What's for Dinner? ~ Wednesday the 18th Edition

[Lucinda]

It's Southern Food Night here in the 'burg.

I'm going to fry chicken for Bill, but I'm in the mood for something less animal-y so I'm going to dig through the lentil recipes here for my dinner. I'm thinking of trying a lentil loaf, but soup sounds good too.

There will also be green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh bread, and a big ol pitcher of Sweet Tea. :)

I'm also contemplating making some evil shortbread.

What's for dinner where ye be?

[hippywife]

1. If you want something different in the way of lentils,

there's a really nice restaurant here that serves a chilled lentil salad that's out of this world. This is how they describe it:

Chilled tender lentils with spinach, feta cheese,
roasted red bell peppers and aged red wine vinaigrette

The spinach is fresh, not cooked.

[Lucinda]

2. That sounds really good! I love spinach & feta in any form and

adding in the protein of the lentils sounds good! I'll give that a try soon.

I am pre-cooking lentils and rice now and am deciding what to use as a binder for a lentil loaf. I'd use oats and egg, but I'm out of oats...so I'm surfing for options. I can make a pilaf out of it if I have to, but I want a loaf! :D

[soleiri]

3. Black bean and corn soup

I've been looking at the plethora of recipe books that I have & I've decided that it was about time I started to use them.

Anything lentils sounds perfect.

[Lucinda]

5. Black beans are one of my very favorite things.

Your dinner sounds pretty yummy to me.

I just took the experimental lentil loaf out of the oven. Smells good....but we shall see what it TASTES Like. :)

[yellerpup]

4. It's snowing/sleeting and I have a variation on posole working.

For one gallon of soup, One pork chop, chicken broth, hominy, black beans, onion, carrot, Rotel Original (1 can) and a mess of collard greens. With corn muffins. Low fat, high nutrition. Although, fried chicken is my favorite dish of all time...Bill is some lucky tonight!

[Lucinda]

6. He's not THAT lucky. I still havent mastered fried chicken. :(

:rofl:
But it is getting better each time. :)

Your dinner sounds awesome!

[yellerpup]

7. The NYTimes (Calvin Trillin, I think) printed a recipe for fried chicken

about 30 years ago that I have been using since. The article was about a woman in Kansas City named Chicken Betty who had a following and after you try her chicken you will want to adopt her, I swear. I'll see if I can find it for you if you want the actual recipe.

[Lucinda]

8. Yes please....any recipe that starts with "A Woman in Kansas City named Chicken Betty"

is DEFINITELY worth a try! :hi:

[yellerpup]

12. It'll take some digging, but I know I have it around somewhere.

:hi:

Can't spell.

[Lucinda]

13. Thanks!

Tonights was better, but there is lots of room for improvement. :rofl:

[yellerpup]

16. The worst fried chicken I ever had was still pretty darn good.

I bet Bill would say that you are selling yourself short. You do have cast iron skillets, don't you? Chicken Betty insisted on using cast iron. I have two, one is a very deep 10" skillet with 5" sides and a lid, and the other is a 10" skillet with 3" sides. The lid fits both skillets perfectly perfectly. I am telling you this because I'm going to be cooking for my fundraiser between now and Saturday and won't have a chance to track down the recipe for you immediately. Chicken Betty was the eldest of 11 children and had been frying chicken from the time she was a little girl and was a somewhat temperamental cook. Local restaurants around Kansas City hired her when they had the chance, although I seem to recall that she would get in a tizzy over one thing or another and indulge in a little drama and walk out taking both her clientele and her skillets. She likes her fryers about 3-1/2 lbs. so they have some meat on their bones. She washes the pieces in cold water, pats them dry, then lets them air dry long enough to shake the refrigerator chill off. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and roll them in seasoned flour. She likes salt, pepper, and a little paprika mixed in with about 4-5 C. of flour in a big bowl, and wisks all together with a fork. Divide the seasoned flour and make an assembly line with the flour on both sides and a bath of eggs beaten with milk and salt (and a drop of liquid pepper) in the middle. Chicken Betty said to "tump" the chicken into the flour mixture one piece at a time, vigorously thumping the flour into each piece. Next step, dredge the floured chicken piece in the egg mixture and let the excess drip off before rolling it into the second flour mixture and again "tumping" the flour on so that it will stick. By the time you get all the pieces dredged, dipped and floured, the deep skillet should be about half full with the oil/lard just under the smoking point (about 375) and ready to fry. She insists on using lard for frying and disapproves of oil, she did say something about Crisco, I think, but times have changed. I got into the habit of making lard when I got into making tortillas, so I use that when I make fried chicken, but these days I use a bit of it for flavoring the main frying medium, canola oil usually. Chicken Betty says it's important to let the chicken have room to float a little in the first cooking, then you transfer the pieces (when they turn golden) into the shallow skillet with the lid on tightly until the chicken begins to splutter, then you turn down the fire and set the lid ajar. Don't get into a hurry during this phase. You will be turning the chicken in the short pan several times and will take 15-20 minutes for the crust to become deep brown and very crisp. Keep the batches warm in the oven while you fry.

