Saturday, May 22, 2010

The Best Fried Chicken


This is by far the best fried chicken recipe I have ever tried. It delivers crispy juicy chicken every time. I have tried all the other recipes with buttermilk and flour and find it has a burnt taste. I recommend only buying whole chickens. For many reasons, you get consistent size pieces, you can save the back and innards for stock and they are cheaper. I serve this with a dipping sauce ( ketchup, hot sauce) or you can toss it in some melted butter with garlic and parmesean cheese.

1- Whole frying chicken (cut into 8 pieces)

1 1/2 cup cornstarch

salt and pepper

Canola oil

Remove chicken from fridge 1 to 1 1/2 hours before cooking. This helps ensure even cooking and doesnt drastically drop the temp of the oil when you put it in.

I use a Le Creuset dutch oven to fry in. ( in fact I use it for almost everything). It delivers consistent heat that is easily controllable.

Clean the chicken well and pat dry. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large bowl sift 3/4 cup of cornstarch put to the side. Sift the rest of the cornstarch into another bowl. dredge chicken pieces in the cornstarch and place on wire rack. Let dry for 10-15 minutes.

Put about 1/2 to 3/4 inch canola oil in pot. Bring up to 350 degrees. If you dont have thermometer you can test the oil by putting a drop of water. It should bubble rapidly. Whisk 3/4 cup of water into the 3/4 cup of sifted cornstarch. Place chicken 1 piece at a time into cornstarch water mixture than carefully into oil. only fry 3-4 pieces at a time. Do not crowd pot. Only fry about 5 minutes per side. Remove from oil and put back on wire rack. Fry the next batch the same. After all pieces have been fried once you will fry them again. This will ensure a crispy juicy chicken. Put the first batch back in the pot. This time fry around 5-10 minutes per side depending on the size of the piece. It should be a nice golden brown. Remove to wire rack and salt immediately. Finish the rest of the chicken the same way. You can put the already fried chicken in the oven at 300 degrees to keep warm.

Enjoy

Buh Bye

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Wild Boar Ribs

I wanted my first recipe to be a little adventurous. Many years ago I was able to eat wild boar in Brazil and it was so good I have been looking for it ever since. So when I was shopping at Surfas the other day I found them with their other exotic meats and had to take a shot. You can easily substitute pork ribs for this recipe.

Marinade:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup Ketchup

1/2 cup Soy sauce

2 tblsp worchestire sauce

2 tblsp sherry or mirin is ok

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 knob ginger crushed

Mix together all marinade ingredients well so sugar is dissolved. Cover ribs with marinade and refrigerate overnight. Remove ribs 1 hour before cooking to bring to room temp.

Preheat oven to 325

It is best to place ribs on 2 piece roasting pan so the fat can drip under and away from the meat. Reserve the marinade. Cook ribs for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Brush reserved marinade over ribs every 15 mins except for the last 15 to 20 minutes. remove from oven and let rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Buh bye

Monday, May 17, 2010

Wow. Had lunch at Huckleberry on Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Forget the fact that this place is a madhouse. There's a reason. I had the brisket sandwhich on ciabatta bread. It was outstanding. My beautiful wife had Brisket hash. The hash is big chunks of brisket with roasted potatoes and a tomato based sauce served with 2 perfectly cooked eggs. We also shared a custard filled tart that was perfect. I highly reccomend this place. If you don't like the crowd get the food to go and enjoy it on the beach or the bluff.
Buh bye.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Getting started

It's always been a dream of mine to be a writer. I think for most writers it's not important that your read. It's the therapy of putting thoughts to paper. Today I will start combining some of my passions ( cooking, eating, writing and art ). I love to cook. When I cook all other thoughts are put to the side. My first recipe post will be challenging. I recently bought wild boar st. louis ribs from Surfas. So off I go to figure out what to do with them.
Buh Bye