light on the soy.  Yahoo!

The hardest part of this recipe is cleaning the shrimp.  I use the large 16/20 shrimp as I think they have a sweeter less fishy taste than the smaller salad sizes. They also are way easy to clean and get rid of that nasty "vein" which we really know is its poop tract.  Yuck and tastes bad too.

The remainder of this recipe is simple chopping and measuring.  Stupid easy.

Kung Pao Shrimp

• 2 lbs raw shrimp
• 1 red bell pepper -  1" dice
• 1 small onion - 1 inch dice
• 1 T minced fresh ginger
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 3/4 c Panda Express Kung Pao Sauce

Heat wok over high heat.  Add oils and heat until shimmering.  Add bell pepper, onion and ginger. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.  Add shrimp. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes until just turned opaque and pink.  Reduce heat to low, pour in the Kung Pao Sauce.  Stir until evenly coated and it starts to bubble.  Serve hot over cooked rice.

Meatless Monday: Eggplant Mushroom Stir Fry

We started Meatless Mondays nearly 2 years ago when it was brought up on "The Chew".  Made sense to do it as a way to increase our veggie intake for the usual health reasons.  Its worked.  My cholesterol has dropped over 25 points to a solid 175, my BP sits comfortably at 120/79...all because of eliminating meat proteins from my diet one day a week. Don't worry though...I won't go all radical vegan on you...still love my Pork and Beef, just in moderation.

All the ingredients here are commonly found this time of year quite easily, especially if you have a good Asian Market, or section at your grocery store.

I used Chinese eggplant as they were pretty prolific at the store today, if you can't find it no worries, a small regular eggplant will work just fine.

I used the tiny beech mushrooms as they were fresh and available today.  More common shitake thinly sliced would have worked just as well.  Its about flavor profiles and texture.

AND I cheated, I don't make my stir fry sauce from scratch as I've never found one that wasn't too salty. I use a bottled stir fry sauce from Kikkoman that isn't too salty and is a nice balance of sweet to the soy in it.

To round out the meal I usually have a salad, egg rolls or vegetarian bao with a dipping sauce.

Eggplant Mushroom Stir Fry

• 1 small onion rough chopped
• 1 Chinese eggplant sliced
• 8 oz beech mushroom
• 3 T Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce
• 4 oz udon noodles

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

Heat Wok (or large fry pan) over medium-high heat.  Add a couple of tablespoons vegetable oil and heat until shimmering.  Add chopped onion and sliced eggplant.  Cook 4-5 minutes stirring often.  Add mushrooms and cook 2-3 minutes longer stirring often.  Add cooked noodles and Stir Fry Sauce.  Toss to coat. Serve hot.  With or without chopsticks.  Kidding.

Marinated Skirt Steak

Skirt steak.  All the rage on Food TV these days and hard to find, and when you do its from either a sketchy ethnic market or one that is uber expensive (got that whole paycheck).  Yippee...I found a good source that is CHEAP...Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Markets (I'm mayor on Foursquare at the Arcadia CA store) finally carries it. CHEAP I can't stress that enough, paid $1.29 lb for the stuff today.  I can buy a few pounds for next to nothing and let the fam feast away on its goodness without breaking the bank.  Not that I have anything against a great aged ribeye, but there is a huge difference between $1.29 and 14.99/lb!

A couple of things to think about. Skirt steak is a tough cut of meat.  It responds well to acidic marinades that break down the tissue.  Cutting ACROSS the grain also makes it much easier to chew and swallow.  The former is pretty easy to do, the latter is even easier is the grain is readily apparent.

The marinade I use here is loosely based on a marinade that is used on a Santa Maria Tri-tip (a cut that's pretty exclusive to CA and some areas of the South Western US).  I used Thai Chili peppers, but a red Jalapeno that is more commonly found can be used to bring in the bit of heat.  The rest of the ingredients are so simple and common it falls into the category of stupid easy.  Do marinate the skirt steak for at least 2 hours so the tissues break down and soften for the best chew and taste possible.