I have taken liberties with Chicken Betty's recipe in all ways over the years except for using cast iron to cook in and using 100% lard for frying. I have brined, not brined it, added several combinations of dried herbs and spices, and it has all been good. The success of her recipe is in the method, and the key to her method is cast iron.

I'll try to find and copy the whole article next week. :hi:

[Lucinda]

17. Great description! And I think I isolated my problem after reading your post.

My mom was southern, so cast iron cooking is in my genes, I even own a cast iron wok :rofl: but I have never tried cooking the chicken in lard. THAT is what I was missing. I'd bet on it! And i've never tried the dual pan thing either. Which I'll also give a try.

Thank you a zillion! :D

[yellerpup]

19. I forgot to say that that second skillet only needs a bare slick of fat.

The chicken fat renders down a bit and the excess lard comes out of the coating. This is the pan you want to use for drippings for gravy. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great.

[Lucinda]

20. Thanks for the added info! I'll be trying this out soon.

:hi:

[hippywife]

31. Not using lard isn't the problem.

While I'm sure it makes for a wonderful fried chicken, it doesn't necessitate lard. I think mine is fabulous and I use canola oil. If the oil is good and hot before adding the chicken and it's double dredged it even comes out good in a non-stick skillet, altho much better in cast iron.

Half of these pieces were done in cast iron and the other half in a non-stick. I have two sizes of cast iron, one is smaller, but this bird weighed over five pounds so I had to go with two larger skillets to fry it all at the same time. This photo was taken last summer.

[mtnester]

9. Eggs, cooked gently in real butter

some buttered toast...one of my favorite, simple meals

[Lucinda]

10. Eggs and toast have ALWAYS been my go to meal when I feel bad

Simple and perfect.

[mtnester]

11. Yes...back it up with some blended tea afterward

right now, we are on a White Chocolate (2 tsp) and creamy carmel (1 tsp) rooibos...call it a truffle tea..lovely lovely way to finish the meal

[Lucinda]

14. That sounds really lovely!

Might have to dig aound my pantry and see what I have on hand. :)

[AwakeAtLast]

15. I made meatloaf

German potatoes and California blend vegetables.

[Lucinda]

18. How do you make your potaoes?

Is it a cold or a hot dish?

[AwakeAtLast]

27. It's hot

3 yellow onions, sliced thin
6-8 new potatoes, also sliced thin
6 T salted butter (YES, real butter - no substitutes)
2 handfuls dried parsley
3 good shakes garlic salt (how's that for measuring, lol!)

In a heavy bottom skillet (I have Calphalon), melt butter on med. heat. Add onions, cook for about 4 minutes, then add onions. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Heat can be reduced if needed. Add 1st handful of parsley and 1 good shake of garlic salt. Periodically add the rest of the parsley and garlic salt and stir. Will be carmelized and yummy after another 20-30 minutes.

Every time Mr. AAL smells it, he always cheers! :D

[Lucinda]

28. It sounds really good. Bill will like it too. He's a big potato fan.

I will give it a go with my cast iron. I kept my one little Calphalon pan that I've had for ages when we bought the induction cooktop. I loved cooking in it.

They really are great pans.

[AwakeAtLast]

29. You may have to use more butter

I don't know enough about cast iron to tell you if the carmelization will be the same. Keep an eye on it and you'll be able to tell.

Hope you like 'em! :hi:

[Lucinda]

30. Thanks! My cast iron is pretty well seasoned so I think it will work about the same

I'll definitely watch it though. :hi:

[grasswire]

21. I was making pretzels all afternoon....

....but I managed to simmer some tenderized beef stew meat with pearl onions, baby carrots, and some green beans for a kind of stew. Served with a fresh spinach salad topped with Rogue smoky bleu cheese, pecans and fresh pear and La Martinique vinaigrette from New Orleans. Love that salad dressing!

[Lucinda]

24. Sounds wonderful! Especially your salad! I'm inspired.

I may do something similar for lunch today. :hi:

[eridani]

22. Leftover pork roast in gravy with peas, corn and carrots

Just enough left to serve over rice after I finished making 12 pot pies for freezing with the same mix. Used a lot of C&B pie crust hints--we'll find out in a few days how the crusts work out after being frozen.

[Lucinda]

25. Sounds like a busy day but well worth the effort. I love pot pies.

:)

[hippywife]

23. I made veggie nachos grande.

Sharp cheddar, refries, rice, guac, olives, onion, tomatoes, and yogurt for sour cream. That's what Bill ate, anyway.

[Lucinda]

26. Yumyumyumyuymyum. Didnt you eat?

;hi: