Monday Night Dinner

When I was little the rule was you could ask for whatever you wanted for your birthday dinner within reason. Translated, this meant that while my father did not get wild boar in port sauce, I did get fried chicken every year for my birthday. I still only make fried chicken about once year. It’s not because I think it’s necessarily terrible for you, or even because it’s that hard to make. Mostly it’s just because it’s messy and I hate cleaning up afterwards.

That being said, there are days when you just crave fried chicken and this Sunday when I was making the weekly grocery shopping list was one of them.

So Dinner this week was:

Fried Chicken
Sliced tomatoes (beautiful striped heirloom tomatoes)
Melon
Cole Slaw
Corn

Fried Chicken

• Soak your chicken in buttermilk overnight. It tenderizes the meat, and makes the flour stick better.

• Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Figure on about 1.5 Tbsp salt and 1 Tbsp pepper for every cup of flour that you use, and be generous with your flour.

• Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and toss in the flour, one piece at a time. When all your pieces have been coated, go back and toss them in the flour a second time.

• Fill your frying pan(s) about 1/3 full of Crisco (if you don’t have Crisco or have some aversion to it, regular oil will work too but I like Crisco because it has a higher smoke point and it resolidifies when it cools which makes for easier clean up). Heat the oil until you can see a heat shimmer above the pan and a bit of flour dropped into it crisps instantly.

• Place your chicken in the hot oil, being careful not to over crowd the pan. It’ll probably take about 15-20 minutes for legs and thighs, and a little longer for breasts. It’s done either when you stick a meat thermometer in it and it registers 180, or when it’s brown and crispy and feels cooked when you squeeze it. When you take the chicken out of the pan drain it on brown paper bags, or paper towels before you serve it.

Then, the real secret to fried chicken . . . . get someone else to clean the kitchen.

Cole Slaw

1 apple, shredded
½ green cabbage, sliced thin
½ red cabbage sliced thin
2 carrots, shredded

Dressing:
1/3 cup mayo
1/6 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp cider vinegar
½ tsp salt

I cheat and use a bag of the pre-shredded cole slaw that you get in the grocery store, and then I add a grated apple before I dress it.