Chicken Fried

If you show up to Sunday Dinner at my husband's Grandma Nellie's you will either be treated to a turkey dinner or fried chicken. Myself, I have never fried a chicken - I tend to purchase mine in the deli section of Albertson's Grocery Store. Lucky for us, one of Chad's students had an FFA project where he raised chickens and sold them. Of course, we bought some and threw them in the freezer.

Now, an entire chicken is slightly intimidating and I have never even handled a whole, raw chicken (seriously). Turkeys, chukars, pheasants, yes... chicken, no. This past Sunday one of Chad's fraternity brothers and good friends was going to be passing through on his way home from the Idaho/Nebraska football game. I thought it would be nice to have him join us for a home-cooked meal so I grabbed the chicken out of the freezer and mentioned to Chad that if he got bored while I was gone in town, he could cut it up.

Two hours later, I come home to a still frozen chicken and napping husband. I set it out on the front porch to thaw faster and I begin to prepare my materials to fry this chicken. First things first, I google how to cut up a chicken. I use this method provided by Gourmet Sleuth. To my surprise, it works.

Then, I searched online for "Chuck's Day Off Spiced Buttermilk-Marinated Fried Chicken" because I had seen it on the Cooking Channel and I knew if mine turned out half as good as Chuck's looked - we would be in business. Below are the ingredients, instructions (from cookingchannel.com), and of course, pictures!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 chicken drumsticks (in my case, a whole chicken)
  
• 4 cups buttermilk
• Canola oil, for frying

Instructions:
Mix the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dry mustard powder together in a bowl. Divide the spices evenly between 2 mixing bowls. Add the flour to 1 of the bowls, mix well, and set aside. (I made 1 1/2 of the spice mixture and used one whole mixture for the rub and used the other 1/2 for the flour mixture. I think it just depends on the amount of chicken you have).

Rub the chicken drumsticks with the reserved spice mix. Poke all of the pieces with a fork a few times to let the flavors seep down into the meat. Set aside.
Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cook's Note: You can also let the chicken marinate longer, even overnight.

Add the flour mixture to a large re-sealable plastic bag. Remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk and in batches, drop them into the bag, shaking them to make sure they become heavily coated.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 360 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes.)

Drop the coated chicken drumsticks into the hot oil. Turn the pieces as they brown and do not let them touch each other while frying. Work in batches, if necessary check the underside of a piece by lifting it with tongs. It should be a deep golden brown. Cook the chicken until the pieces are crispy and brown, about 15 minutes, turning occasionally.
To test for doneness: Cut into the thickest part of a drumstick. The juices should run clear and the meat should be opaque throughout. If necessary, pop the chicken into a preheated 325 degree F oven, until they are fully cooked.

Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain the excess oil.

Transfer the drumsticks onto a serving platter, or put into a bucket. Serve the chicken hot, room temperature, or cold.
Oh my goodness, best friend chicken I have ever eaten. Ever. Thank you, Chuck for your recipe - I am in love with this.

Cheap and Easy...A Few Of My Favorite Things

I made this dish for dinner tonight and LOVED it. It was so easy, most of the items needed were already in my pantry/fridge and it was fast. What is not to love about all of those things?

Cayenne Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:
•Coarse salt and ground pepper
•1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
•2 tablespoons olive oil
•1 medium red onion, finely diced
•2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (or 1/2 of lime squeezed)
•1 Hass avocado, pitted and cut into chunks (if they are on the small side I suggest 2)

Directions:

•In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne; rub all over chicken. (FAST HINT: sprinkle each side of the chicken with each ingredient, then rub. The spicier you want it, the darker red you need to make it)

•In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until browned on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side.

•Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice; set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks into onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.

Done...that's it...EAT UP!!

