Sweet Tea Fried Chicken

This is a more contemporary dish of the American South. I've seen it pop up in various places recently online and in print; various famous persons with Southern heritage and a culinary bent have prepared this recipe for a receptive public. Yet somehow, whenever I mention the concept to associates or acquaintances, I receive blank, vapid stares (at best). 

For a people that are immensely proud of their culture, I have found that many Southerners are loath to experience anything new, culinarily speaking, even simple variations on epicurean standbys. Fried Chicken is an excellent example of this.

When you look at it, face value, it seems to be a logical, inevitable step. This is a food culture where everyone's mother makes the BEST fried chicken in the county. A culture that consumes cold black tea by the gallon, with enough sugar in it to send otherwise healthy people from cooler latitudes into diabetic shock. And further, a culture that has a tendency to marinade meats for days at a time. Weeks, sometimes. The idea of combining these techniques and qualities into a single, glorious picnic dish was WAY overdue.

So here it is. Now I'll warn you, this takes an amount of preparation. Start on this two days before you want to serve it. Another thing: this is a picnic recipe. What I mean by that is this is a recipe that holds well after cooking, and in fact tastes better cold. Don't ask me how, just does. Eating a leg now.

So, let's get on to the Whys and Wherefores. I started with one whole, young chicken. Cut it up into eight pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 breasts, 2 wings) and set it aside. Now work on your brine. It's the most important part of this process. Here are your ingredients:

1/2 gal. Black Tea, DOUBLE STRENGTH
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup kosher (or sea) salt
1 lemon, cut into slices

Mix all ingredients. Simple, huh? A point, though: Mix your sugar and salt in while the tea is still very hot. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world.

Now, bring the temperature of your Sweet Tea Brine down. I don't much care how; let it rest for a while, pop it in the freezer for a half hour, whatever. Just make sure that the tea is (at most) room temperature. You don't want to prematurely cook your chicken, even a little bit. It will prevent the flavor from seeping into your meat. When your brine is nice and cool, proceed thusly:

Place your chicken pieces into a large bowl, pour in your brine, and give it a good stir to ensure full coverage. Now cover, set in the refrigerator, and wait for two days. Yup, two days. Read War & Peace. Watch the first four seasons of Buffy. Go to work. Have a beer with total strangers and make them feel jealous over your chickeny goodness. For, umm.. two days. Yeah, I didn't think that last one through. If you MUST do something in relation to your upcoming meal (and it's a pretty good idea), every few hours or so give the chicken pieces a good rearranging to ensure even coverage. 

Provided everything has gone smoothly up to now, it's been two days and you're ready to cook. You'll need to bread the chicken. I recommend a simple, single coating consisting of:

2 cups AP flour,
1 tbsp garlic powder,
1 tbsp onion powder,
2 tsp black pepper,
1 tbsp sea salt

Sift all ingredients together.

Remove your chicken from the brine and set on a wire rack to drip drain. When no longer sopping wet (but still very damp), toss in your seasoned flour. Set aside.

Get your pan ready. Set over low-medium heat and add your cooking oil of choice. I prefer a mixture of butter flavored shortening and canola oil, but that's just personal taste. If at this time you can see through the flour on your chicken, give it another toss and start cooking as soon as your oil comes to temp.

Cook until the chicken reads 165 degrees F internally, and when stabbed with a fork the juices run clear. If you have a trace of pink, toss it back in. While cooking, turn every few minutes.

Because of the color the brine will give your chicken, it will be difficult for veteran chicken fryers to judge doneness by sight. You just kind of have to get a feel for it after the first couple of pieces.

Now, on to the eating! Again, I recommend letting it cool thoroughly, although it's still an experience nice and hot. For this meal, I served it with Sweet Potato Souffle and Strawberries, Cornbread, and a huge pitcher of Southern Sweet Tea.

Yes, I'm feeling a little homesick. 

Albondigas de Camaron (Shrimp Meatball Soup)

 Albondigas de Camaron

Every so often, I'm delighted to note that I can be surprised. Culinarily speaking, I mean. One of my darling children can still hide behind the bathroom door as I pass by and leap out like an ambush predator screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night, causing me to shriek in a very undignified manner and consider the possibility of grounding them from OXYGEN indefinitely. But food - different story. Especially living where I do, finding food that makes me sit up and take notice is a nigh-Herculean task.

I got the opportunity to sit up and take notice just yesterday. I was having a very pleasant day out with my wife and our youngest running household errands,  groceries, purchasing kitchen wares, etc. when we decide to stop in someplace for lunch. After a short discussion, we decide upon Inca Mexican Restaurant here in sunny Moses Lake, WA.

Upon casual examination, Inca is everything you expect from a Mexican eatery in a small to mid-sized town. Parking was adequate, we had shown up just after they opened at 11 a.m. so there was no shortage of available spaces. We were met by a colorful (if basic) sign perpendicular to the door identifying the downtown building. The interior was likewise similar to the cultural paradigm of the American Mexican restaurant, decorated with archways, red-brown tile, and artwork depicting important scenes from Mexican history.

(Odd side note, upon arriving I excused myself to make use of the facilities. At the second I flushed, they turned on the canned music, prompting me to think (if just for a moment) that I had done something horribly incorrect with and/or to the toilet.  Common sense arrived a touch late, and when it did I felt very foolish.)

Where Inca stands apart from the average burrito joint is their menu. It has the standardized sections for dinner combinations and the like. (Example:  #3. 2 Enchiladas, 1 Taco, includes Mexican rice, refried beans and cole slaw. You may substitute whole black beans for the refried beans.) These types of items are staples for the American consumer, and are cheerfully kept tucked away toward the back of the main menu. The lion's share of the menu is filled with a selection of what Inca is known for locally: Traditional fare prepared simply and to order. The Shrimp Fajitas are excellent, as my wife can attest.

I decided to try something away from my usual requests. Having become jaded by the food in the area, I usually stick to things that are industry standard and therefore difficult to screw up. For some reason, I felt  adventurous that day and let my eyes hover over a menu item that had SHRIMP MEATBALLS in the description. Sounds interesting. Being that my Spanish is in dire need of some Rosetta Stone polishing, I wasn't sure how to properly pronounce it; further I did not want to insult our waiter's culture by mangling his language with my coarse grammar, so I smiled, pointed, and said I wanted it with the corn tortillas.

The dish:  Albondigas de Camaron

It is a soup traditionally served with beef or sometimes pork meatballs. The guy in charge here apparently thought that such a thing was awfully pedestrian, so changed it out for shrimp. In essence, it is a soup comprised of a rich vegetable stock with large chunks of potato, carrot, and chayote squash. When the broth is nice and simmering, dallops of minced shrimp, onion, egg, and fresh cilantro are dropped into the mix and poached until firm. (There's more to it, but it's their recipe not mine and I think they'd be a little miffed if I gave away trade secrets.)

The soup was served with a saucer containing lime wedges, finely chopped onion, jalapeno, and a chiffonade of more fresh cilantro. Also, a handful of corn tortillas. Being unfamiliar with this dish, I asked our waiter, Ismael, the proper etiquette for eating it. he cheerfully explains that there are a number of methods. I decided to try a few different ones.

Option One: Use the chopped veggies on the side to season your soup to taste and eat as you commonly would any other soup. Tortillas are used as the bread component to the meal.

Option Two: Smash a single meatball into a tortilla, garnish with the side vegetables and eat fajita style. drink the broth at leisure.

Option Three: Break up the meatballs in the soup and num away.

According to our waiter, 90% of Mexicans who eat this dish, regardless of method, squeeze lime over it before anything else. It's just custom.

Suffice it to say, I greatly enjoyed this meal. Our waiter was very helpful and informative, to the point that he divulged ingredients and method of preparation. Now I have a decided interest in making this dish for myself, and have proposed some tweaks to bring it more into the realm of Cajun/Creole cuisine.  

Concerning the kitchen staff who prepared our meal: I do speak a little Spanish. Just enough to get me in trouble, mind you. We could hear them conversing about our order, and I was able to pick out enough to guess that they weren't particularly happy about having to make it. I may agree with them, it's a bit of a procedure getting poached meatballs from shrimp together for a customer first thing in the workday.

Some of the back-and-forth between the wait and cook staff, even in Spanish, was a delightful reminder of my own days working a hot line in a colorful local kitchen (That's local in Georgia, mind you. Very different accents). Ismael, our waiter, apologized for how long it took to get it to our table and informed me that it was made, like the majority of their menu, from scratch the moment I ordered it. It was a polite gesture, but somewhat unnecessary.

The flavor of the Albondigas de Camaron was rich, well developed, and a welcome change from the norm. It was simply prepared and presented, with fresh ingredients and polite staff. My lunch at Inca was indeed memorable.

For those of you who are fond of links:
 
 Inca Mexican Restaurant

Baconcakes!

Baconcakes!

A largely unnoticed slab of yummy Americana, I'm trying to bring it back into the light. It isn't particularly healthy, but it is certainly one of the prettiest breakfasts ever. The concept is also AMAZINGLY simple; I'm sure most can get an idea as to how to do this from the picture alone. The most I can do is give tips for better presentation. However, for the sake of being thorough, I'll give the step by step.
  
For starters, get a nice, medium thickness pancake batter. Too thick and the batter won't pour evenly over the bacon, too thin and you'll have too much spread. Yes, this means you want the batter that Goldilocks chose. (Just right, for those of you who had childhoods bereft of "storytime") Use a box if you like; I grew up in a Bisquick household, myself. Works fine. Pull one from the myriad of pancake recipes off the 'Net if you want to do it yourself. Or you could use this one, below:

(serves about 4)

1 3/4 cups AP Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups Milk
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 oz Canola Oil

-Mix dry ingredients (except sugar)

-Mix wet ingredients (including sugar)

-Mix dry and wet ingredients together well.


 Put your batter aside for the time being and focus your attention on the Bacon. Now, your Bacon should be thick, meaty, and hickory smoked. A nice, strongly flavored Bacon. A "stand alone" bacon, if you will. From here, you have two options: Bake or Fry.

Frying the bacon has the advantage of pre-oiling the pan before you add your pancake batter. If you're only making this for one or two people it will be the fastest method of production. Also, you can more accurately gauge the doneness of your Bacon. (yes, I capitalize Bacon like a proper noun. It deserves to be.)

Baking has the advantage of giving a flatter slice of Bacon, more even rendering of fat, and better color without as much browning. If you're batching this recipe out for many people, this is the most effective method short of a commercial flattop grill. Best method - Wire rack on a cookie sheet. Reserve all rendered Bacon fat to oil your pan in the final cooking process.

Finale:

-Make sure your pan is well oiled with Bacon fat and that you have a slice of the smoky goodness in your pan.

-Carefully pour your batter over the Bacon lengthwise. Pour evenly and directly over the Bacon, it will spread as much as it needs to. 6 oz to a cup will suffice nicely.

-When your pancake gets bubbly across the top, give it a flip. Cook for another minute or so. It should be golden brown and crispy along the edges.

-Serve with lots of Maple Syrup and Butter.

Plated  with Bacon-Cilantro Roses and Strawberry garnish

-Keep for yourself.

Variations:

Two or more slices of Bacon per pancake, grouped tightly.

Chopped Bacon instead of (or in addition to) slices.
                       

Hickory Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf

I've been getting a little grill-happy as of late. Five nights out of seven this past week I've been on the patio with a Guinness and my new Weber grill (thanks, Jenn!) for hours at a time searing many, many dead animals. It may be going a bit overboard.

Case in point: This morning I had a big, heaping bowl of jumbo sea scallops, wrapped in bacon and grilled well. Last night for supper I had MEAT with a side of MEAT and a MEAT garnish. I was debating washing it down with a tall, frothy glass of gravy. For the Gibson Clan, it is a feast. For the barnyard, it is Armageddon. I have a problem.

But in every problem there lay opportunity. And in this opportunity I've come up with something that may revolutionize the concept of Ground Beef as we know it. In my week of excess I have stumbled on something potentially game-changing: Hickory Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf.

Here's what you'll need:

Ground beef (about 1/2 lb per loaf, 2.5 lbs total)
Bread crumbs (half a cup)
Plain potato chips, crushed (half a cup)
2 whole eggs
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (a good tablespoon)
Bacon (12-15 thick slices)

And here's what you do:

-Get your grill going. That's a charcoal grill, folks. Don't let the propane industry fool you. Just can't get the same flavor. For fuel: Charcoal and soaked Hickory Chips. Put the chips directly on the coals before you load up your meat. Alternately, you could use the briquettes with hickory in them, but it's really second-best.

-Mix everything except bacon until uniform. Form into five cigar shapes and wrap in hickory smoked bacon (2 to 3 per loaf). No need to pin it to the meat, just get a good, tight, overlapping wrap.

-Place on a medium heat grill covered, turning as needed.


-Your loaf is done when the bacon is cooked through but not burnt, and meat has a 155 F (68.3 C) internal temp. Lower if you like it more pink.

A couple of things to mention before you really get involved: 1)This is going to vent a LOT of bacon and beef fat into the coals. When you turn them, do so quickly and efficiently. If the grill cover is off for too long this fat will catch fire and might ruin your weekend.  2) I got lazy with the seasoning. Any blend will do, just watch the salt content. The bacon will add a lot of this already, and it's going to lose a bit of moisture while it cooks. You don't want to overpower.





Happy Grilling!

Chicken & Waffles Benedict

Back in college, I took to hanging out with a small group of odd, likeminded people. We had very little in common, with the exception of an appreciation for beer and good food.  Two of them stand out in my memory, David Epps and Marcus Page. I vaguely recall a four-pitcher night with these two ne'er-do-wells when I SWORE that one day, when I was an Executive Chef in charge of an important venue or account, I would serve my clients Chicken & Waffles. Moreover, they would be GRATEFUL for it. I did not know it at the time, but that utterance has stuck with me to this day.

I got my first opportunity to do so with an Interim position with the Oregon Institute of Technology. For two months I took up the mantle of their Executive Chef. It started well enough, I kept a similar menu plan going as their usual and limited my creativity to catered events (with client approval, of course). After a bit the powers that be handed down the assignment of organizing a Weekend Brunch. My words from years ago crept back into the forefront of my brain, reminding me. Taunting. Daring.

You see, office management didn't come in on the weekends. But the Executive Chef implementing a new meal program? Yup, had to be there. It is said that there is no greater tyrant than the Captain of a ship at sea. The same can be said of kitchen leads with total menu control. Armed with this newfound combination of authority and freedom, I declared a standing menu for Sunday Brunch across the whole of resident dining: Southern Fried Chicken and Belgian Waffles.

Two thousand college students and faculty trapped in the Cascade Mountains LOVED it. It's now a permanent fixture on the menu, every Sunday, with lots of maple syrup and hot sauce. 

My inebriated promise had been fulfilled, but something felt unfinished.

The next source of inspiration came from my loving wife, Jenn. You see, she adores my Hollandaise sauce. I make it extra thick and extra lemony. Eggs Benedict and Asparagus makes for an excellent brunch, as well as an excellent excuse to whip up a pint of Stabilized Hollandaise. (details below)

On this occasion, we had it for three meals in a row. Overkill maybe, but you just can't beat a classic. After filling our bellies with poached eggy goodness, we began to discuss alternate methods of making the meal. I offered up my Breaded Oysters Benedict, or a variation with Crabcakes.  My wife suggests Waffles. She does make a lovely Waffle.

The concept reminded me again that I was not yet done with Chicken & Waffles. Or, more likely, Chicken & Waffles was not done with me.

As you can see from the pictures, it's a whole Belgian Waffle for the base. Make sure the batter is slightly sweet. I cannot go into detail about the batter; it's not my recipe and the missus may commit acts of aggression upon me were I to spill it.

