Marlene

I suppose Fry off has been used too? Ok, ok, it's not very novel! Thanks Judith! Chicky was very good indeed, both of them! There will be French Toast this morning. And bacon. We had snow all day and night yesterday and now it's freezing rain. There is more snow yet in the forecast. It's very pretty outside. Nothing is moving, and it's so very white everywhere. Don (wisely) has decided to work from home. The boys are still asleep, and I'm working on my coffee. I may have Ryan's friend here until tomorrow if the roads don't clear. Hopefully I'll have enough ingredients on hand for the things I want to make today, since I won't be venturing outside in that mess! I used a lot more pecans than I thought for the cheesecake yesterday. I'll have to check my supply or pecan pie may have to wait until tomorrow. Cornbread today in preparation for stuffing on Sat. I might make some spiced tortilla chips as Don really really likes them. On the menu tonight is Tonkatsu and fried rice (no veggies although I might throw together a salad ). Lunch will of course, be cold fried chicken. I'm working on nibbles for Sunday's dinner. I've got bleu cheese popovers in mind, some fresh shrimp, but I'm open to ideas for one or two other things. Preferably things I could make in advance. Good morning everyone!

Ah Children? Take your feud elsewhere. You're here to support me guys. so there.

Whoa. wait a minute. I did what you guys said to do. I get to be a judge for this.

What's a vegetable? Actually tomorrow features asparagus, Sat, squash and Sunday carrots. K?

Rats. how about if I send you some maple syrup?

No No! I think it was my fault. I should have cooked it longer, and I needed a lid. But Brooks, I loved it. I really did.

Baked Brie in either phyllo or puff pastry

Now the process for making Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake. This is a time consuming cake, but your friends are going to think you're a star if you make it. Pics and technique tonight, recipe tomorrow because I have to adapt it. Start out by makign the crust of butter, sugar and pecans Bake the crust for 20 minutes and pour a layer of caramel and evaporated milk blended together over the crust: Sprinkle a layer of toasted ground pecans over the caramel: Cover that with the cream cheese filling: Bake this for an hour, then turn the oven off and let it sit in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove sides. The top has cracked but it really doesn't matter in this case; Make a glaze of heavy cream and bittersweet chocolate and pour over the cheesecake, coating it entirely. Sprinkle the top with toasted pecans: (i've got a few too many here) Once this sets a bit, I'll take it off the rack, garish it with chocolate chip halves around the bottom and freeze it until Sunday morning. I'll get a picture of the layers when I cut it on Sunday.

Whew. It's over. Waht a feast. I'll put the pics up first then give you my summary: Some of Brooks' recipe coated and waiting for frying. The rest was already in the skillet Dave's recipe waiting for the deep fryer Brooks' Skillet Fried Chicken Dave's Deep Fried Chicken Side by Side: Mashed Potatoes with Cream Gravy It was a little hectic, because I ended up doing this myself, and it took about an hour to clean up the kitchen, but it was oh so worth it. I started heating up the oil in both the deep fryer and the skillet, while I spiced and floured the chicken. As per Dave's instructions, I spiced his first then floured, and as per Brooks, I put the spices in the flour and mixed it together. I started Brooks chicken first since I was less afraid of skillet frying than I was of deep frying. Deep down, I was hoping Don would arrive in time to take charge of the deep frying. No such luck. I also ran into a slight snag with Brook's recipe when I found I didn't have a lid big enough to cover the skillet, so I improvised a bit. Once the first batch of Brook's chicken was done, I held my breath, and took the plunge, and put the first batch of deep fried chicken on. Once my heartbeat had slowed down to normal, I realized this wasn't so bad, and I danced back and forth between the two fryers while the potatoes were boiling. You know, cooking is much like a ballet. When you know what you're doing, each step is precise and matches your partner's perfectly. When you don't, it's like being out of step or stepping on your partner's toes. For the first few minutes I was like the partner out of step. Slowly though, I got into a rythmn and it just "worked" from there on in. A few things to note: Dave gave 15 minutes in his directions. I took the chicken out at 10 because I was afraid it would burn to a crisp otherwise. As it was, it was darker than it should have been. I think the lid is important to Brook's recipe, and next time I would leave it a bit longer. But I was new to this and anxious. As the last batch of Brooks' chicken was done, I put in the last batch of Dave's, poured the grease from the skillet, mashed the potatoes and made the gravy. By then the last batch of deep fried was done. I gave the kids and myself one piece from each of the batches and some potatoes. Both kids declined the gravy, but I bravely spooned some over my potatoes. With perfect timing, Don walked into the house. so I did the same for him. Observations: I took a poll. Ryan liked Dave's best. So did Don. Ryan's friend, being the perfect guest declared he liked them both and couldn't choose. I hemmed and hawed a bit. They are both very different. However, based on our criteria, here's my findings with caveats: 1. crispyness, delicacy - Dave's 2. moistness Brooks 3. least greasy They were just about equal with the nod going to Dave 4. flavour Dave's 5. next day I'll have to report tomorrow. Now the caveats I think that Dave is right and spicing the chicken before flouring is key. I want to do Brooks' chicken again and try it this way. The flavour of the spices just didn't come through as well on his. It might have made a difference if I'd had a proper lid for the skillet. With Dave's recipe, I would go with a slightly lower heat, so that the chicken was a little more golden in colour. Cream gravy though is an aquired taste I think. Don said it tasted like KFC's gravy, which I don't think was a compliment. I liked it, but my taste buds are preconditioned to think of gravy tasting another way. All in all, Ryan and David came out to the kitchen, had seconds, as did Don and the kids pronounced it awesome. I was thrilled. Not only because it actually turned out, but because I've conquered something I've long been afraid of - deep frying. Thank you everyone for your help and tips. They were invaluable to me along the way. Tomorrow pecan pie and cornbread!