This recipe is from Martha's fabulous collection

Crock Pot Meatloaf

As a child, I never liked meatloaf - there was just something about it. One day though, I was walking through the dinner line at my sorority and I smelled something delicious. You see, we rarely had beef, and once I saw it was meatloaf, I thought I had better give it a try. It was good, paired with mashed potatoes and a fresh green salad, it was really good. I have always made my meatloaf in the oven, but this week, I attempted a crock pot meatloaf and according to Chad, it was the "best meatloaf yet".

Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 slices bread - ripped into small pieces
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 T Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1.5 lbs. ground meat (deer, elk, beef, etc.)
1/4+ cup ketchup
1 t.+ dry mustard
2 T+ brown sugar

Instructions
In large bowl, beat eggs. Pour in milk and top with bread crumbs. Add seasonings and mix well. Next, add ground meat and mix until completely combined.

Prepare crock pot with non-stick spray and put meat mixture into crock pot. Using a spatula, shape meat into a "loaf".

Cook on low for 4-5 hours. During the last half hour, mix the ketchup, dry mustard, and brown sugar in a small bowl and pour part over the loaf.

To prepare the bacon, preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and fill with bacon. Spread ketchup mixture over the top of bacon. Bake 10-15 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Cut loaf into slices and serve with a piece of bacon and any other sides!

Side-note - when I make meatloaf in the oven, I put the bacon and ketchup mixture on at the very beginning. The bacon is the best part.

Enjoy!

BBQ Ribs

We have a stocked freezer and when my husband wants to have something for dinner, he will generally set it on the counter to thaw - as a "hint". If I don't make anything with it for a few days, he generally takes matters into his own hands. So, the other day, I came home and there were pork ribs on the counter - thawing. Here's what I did with them...

BBQ Ribs Ingredients
Ribs
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 T chopped garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 bottle Yoshio's BBQ Blend

BBQ Ribs Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 - Broil. Cut ribs so they fit on broiler (meat side up) and salt and pepper to your liking. Broil for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

While ribs are broiling, combine onion, garlic, soy sauce, and brown sugar in bottom of crock pot.

Once ribs are cool, cut into serving-sized pieces and place in crock pot atop onion mixture.

Pour entire bottle Yoshio's BBQ Blend over ribs and onion mixture. Cook on high for one hour and then low for four-five hours.
Yum! Enjoy!

Easy Country Style Swiss Steak

Lately, I have been obsessed with my crockpot - making everything from pulled pork sandwiches to fajitas to Swiss steak! This recipe is super easy, and I usually have all the ingredients on-hand, not to mention, Chad and I both love mushrooms (or fungus as my brother calls them). I tend to use elk steak in this recipe, but it can easily be substituted with beef - and because the crockpot tenderizes the meat, I usually use the lesser quality cuts from the freezer.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. (approximately) steak (elk, beef, etc.)
1/2 cup flour
1 T garlic salt
1 tsp. butter
1 Spanish Sweet onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup water
noodles

Instructions:
Trim steak and cut into serving sized pieces. Mix flour and garlic salt in Ziploc bag. Place steak pieces into bag and flour on both sides. In frying pan, melt butter and lightly brown both sides of steak.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion. Combine mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, and water - mix well. Place browned steaks in the bottom of crockpot, followed by chopped onions, and mushroom soup mix. Set the crockpot on low for 7-8 hours. Serve with noodles and enjoy!

Sliders - Home Style

I was at the grocery store the other day and saw these cute little mini buns and the infamous Jack in the Box commercial instantly popped into my head.

I couldn't resist making sliders for dinner that night. I rounded up the remaining ingredients and headed home.

The secret to any good burger are these two ingredients. A few shakes (6-8 per lb) of each will give life to your beef without losing the "hamburger" taste we all crave and love.

Since we didn't have any propane for the grill I resorted to the skillet. To be honest, looking back I think I will cook them stove top from here on out. They are too small to really grill, and may cook to fast and dry out.

Yummmmm...Cheese....

The finished result....TA-DA!! This one is garnished with red onions and spicy guacamole. We also had mustard and pickles as finishing touch options.


These were a hit with hubby! We ended up eating TEN of them!!!!!