Now, I used a Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, butterfly cut to fully separate. Now much thinner, it is soaked in buttermilk and dredged in seasoned flour. The actual seasoning that goes into the flour is a bit of a family secret, as are the circumstances of cooking. I'm from the South. It's kind of how we do things. Either way, make sure your oil is good and hot before dropping your chicken in. It should instantly sizzle and scare you a little. Keep it going until it's golden brown on both sides, and make sure it's fully done. (165 F internal temp will suffice)

Per Jenn's suggestion, the pork product was Bacon. No real reason except that Bacon is so epic it deserves its own anime music intro.  Moving on.

Now the Hollandaise: There is a classic method of preparation that can be easily referenced. Or there are packets you can buy at the market and "just add water". If you're in a commercial kitchen, there is a very passable Hollandaise base that can be had. My approach is different: Start with a classical preparation, but make three alterations to the recipe. 1) do NOT use clarified butter. When it comes time to incorporate butter, use whole, unsalted butter cut into cubes and chilled. Toss in about a third of the butter at a time and keep your whisk moving. 2) After your butter is melted (but before adding lemon juice) throw in an ounce of heavy cream. 3) Use about three times the listed Lemon Juice.  If everything is done properly, you will have a very tangy and extremely stable Hollandaise.

The sauce for this particular dish is a Tabasco flavored Hollandaise. I substituted hot sauce for the vinegar component. It's not for everyone, but it does make a tasty alternative.

Assemble the components as shown, and dig in. With this recipe out of the way, it makes me wonder what else I can get into with Chicken & Waffles. Next stop: FINE DINING!!!

Irish Coffee

Guinness (shown with Bailey's for scale)

It is in the larger hours of the evening, I have had to correct three typos in this sentence so far (ok make it four) and it's Saint Patrick's Day. I must be a little hammered. But let's discuss how my present level of mild intoxication started. Yes, it was a simple cocktail with dessert: Irish Coffee. Alcohol to get the night started, and caffeine to.. um... get the night started. (I mentioned I've been drinking?)

Anyhoo, if you want to learn of the long and vivid history of the Irish Coffee from birth to its present state of maturity, do a Google search and be done with it. I'm dealing purely with the two types I put together tonight. Both have their own unique charm, both allow for a good amount of customization. Let's start with the Traditional.

Irish Coffee in the traditional method - Good Irish whiskey, strong black coffee, brown sugar, and lightly whipped cream floated across the top. Just like Mom used to make. Seriously. Mom was Irish, and strong in the ways of Mixology. In brief:

Irish Coffee, Traditional

1 cup Strong Black Coffee
1 shot Jameson Irish Whiskey
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
2 oz Heavy Cream (whipped into soft peaks)

-Pour hot coffee into a tall, clear glass. There are specialized glasses for this, but it really doesn't matter a whole lot unless you're one of those sticklers for details.

-Add Whiskey and Brown Sugar. Stir until fully incorporated.

-Add whipped cream. If very thick, place a dollop in the middle. If thin enough to pour, do so over a spoon to prevent mixing. The heat from the coffee will bring thicker whipped cream down to a good consistency. Otherwise, you're good to go.

Irish Coffee in the more Americanized Method -  Bailey's & Coffee style. Everything is uniform and it takes additional flavoring well. At least, better than the traditional method. The recipe is easy, too.

6 oz Strong Black Coffee
6 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
1/2 shot Irish Whiskey (optional)

-Mix all ingredients in a clear glass. Yay. Add other stuff to alter/enhance flavor such as mint, chocolate, vanilla, or something fruity if you're feeling particularly, well, fruity that night.

Irish Coffees, for contrast

Now, to view the rest of the culinary festivities that have taken  place for the holiday, give a look at Surreal Confections here: http://surrealconfections.blogspot.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day.html

The Irish Coffee can be expertly used to start a night of drinking, as a pick-me-up during a night of drinking, as a dessert cocktail, and for those "Hair of the Dog" mornings. Very tasty, very versatile. It deserves a second look by the imbibing community. Slainte!