Make your life easy, get yourself a mini-food processor to make whizzing up the marinade a breeze.  Without the task of finely mincing and grating all of this is a chore.  I got a nifty one from Braun that comes with my handblender at Target a while back that does the trick nicely.  And it was cheap and very durable.

Marinated Skirt Steak

4-5 lbs skirt steak
1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
2 red Thai chili or 1 red jalapeno
2 t rosemary
1 small onion, peeled
4 cloves garlic
2 t salt
1 t ground black pepper

Combine vinegar, oil, peppers, rosemary, chilis, salt, pepper, garlic and onion in blender or mini-food processor.  Whiz until blended and solids are finely minced.  Put skirt steak and marinade in a non reactive container and cover.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

1/2 hour prior to cooking bring skirt steak out and let sit at room temperature to warm up for better cooking.  Pre-heat grill to HIGH.  Cook skirt steak to med-rare at most, past medium and it is too chewy, tough and dry to eat.  About 3-4 minutes per side.

Let stand 10 minutes in foil packet.  Cut across grain.

Chicken in Thai Peanut Sauce

Or is 3 little red Thai Chili enough?

Well it took forever and a day to happen but we actually got our own Asian market.  The Hong Kong Supermarket opened to little fanfare in my corner of the San Gabriel Valley.  Wish they had a party as I would have been there earlier.  Great little place, full of all sorts of Asian ingredients that I had to drive half an hour or more for in the past. Yeah...now its just minutes from my house.

This recipe is based, loosely on a couple I've made or tried before.  The ingredients aren't entirely Thai, but are Asian in nature and go together very well.  Quite tasty even.  I'm sure the combo of ingredients has some Asian grandmother somewhere turning in her grave, but they work.

Substitutions.  If you aren't blessed with an Asian Market most of the ingredients can be found fairly easy in the Asian Section of your local groc.  The exception has always been the fresh produce and such that I needed to trek to neighboring communities to find the goodies.

Thai Red Chili were the bane of my existence for several years now.  Never could find the silly little things. A good substitution is a RED jalapeno. Its not quite as hot, nor as sweet as the Thai Chili but it makes a reasonable facsimile.

Beech mushrooms are another hard one to find.  They are very mild in flavor. They have round tops and long bean sprout looking stems.  Cut off the root end about 1/4" up the stem and you are good to go.  If you can't find them a thinly sliced oyster mushroom is a good work around.

Lastly this recipe is nearly vegan, all you need to do is swap out extra firm tofu for the diced chicken and you are set for Meatless Monday.

Chicken in Thai Peanut Sauce

• 3/4-1 lb chicken breast, diced
• 2T soy sauce
• 1T fish sauce
• 1 T grated fresh ginger
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 3 Red Thai Chili minced
• 2 bunches green onion, sliced
• 1 can sliced water chestnut
• 8oz Beech mushroom - cleaned and trimmed
• 1/2 c Peanut Butter (creamy)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 T Mirin or Seasoned Rice Vinegar
• 8 oz chow mein noodles cooked according to package direction
• Dry roasted peanuts

Combine chicken, soy, fish sauce, ginger and garlic.  Toss to combine.  Cover in non-reactive bowl and marinate in fridge for at least an hour.

(reserve 1 cup sliced green onion top for garnish)

Heat a wok over medium high heat, add enough oil to cover the bottom.  Strain chicken, reserve marinade.

Add chicken and cook until opaque.  Add onions and chili and stir fry until onions are wilted, approx 2-3 minutes.  Add mushroom and cook until wilted about 2-3 minutes longer. Add reserved marinade and stir to dissolve.

Add peanut butter, coconut milk and mirin.  Stir until peanut butter is dissolved.  Cook over low heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Watch closely and add water as needed to keep the sauce the consistency of cream.  Stir in cooked chow mein noodles.  Serve hot with peanuts and reserved green onion tops as garnish.

In answer to the not so rhetorical question at the beginning of this post, Yes, 3 red Thai Chilis are enough.  2 would be too weak, and 4 too much.  Of course if you don't mind your tonsils being incinerated go for 4 or more.