"1,2,3,4. Can I Have A Little More?"

A few classes ago at Tech Center, Chef Kimmel taught us how to cut a whole chicken into 8 pieces-two breasts, two wings, two thighs, two drumsticks-it was far from glamorous.

A video to help explain [not mine of course]:

First things first, wash your hands, then rinse and dry the chicken [carry the chicken in a bowl so it doesn't drip and cross-contaminate everything withe salmonella.] Place the chicken breast side up on a plastic cutting board, never use a wood cutting board when handling raw meat, it absorbs the bacteria. Pull one of the legs away from the body and slice through the skin between the body and the sides of the thighs. Bend the whole leg away from the body until the hip bone pops from its socket- cut between the ball and socket to sever the leg. Repeat on the other side.

Once the legs are separated divide them into the and thigh. Do this by cutting through the joint of the drumstick and thigh.Repeat with other leg. Now you have your two thighs and drumsticks.

Now you need to get the wings off that bad boy! Pull the wing away from the body and slice diagonally 1" away form where the wing joint meets the body. Cut off the tip of the wing-save for making stock or throw it out. Repeat with the second wing.

Last but not least: getting the breast off the chicken. Set the chicken up vertically, so you can look down the neck cavity, and cut down through the shoulder bones to detach the back from the breast. You can save the backbone for a stock, eat the meat if you want, or just dump it. Once the breast is by itself cut it in two down the length of the breastbone.

Viola! a whole chicken divided into eight pieces. You can leave the skin on or take it off, its up to your personal preference, I usually take it off except for when i fry it.

Which reminds me, after we divided up our chickens, Chef Kimmel let us decide how to prepare our pieces. I chose to fry it, mainly because I am fried chicken champion, in the words of Chef, I "knocked Colonel Sanders out of the park," I was most pleased.

The breading was a crispy golden brown crafted with a perfect Melody of flavors, the chicken was tender and juicy, the ideal tasting conditions.

Southern Fried Chicken:
-8 pieces of chicken, skin on, [breasts each cut in half]
-2 eggs
-3-4 c. buttermilk
-1 tsp. liquid smoke
-6-8 c. flour
-3 tbs. dried rosemary
-2 tbs. paprika
-1 tbs. seasoned salt
-1/2 tbs. cayenne pepper
-2 tsp pepper
-Vegetable or soy oil for frying

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and liquid smoke. Set aside. In yet another medium bowl, combine the flour and seasonings. Take one piece of chicken, dip in flour, then buttermilk mixture, then dredge in flour, dip in buttermilk mixture again, then the flour again. This creates a nice breading on the chicken and dredge multiple times builds the potential crispness off the skin. Repeat with each piece of chicken, If more buttermilk mixture is need combine 1 egg and 1 cup buttermilk. For more flour combine another cup of flour with 2 tsp. rosemary, paprika, seasoned salt, and cayenne pepper.

Pour about 4" of oil into a large saute pan or pot with high sides. Heat the oil on medium heat. To check if the oil is ready, stick the end of a wooden spoon in the oil, if it bubbles all around it then its time to fry! Fit as many pieces in at a time as you can, make sure its not too crowded though. The biggest piece, usually the thigh, will obviously take longer to fry than the others, it should take around 20-24 mins. 10-12 each side. The pieces should be a delectable dark golden brown. If you are paranoid about it being done, check the internal temperature, 165 degrees is the safe zone.

Put on a plate, serve with biscuits, gravy,potatoes, etc. etc.

Enjoy!

[Beatles Lyrics For Title]

Im Famished

Honestly, there is very little to eat in my house at the moment. I mean there are bagels and grapes and some blackberries but seriously? What happened to everything? I blame communism. Anyway I'm thinking about making some bread or muffins or something out of flour, yeast, butter and sugar since those are basically the only things in my kitchen right now. Hell i just might make cookies for dinner...dinner cookies. Yeah that's it ill attempt making a savory cookie.... this should be interesting. Ill post m discoveries later tonight.

Also I haven't posted in the last couple days b/c Ive been out of it and playing video games and trying to remember to do my homework; not to mention getting ready for the S.A.T. Oh the joys of high school!

On the final note, Tech Center was okay today. We had to make up our own Stir-Fry recipe, mine came out pretty good but I'm getting sick of just making stir-fries. I'll get over it,I love Tech Center.

Here's my Stir-fry recipe-

Sesame Honey Chicken Stir-fry:
Sauce:
-1/4 c. soy sauce
-1/4 c. chicken stock
-3 tbs. honey
-1 tbs. lemon juice
-2 tsp. sesame oil
-2 tsp. paprika
-1 tsp. cumin
-1 tsp. curry powder
-1 tsp. ginger
-1 tsp. turmeric
-1/2 tsp. ground mustard

Stir-fry:
-2 cloves garlic,minced
-3 scallions, minced
-1 rib of celery, 1/4" thick half moons
-1/2 carrot, julienned
-1/2 zucchini, julienned
-1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
-6 oz. grilled chicken, 1" cubes

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat a saute pan on medium-high heat. Add in the sauce mixture, bring to not quite a simmer. Add in the garlic and scallions, saute for around 3 mins. Toss in the veggies, cook for 5 mins.
Finally put in the chicken and heat for a final 3-5 mins.

Veggies should be a nice tender-crispness, or aldente [to the teeth.]

Serve with sticky white rice, so much more fun to eat it with chopsticks!