-Enjoy-
Jodi

Lemon-Butter Salmon

My husband is not only an avid hunter, but fisherman as well. Living in Eastern Oregon, we have access to many salmon and steelhead fishing areas in both Oregon and Idaho and he tends to take full advantage. For this reason, we have a LOT of salmon in our freezer. We have experimented quite a bit with various recipes and this one is always a favorite.

Ingredients:

Salmon - shown below is a half-salmon cut into two large steaks

Lemon Pepper

1 cube butter (melted)

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

1/4 cup yellow Spanish Sweet onion, chopped

1 lemon, sliced

Instructions:
If salmon is frozen, be sure to thaw in the refrigerator before preparation. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium glass dish, place salmon steaks (skin down). Melt butter, and then pour butter and lemon juice over salmon and season (to your taste) with lemon pepper (I tend to use more than most).

Chop onions and sprinkle over salmon. Slice lemon and arrange slices atop salmon and onions. Sprinkle with additional lemon pepper and lemon juice if desired.

Bake 30-45 minutes, or until salmon is flaky. Keep an eye out for bones and enjoy!

Sweet & Spicy Pie!

Even though I did not make this I couldn't help but share its YUMMINESS with everyone!

Sal's Pizza in Dallas makes an amazing pizza. They are located on Wycliff just off of the tollway. Their crust is always cooked perfect! It never too thin & crunchy, or think & heavy. It's thin enough to fold but substantial enough to hold its ingredients. On top of crust perfection their sauce is right there as well. Bottom line is anything you order is going to be brag worthy.

Well I decided to spice up (literally) one of my favorite types of pizzas. Hawaiian (Canadian bacon & pineapple). I added jalepenos...result...DELICIOUS!!! The spicy mixed with the salt of the ham and the sweet of the pineapple was magic in my mouth!

If you are up for it and love spicy as much as I do you will have to try this next time your pizza craving attacks. You won't be disappointed!!!

Wife Training

A long running joke between Ray and Matt is that I need to go to Wife Training. They throw this around when they tease me about cooking dinner, my cleaning habits, etc...well tonight I hit the jack pot when it comes to the cheaters version of Wife Training...Hello Central Market!

I usually don't go into Central Market because it tends to be a little pricey. We do most of grocery shopping at the Tom Thumb (which is across the street from Central Market). Tonight I decided to go in and grab the few items I needed and I am SO GLAD I DID!!! First off it wasn't any more expensive than what it would have been across the street but the quality is 3x better...LOVE THAT!

I also love the "Meal Kits" they had....aka the cheaters version of Wife Training. Tonight I bought the pizza making kit. All of the ingredients were fresh (even the sauce...they make it there in the store), you don't have to buy more ingredients than you will use, and you don't have to slave away in the kitchen all night to prepare a meal (my favorite part)!

Here is the kit and recipe card:
Pizza Dough
Olive Oil
Fresh Basil
Pizza Sauce
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Roasted Garlic Cloves (whole fresh cloves!!!)
Freshly Shredded Cheese

Here is what it looked like right before it went into the oven!

And finally the final product! It was supper yummy!!!!

These Meal Kits are a LIFE SAVER! They are affordable, yummy, and it makes you feel like you made it from scratch - like the good wife you should be :-)
They have all sorts of meals to choose from...I can't wait to try them all! YUM YUM!!

Cheesy Tortellini

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes to make. It is so easy and quick but honestly taste like you have spent all day slaving over it. We have had to double the recipe in our home because we are always wanting more. Rachel Ray was the genius creator of this dish.

Ingredients
1 pound cheese tortellini
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons butter
5 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
2 tablespoons flour
1 2/3 cups milk
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Directions

1. In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the tortellini until al dente; drain.

2. Meanwhile, add the peas, butter and scallion whites to another large saucepan and cook over medium heat for two minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the scallion greens and season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir the tortellini and 1/3 cup cheese into the sauce. Divide the pasta among 4 serving bowls and Easy does it sprinkle with more cheese.