KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN

This is a second run at this clone of a seasoning mix and I think it's spot on...

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN


3 cups sifted flour
1/3 cup powdered eggs
2 teaspoon garlic salt (or garlic powder)
2 teaspoons onion salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried powdered rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried powdered thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (or a little more to taste hotter)

Combine all ingredients for the seasoned flour.

Rinse chicken with water and roll in flour mixture and fry. Best if cooked in canned Crisco shortening till golden brown.

FOR EXTRA CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN:

Dip in flour mixture, then dip in beaten eggs and re-dip in flour mixture pressing the flour onto the chicken for a good thick coating.

(DON'T FORGET TO MAKE GRAVY WITH LEFT OVER DRIPPINGS FOR YOUR MASHED OR BAKED, POTATOES.)

Makes 3 1/2 cups of seasoned flour

Herbed Chicken Parmesan

My family recommends rice-shaped orzo pasta with this saucy chicken entrée, but you can serve spaghetti or angel hair pasta instead.

Herbed Chicken Parmesan
Cooking Light magazine, NOVEMBER 2003

Ingredients

1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs (I use Italian seasoned ones)
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 pound chicken breast tenders
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups bottled fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese

Directions

Preheat broiler.

Combine 2 tablespoons of Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish. Place egg white in a shallow dish. Dip each chicken tender in egg white; dredge in the breadcrumb mixture. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Set aside.

Combine 1/8 teaspoon salt, pasta sauce, vinegar, and pepper in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; vent. Microwave sauce mixture at HIGH 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Pour the sauce over chicken in pan. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining Parmesan and provolone cheese. Wrap handle of pan with foil, and broil 2 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Engagement Roast Chicken

Engagement Chicken is just a basic roast chicken recipe that was published in the January 2004 Glamour magazine, a magical combination of chicken, lemons, salt and pepper that supposedly causes men to pop "the question."

The Engagement Chicken recipe was lifted from a former Glamour magazine fashion editor and foodie named Kimberly Bonnell, who advised anxious young staffers to cook this fool-proof chicken dish for boyfriends they wanted to impress. (The recipe was originally published in a cookbook called Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan under the less Glamour-ous name Roast Chicken with Lemons.) As the legend goes, the boyfriends morphed into husbands within a year after they consumed the chicken dinner.

A Glamour reader who tried the Engagement Chicken recipe testified to its magical powers in a letter to the magazine. "I made Engagement Chicken for my live-in boyfriend and less than two months later, I'm wearing a wedding band." I can attest to its powers because its kemp me married over 23 years now and it one of he hubsters favorite Sunday dinners.

Engagement Chicken

Ingredients


1 (4 to 5 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
1 lime
1 whole head garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
Good olive oil
2 Spanish onions, peeled and thickly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove and discard the chicken giblets. Pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Cut the lemons in quarters, place 2 quarters in the chicken along with the garlic and reserve the rest of the lemons. Brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the chicken in a small (11 by 14-inch) roasting pan. (If the pan is too large, the onions will burn.) Place the reserved lemons and the sliced onions in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the mixture around the chicken in the pan.

Roast the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and a thigh and it reaches an internal temperature of 180 degree F at it fattest part. Remove the chicken to a platter, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce, leaving the lemons and onions in the pan.

Place the pan on top of the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits. Add the stock and sprinkle on the flour, stirring constantly for a minute, until the sauce thickens. Add any juices that collect under the chicken. Carve the chicken onto a platter and serve with the lemons, onions, and warm sauce.

Garlic & Butter Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon dried parsley
6 boneless chicken thighs, with
skin
dried parsley, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking pan.

2. In a microwave safe bowl, mix the butter, garlic, soy sauce, pepper, and parsley. Cook 2 minutes on High in the microwave, or until butter is melted.

3. Arrange chicken on the baking pan, and coat with the butter mixture, reserving some of the mixture for basting.

4. Bake chicken 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until juices run clear, turning occasionally and basting with remaining butter mixture. After chicken is done turn on the broiled and brown the chicken for a few minutes to crisp up the skin.

Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

Pan Sauces ~ today’s plan

For dinner last night my son produced a perfect rendition of Chicken Saltimbocca after having watched the recipe video and learned a little about pan frying.

To make the pan sauce he used a white chardonnay and some of the chicken stock I had produced recently. It was a picture perfect meal but a little salty for my taste. I don’t know if this was because he did so many batches of the prosciutto covered chicken medallions before making the pan sauce or if it was because I removed salt from my cooking decades ago and have eaten nothing but flavorless nursing home worthy grub ever since.

Today’s Plan is to make Southern Fried Chicken with Ancho Honey and serve it with a side of Italian style green beans, homemade dinner rolls, and huge twice baked potatoes.

We will also watch the "How to Make Pan Sauce" video and make their dark chicken stock to practice with. As well as the following YouTube video produced by one of my favorite cooking implement stores Sur La Table.



Also on the agenda is to start my first of the month, top to bottom, kitchen cleaning & organizing project as well as locate the memory card reader so I can get the pictures off my camera to post here.