Good Till The Last Bite

I'm dead right now. I had a very difficult triathlon today, the bike course was described as "gently rolling hills". More like the Peaks of Hell! My quads are fried but i got 1st in my age group because i was the only girl my age with enough balls to take on the race. Anyways i need to talk ab out something delicious i discovered yesterday at the Iron Bridge Wine Company in Warrenton, Virginia.

This restaurant is pretty frigging good. They had a delicious cheese plate of blue cheese, a hard white Cheddar, and some sort of medium hard cheese; partnered with slice green apples crispy nutty crackers and delicious crusty bread.

However the cheese plate is not why I have taken such a liking to this place, it was the Chicken and Red Grape Pizza. I saw it on the menu and knew i needed to eat it.

This personal gourmet pizza was exquisite. The chicken was tender and juicy, the juicy hot grapes bursted in my mouth with their caramelized sugars flirting with my taste-buds. Underneath these tantalizing toppings was a sheet of perfectly melted Gruyere cheese on top of a thin tender pizza crust. I enjoyed it to the last bite which in my opinion is the goal of a chef. Anyone can get someone to love the first bite but it takes talent to get someone to enjoy a dish just as much till the last bite.

I've formulated what i figure is the closest recipe ill get to this glorious dish.

Chicken and Red Grape Pizza:

Crust:

[You can use a thin 6" frozen pizza crust if preferred]

-1 tbs. sugar

-1/2 tsp. salt, kosher

-1/2 tbs. pure olive oil

-1/3 c. warm water

-1 c. bread flour

-1 tsp instant yeast

-an extra tsp. olive oil

Toppings:

-1 chicken breast

-12 seedless red grapes

-2 or 3 oz. crumpled Gruyere cheese

-1 tsp. snipped chives

-1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large bowl place the sugar, salt, olive oil, water, flour, and yeast. [you can use an electric mixer on low for this.] Combine until the dough just forms into a ball. Dump onto a floured surface and knead for 15-25 mins. Form a smooth ball and place in a glass bowl. Pour in the extra tsp. of olive oil and toss the dough to coat. Cover in plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until double in size.

Meanwhile, cut the chicken breast into very small, bite size cubes. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the saute pan. Gently saute with a pinch of salt, half a pinch of pepper, and 1 tsp lemon juice.

Preheat the hotbox [with the pizza stone on the lower rack] to 425 F

Mold the dough into a 6" pizza crust; form a rim to keep the toppings in; brush with olive oil. Crumple the Gruyere evenly on the crust. Sprinkle on the pepper. Distribute the grapes and chicken bites, evenly covering the pizza.

Place pizza on the hot pizza stone. Bake for 15-20 mins, until golden brown crust and the cheese is melty and bubbly.

Cut into fourths; sprinkle with chives and dig in.

Enjoy.

This Is My Happy Dance.

I'm a very cheerful kiddo right now, i finally have bagels and bread in my dads house! I've gone over 3 days without bread; it shouldn't have been legal. I mean all of this could have been avoided if my brother didn't take all my bagels and my yummies back to college with him. jerk. [i actually love my brother tons though.] My plum jam was amazing with cream cheese on my bagel. There was much rejoicing and i did my "Happy Dance."

Aside from the joy of baked goods, i cooked a roast chicken. I've actually never roasted a whole chicken myself before, i usually just help my dad since he likes to cook too. However i flew solo tonight and i indulged in my scrumptious results.

Roast Chicken and What-Not:
-1 roasting chicken
-2 tsp salt
-1 tsp black pepper
-2 tsp dried basil
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp coriander
-2 tsp paprika
-5 cloves of garlic chopped
-1/4 cup chicken broth + additional for keeping it moist later on in cooking

Preheat the hotbox to 375

First de-gut the bird then place the chicken in a roasting pan and smother that bird in them herbs! Next pour the broth over the chicken then pop into the oven. Cook for 20 mins per lb plus an extra 10 mins. While its roasting keep an eye on it and add additional

Viola yummy roast chicken!

"I love chicken. I would eat chicken fingers on Thanksgiving if it were socially acceptable."

I was browsing through my fridge tonight figuring out how i wanted to prepare these chicken breasts i had. I looked to the top shelf, and a large container of plump ripe blueberries was staring me in the face. Then it hit me a mustard rosemary blueberry roast chicken. Yeah i know not the most common thing, but my thought process is odd therefore i create odd dishes. so i created a mustard based marinade slathered it on the chicken topped it with blueberries, slid it in the oven for 30 minutes, let some shredded asiago melt on it, and viola! It was moist, delicious and the contrasting flavor of the mustard and blueberries perplexed me in the best of delicious ways.



Roasted Mustard Blueberry Chicken:
-2 chicken breasts
-2 tsp. olive oil
-Salt
-Pepper
-2 tbs. Dijon mustard
-2 cloves garlic, crushed
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
-2 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped.
-A handful of fresh blueberries
-Grated Asiago cheese

Preheat the hotbox [oven] to 375 degrees

Using a fork poke holes in the top and bottom of the chicken breast. Rub a teaspoon of olive oil on each breast then salt and pepper to your liking. In a small bowl combine the mustard, garlic, cinnamon, rosemary, and a pinch of salt. coat each side of the breasts with mustard mixture. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and top with blueberries. Roast in the oven for 30 mins or until the thickest part reaches around 160 degrees. top with grated cheese and put back in the hotbox until it melts nicely atop your scrumptious chicken.



Enjoy with a salad or rice. Good night.

[Todd Barry quote for title]