← Don't know exactly what you have in Canada - but McCormick now has ground Ancho Chile Pepper in its "Gourmet Collection". It's available in most supermarkets where I live. Robyn ← Thanks Robyn. I'll check on that next time I'm at our quasi gourmet store here. In the meantime, I'm ready. The seasonings are done, the flour's ready the oil is in R2D2 ( my deep fryer)and in the skillet. Racks are in the oven lined with paper towels. The potatoes are cooking. I suspect Don is not going to make it home in time in this weather to help. I'm also terrified. I just keep telling myself I can do this. At 7:00 I'll commence the frying. May the best chicken win. Or a least not be burnt.

My recipe above is with self-rising flour and you don't have to roll them out. ← I will be trying these again, on Sat. I need y'all to stick around after tonight experiment, because we've got Sat's Southern Christmas to do and Monday's gumbo. I'd be lost without you folk. I'm learning so much! Tomorrow, I'll make the pecan pie and the cornbread to get ready for stuffing. Brooks, can that squash casserole be made ahead of time?

You send it Dave, I'll do the whole dinner all over again. Although I'm pretty sure they won't let the grits into the country, darn it all.

Dave, it was only one day, and it was in the fridge. I suspect it will be ok. Besides, he's going to roast it. That'll kill anything.

If it's vacumn packed, it will be fine until Sat.

Brooks' Chicken Dorothy’s Fried Chicken Several hours before time to fry the chicken, place cut up pieces in covered container filled with ice water that contains 2 teaspoons of baking powder (this is for one chicken with extra legs, as Brooks and Tom love them). Keep refrigerated until time to fry. Mix SR Flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder to taste (1 tsp. Salt, ½ tsp peppers and garlic for each cup of flour). Let pieces drain dry and pat with paper towel. Make an egg wash of 2 eggs and 1 cup of ICE COLD water. Dip chicken in egg wash and dredge in flour, making sure that it is completely covered but not lumpy. Place chicken in a large pot or skillet that has a tight fitting lid. The pot should have about an inch of peanut oil in it @ 350F. Cover when bottom of skillet is covered with chicken (Don’t pack it in, this is not a race, it is supper for hungry boys). Cover and cook on medium high for about 12 minutes. Uncover and turn pieces gently, careful to not knock off the flour. Cook for 10 more minutes or so covered, and remove color and brown if needed (most of the time it is not). Place cooked chicken in doubled brown paper sacks with the bottoms lined with paper towels. Better than your Grandma’s Creamed Gravy Pour all but a little bit of grease out of the skillet. Add the leftover seasoned flour and brown slightly, Stir in a good bit of chicken stock and combine with the four mixture, using a whisk and making sure that you get all of the lumps out. Finish by adding some canned evaporated milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste (it won’t take much if you used good stock). Serve over rice.

As an aside, I never made it to the truffles. Instead, I decided to get the chocolate turtle cheesecake out of the way, since it's a pretty time consuming thing to make. It's currently in the oven, and I'm taking pictures of the process as we go. It should be finished late tonight, and then it will go into the freezer until Sunday's dinner. I only had to send the boys to the store three times to get stuff I'd forgotten. 10 minute rest coming up here, then I'll peel the potatoes for dinner, and get them in water, blend the seasonings for both sets of chicken, and re read both recipes. ack.

I think you're right. They actually don't taste that bad (I did try one when they were hot) but they aren't what they're supposed to be. If I did, they'd be buried under all this snow we're currently getting. Marlene, I'm at work and you have the recipe. You can post if you like, or I can do it when I get home. Love, Brooks ← Thank Brooks, I'll do it. Love, Mama

Please don't feel bad. This is my ineptness, not your recipe Ok, I think I'm getting an inkling of what happened here. Pat the dough? I rolled it out. Ooops. And I didn't let it rise. I'm going to try these again on Sat to go with the turkey et all.

The dough wasn't that wet, but maybe the baking powder wasn't fresh enough. I don't think Brooks has posted his fried chicken recipe yet. For Brooks chicken, I'll use crisco, for the deep fried, soya, because that's what I have. I think it's a cream gravy. I've got two hungry teenage boys ready to chow down on this. I'll try to keep at least one piece of each from their grasping fingers for a comparision the next day.

The calvary has arrived! You could start by telling me what's wrong with my biscuits. Any help on frying, making pan gravy etc is good Dean! We move on from this challenge to a full Southern Turkey dinner on Sat. eek!

Sorry, the competing recipes will be Dave the Cook's Deep Fried Chicken against Mayhaw Man's Skillet Fried Chicken. 1. crispyness, delicacy 2. moistness 3. least greasy 4. flavour 5. next day

All right folks, I need your help to develop the criteria list that will form the basis for judging the chicken tonight. What should be on it? Your top 5 please.

What would happen if I didn't use the mushroom soup, being allergic to mushrooms and all?

I have a newer 325 KA which I use all the time and I swear by it.

Well so far I've made rum balls: and biscuts. I'm not too sure about these though. I don't think they rose high enough, and yes, they're square. I didn't have a biscut cutter so I used a pizza cutter. I think i already mentioned I can't make a circle look like a circle so I didn't even try. I'm afraid to try one of these. Oh oh. a black mark on my path to "Mama" status. I needed a short time out to stem the nosebleed that somehow started without warning (no, I didn't get any on the food ), and then I had to make the boys lunch grilled cheese. Ryan likes his cut in triangle so he can put ketchup in the middle. Now if I was making this for me, it would have been with read cheddar cheese, but for some odd reason, Ryan prefers plastic cheese. A short break, a little coffee, and it's on to truffles.