Braised Irish Lamb

Braised Irish Lamb With Root Vegetables

So, today is a very cold, windy day in the middle of March. This means two things: 1) The groundhog is a LIAR, and 2) St. Patrick's Day is upon us. Being as I am a man of Irish descent and a Chef, not to mention the fact that it's too frigging cold to do anything outside, I think I'll cook something appropriate to the holiday. Today's recipe is Braised Irish Lamb.

Colcannon

Now, I'm originally from the American Southeast. Atlanta area, specifically. We have our own way of preparing food that is very unlike the rest of the country. Trust me, I've seen most of the rest of the country. We're kind of unique, culinarily speaking. BUT, one of the founding influences on cuisine of the Deep South was that of Irish immigrants. It makes the concept of Irish Cuisine (no kidding, it exists) easy to comprehend if you already know Southern. Point of fact, a LOT of the traditional Irish recipes I've been researching have made me stop and say,"Hey, my Mom used to make this all the time! She just called it something different."

Surreal Confections Irish Treat

Irish Cuisine has been receiving a second look in recent years. The ingredients are simple, high quality, and easy to work with. Rule One of cooking and eating well: Start with good, fresh ingredients. With this cuisine, it's almost impossible not to. It allows for a great deal of variation and customization, it is very unpretentious, and can be really amazing as my wife and I are proving all this week. For a closer look at hers, check out her work at Surreal Confections. Make sure you tell your loved ones and keep those tissues handy.

Braised Irish Lamb 


Boneless Leg o’ Lamb, about 3 – 4 lbs
1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
1 tbsp fresh dill, minced
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Sea Salt (TT - To Taste)
2 stalks of celery, medium dice
2 medium turnips, large dice
1 large onion, yellow, large dice
2 medium parsnips, bias sliced
1 cup baby carrots
1 cup button mushrooms, quartered
1 pint beef stock, strong
2 pints Guinness (One for you, one for the pot. YES, you have to share)
½ cup cooking oil, something unassuming like canola
2 tbsp cooking sherry
1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
Another part cooking oil
AP Flour, as needed for roux

-For starters, make sure your boneless Leg o’ Lamb is actually boneless. Machine aided processing plants may leave shavings or shaggy bits of bone for your dining enjoyment and/or dentist’s fees. Pour a bit of oil into a sauté pan and preheat low. Also, decide if you want to use a large pot for this enterprise or a slow-cooker. I used a slow cooker (those things are amazing), but the same effect can be had from a good pot on low heat.

-Sprinkle salt over the whole of your Legolamb (he’s like the elf  from that series of really famous movies based on those books by that British guy that we can’t reference because of copyright laws, but much chunkier) and rub it in. Do likewise with your Thyme, Dill, and Garlic.

-Crank up the heat in your pan until your oil wants to smoke, then quickly sear off your Lamb on all sides. There may be a bit of charred material in the bottom, don’t worry about it. Deglaze with Sherry and place the contents (Lamb, Sherry, Herbs and Black Stuff) into your pot.

-In the same pan, add a touch more oil and bring up to temperature. Add all of your veggies (Celery, Turnip, Carrot, Onion, Parsnip, and Mushrooms) and caramelize lightly. Deglaze with a bit more Sherry and add to your pot along with the Lamb.

-Add all remaining ingredients except for remaining oil and flour to the main pot, stir gently to incorporate, and cover. Set a three hour timer (at least) and let it ride.

-When the timer approaches doneness, heat the remaining oil in a small stockpot , add desired flour, and stir constantly. When it approaches a light brown, remove from heat.

-When your Lamb is done cooking, strain out the meat and veggies, reserving the liquid. Pour said liquid in with your oil/flour mix, return the pot to heat, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Continue to cook until thickened, strain, and hold.

-Slice the Lamb into 2 oz portions. It should be barely fork tender but still solid enough to hold up to slicing. If you’ve gone too far, mix Lamb, Veggies, and Gravy. Call it stew, and call it a day. If you didn’t screw it up, proceed to the next step.

-Serve the Lamb with the reserved Root Vegetables, top with your newly made Lamb & Guinness Gravy, and enjoy. That extra pint? Crack it open. You've earned it.