Warm Mango Salsa

“Salsa has now passed ketchup as America’s favorite condiment. Isn’t that amazing? You know it’s bad when even our vegetables are starting to lose their jobs to Mexico.” >>>Jay Leno

Ingredients

1 cup red onions, charred and chopped (quarter inch pieces)
1 quart small diced mango (drained and chopped in quarter inch pieces)
1/4 cup diced red pepper (eighth of an inch pieces)
1/2 cup mango puree
1/4 cup scallions (chopped on bias)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Peel and slice red onion in 2 to 3 large pieces lay on hot grill and char. Chop the red onion into quarter inch pieces. Dice the Mango and red pepper; then place the red onion, diced mango and red pepper in a large bowl. Add the mango puree and mix well, let the mixture refrigerate for about an hour to let the flavors meld together. When ready to use, heat on the stove top on medium heat until warmed through. Remove from heat and add the scallions and cilantro. Serve over grilled fish or chicken.

 

Honey w/ Red Pepper Flakes

Well, basically I wanted to post this because this is something I add to my fried chicken almost all the time. 

I know.  It’s not the most original concoction out there.  It’s not some highly technical, highly involved, confusing 8 ingredient recipe.  I really wouldn’t call it a recipe at all actually… 

But if you like sweet and savory, then you should give this a try.  Personally, I like to just drizzle it over my chicken, but my friend loves to coat hers almost completely!  That’s a little to sweet for me though. 

Either way, give this a try.  You’ll want to add it to you’re fried chicken all the time!

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey

Red Pepper Flakes

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the honey with the red pepper flakes, adding enough red pepper to the heat level you desire.  

You can either drizzle over your fried chicken or coat it completely.

 

Diablo Chicken

This is a great recipe that consists of chicken breast that is wrapped around a savory creamy filling and sprinkled with a sweet and crunchy topping.

Traditionally it’s served with fettucinni alfredo and a nice salad. This recipe comes straight from Capo’s Cafe.  It’s closed down now, but this is one of the most beloved dishes.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp  Butter

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt & pepper to taste

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small skillet, add the butter. Saute mushrooms until softened and set aside to cool. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, thyme, garlic powder, salt, pepper and oregano. Add mushrooms and stir to combine. Pound out each chicken breast until flat. Spread with equal parts of the filling, roll and place seam-side down in a baking pan.

In another bowl, mix the sugar, pecans, mustard and parsley. Spread mixture on top of the chicken. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

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Fried Chicken

Nearly everyone has their favorite Fried Chicken recipe.  This one has been very good to me for quite some time.  It’s flavorful and the coating comes out nice and crisp. 

If time permits, I soak my chicken in a brine or in buttermilk for a few hours.  But with this recipe, it’s not necessarily needed.

Ingredients

6 cups vegetable oil for frying 

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons ground white pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

3 eggs

1 frying chicken, cut up

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat in a deep cast iron skillet. Combine the flour, salt, peppers, and paprika in a bowl.

In another bowl, break eggs and beat until well blended.

Check temperature of oil by dropping a pinch of flour mixture in pan. If the oil bubbles rapidly around the flour, it will be the right temperature.

Dip each piece of chicken into eggs; then coat generously with the flour mixture. Let rest on a cookie rack for 30 minutes to let the coating adhere nicely to the chicken. Drop each piece into the hot oil and fry for 15 to 25 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

Drain chicken on paper towels and serve warm.

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Gumbo

There’s one thing about Gumbo that you should know.  There are so many versions, it’s utterly ridiculous. 

 

You can leave in or delete many of the ingredients below.  The roux (the shortening/flour mixture), is pretty much a staple in gumbo, but some people leave that out and use a tomato base.  I personally have never had a Gumbo with tomatoes, and I probably never will.  I know I said you can change things up, but I could never imagine making a gumbo with tomatoes.  My great grandmother, cajun as you can get, told me that a good gumbo should look like dirty mop water.  No, it doesn’t sound appetizing, but that’s pretty much the way it looks.  Now, back to the different ways to make gumbo.  The recipe below calls for a shortening/flour mix for the roux.  But many people use vegetable oil. Also, if you don’t want to use water, you can use shrimp stock, chicken stock, vegetable stock…  You can leave the chicken out, and substitute it for duck, rabbit, squirrel,  nutria, raccoons and opossums.  You can substitute the Blue Crab for Dungeness Crab (though don’t let my mom know you did that, cuz that’s not new orleans), you can use a different type of sausage (a more cajun one, or andouille).  Leave the oysters out if you want!   

The bottom line?  No two families make gumbo the same.   

But this is THE way my mom always makes her gumbo.

Serves 12-14

1 cup shortening
1 cup flour  (the flour and shortening combo make the roux.  add more roux to make your gumbo thicker, and less for a thinner gumbo)
1 large onion, chopped 
3 ribs celery, chopped 
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 gallons water or chicken stock 
1 chicken, cut up 
1 lb smoked sausage, cut in 1/4 inch slices 
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
2 bay leaves  
2 (8 oz) can oysters, with the water (boiled, not smoked)
3 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 
3 pounds blue crab, cracked down the middle 

Heat the shortening on medium high in a large cast iron skillet. Once melted add the flour and combine. Cook the roux, stirring constantly, to a dark peanut butter color. This takes quite a while, just go with it.
***disclaimer: roux needs to be stirred constantly, if you walk away for even a minute, it will burn. If this happens, throw it away and WASH YOUR SKILLET. Wiping it won’t do because the taste and smell will still be there***
When the roux reaches a color just a bit darker than peanut butter, add the vegetables, combine and continue cooking and stirring. (be careful not to spatter yourself when you add the veggies). When the vegetables are tender and the roux reaches the chocolate color, carefully transfer it to a heavy bottomed large pot. Add the water (or stock) and stir until the roux incorporates with the water. Add the chicken, seasonings and bay leaves. Simmer for about a 1/2 hour, then add the sausage.  Continue cooking for an additional 1/2 hour. BTW…it should have a stew like consistency.

Add the oysters, shrimp and crab about 10 minutes before serving.  Re-season with salt, pepper if needed
Serve in large soup or gumbo bowls over about 1/2 cup of cooked rice per serving.  Sprinkle a little gumbo file (fee-lay) on top before serving, if you so desire
Oh!! Don’t eat the bay leaves!!!

Tori no kara-age

Ok.  That’s a pretty fancy name.  It’s just Chicken Nuggets.

But these are no ordinary nuggets.  These are little pieces of heaven Japanese Chicken Nuggets!  That means that whenever I know I’m gonna be eating them or making them, my tummy does the happy dance.

Nope…the Golden Arches have nothin’ on these chicken nuggets!!

Serves 2

Ingredients

8 ounces boneless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces ( To change it up a little, I usually use one thigh and one breast)

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp grated ginger

1 clove garlic, grated

2 tsp soy sauce

1 lemon, halved

2 tbsp wheat flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

Oil for deep frying

Directions

Mix together the egg, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and the juice from 1/2 a lemon in a medium sized bowl.  Place the chicken pieces in the bowl and toss to coat.  Let the chicken marinate for about 1/2 an hour.

Meanwhile, mix together the flour and cornstarch.

Heat the oil in your wok, or heavy bottomed skillet.

After the chicken has marinated, remove from the liquid and let the excess drain off.

Toss the chicken in the flour mixture to coat.  Deep fry in the oil until golden brown.

After cooking is complete and the chicken is removed from the oil, squeeze the other half of the lemon over top the chicken.

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Madras Curry Fried Chicken

 This is a recipe I found on the web posted by ‘Foreign Cinema’.  Foreign Cinema is a restaurant in San Francisco, and was very nice to share this recipe.  Cuz this chicken is hella good!!

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp, plus 1 tsp Madras Curry Powder

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/8 tsp Red Chili Flakes

1 pinch Sugar

1 (3 lb) Chicken, cut into 8 pieces

3 tsp Kosher Salt, divided

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Black Pepper

3 cups Buttermilk

Directions

Mix together 3 tbsp curry powder, garlic powder, chili flakes and sugar.  Season the chicken with the curry mixture and 2 tsp salt.  Cover; refrigerate overnight.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, pepper, remaining 1 tsp curry powder and the remaining 1 tsp salt.

Dip the chicken in the buttermilk, and then throughly coat with the flour mixture.

In a fryer preheated to 300f, fry chicken until golden brown and cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a sheet pan; let rest 4 minutes before serving.

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Just a side note….

 The recipe above is as written by the Foreign Cinema restaurant.  My variation is as follows… 

I don’t marinade it overnight, because by the time I would make it the next day, which would be in the evening, I think the marinade would be too strong for my liking.  I usually prepare it in the morning, and let it sit for about 8 or 9 hours.   At the 7′ish hour mark, I pour enough buttermilk to cover the chicken, and let it set for another couple hours.  I also use about 2 cups of panko, and 2 cups of flour; mixed together with about 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp salt, 1/2 tbsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tbsp red pepper.  This adds more flavor, and the panko makes for a great crunchy coating. 

These are just my preferences.    I wanted to keep the integrity of the recipe by publishing it as written by the creator. 

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Fried Chicken Wings

This is one of my favorite recipes!  I know it’s basic.  Maybe somewhat boring.  But I love wings!!  I usually enjoy half the batch bare, and the other half I drizzle with warm honey spiked with red pepper flakes!!  Oh.  So.  Yummy!

Serves 2

Ingredients
2/3 cup dry panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
10 chicken wings

Directions
Heat oil to 375 degrees F. 
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the bread crumbs, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk egg and water. Cut chicken wings into three sections; discard wing tips. Dip wings in egg, then place in bag and shake to coat.  After you’ve completed coating all the wings, place them on a baking rack, and let them sit for 15-20 minutes. In small batches, fry until golden brown and the juices run clear.

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Fried Chicken Gizzards

Yeah. I know. This is alot of work (ok, not really alot of work, just takes a while), but it’s worth every minute. I grew up on southern food, and this is something my mom used to make as a snack, or sometimes even lunch. If you have no experience with gizzards, they can be pretty chewy. That’s the reason for the boiling. Some people let them sit in buttermilk overnight (to get them tender), and use it the next day in place of the eggs for the coating. Either way works fine. Please think of me when you’re enjoying these chicken innards… = )

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds chicken gizzards
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
3 eggs
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions
Clean the gristle and fat from the gizzards, and rinse under cold water. Place gizzards in a pot of cold water seasoned with 1/2 tbsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder. Bring water and gizzards to a boil for about 45 minutes. Strain gizzards using a colander, and cool.
Combine 1/2 cup flour, and the remaining salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a plastic bag. Shake well to combine. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and set aside.
Preheat vegetable oil to medium-high heat (375 degrees F).
After the gizzards have cooled, in small batches, toss the gizzards in the unseasoned 1/2 cup flour and shake off excess, dip into the egg mixture, then dredge in the seasoned flour and coat thoroughly. Shake off excess flour and deep fry the gizzards for about 2-3 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.
Remove to paper towels to drain.

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