snowangel

This stove screams grease me up with bacon or fried chicken! So, just when, Marlene.

Chris, this particular item has been on my "idea" list for the past week or so. So, on Monday morning, a good friend and I will head to the asian market. I am home alone with four kids all week next week (I hate spring break) and think this might be a perfect project for me and the kids. So, I'd better re-read this thread and come to some sort of conclusion on the roast pork. And, I will steam the buns. And, hopefully, mine will have the requesite pleats. I am experienced pleater -- I can get between 7 and 9 of them on pot stickers!

I need help. I am hosting Easter at my house. I have having either 9 or 18 (plus five really little kids; I'm not counting them in this total). And, I won't know whether it is 9 or 18 until next Saturday night. We have to have ham, everyone insists (were it me, it would be a smoked butt, some sauces, cole slaw, etc., but that's not how it shall be). The final kicker is that I will be gone until about 11:00 am on Sunday morning, and need to have a meal on the table by about 1:00, 1:30 pm at the latest. What would you do?

Thanks for the report, Brooks. Don't forget photos when you retrieve your cord! Now, is there any left for munching over the sink in your bathrobe, or will the boys beat you to it? And, here's wishing they don't come up with too many "bargains" tomorrow (I'm in an "anti stuff" phase, except when it comes to kitchen toys, of course). And, thanks for the temp advice. Would be interested to hear what you have to say if you ever do the buttermilk thang. Edited to add: Those Dough Boys would love double dipped backs.

Tammy, yes to what Rachel said. No, it's not difficult. But, it you want to be safe, make rice pudding with coconut milk. This is definitely the way to go if you can get ripe mangos.

Rachel, I haven't ever seen packages of backs here. I'll have to start asking around.

Wonder if I can find a mutant chicken with two backs!

Damn, those leftovers are great! I had a leftover back and part of a leg for lunch today. I must heartily advocate frying the backs as well. All of those nooks and crannies, and a bit of meat, too. I think this is going to be my key to feeding the family on a night when we drive to the cabin. We usually leave mid to late afternoon, after a heavy snack, and everyone is hungry when we get there. Perfect, and since we'll be leaving for days, no problem with the smell!

katbert, I sort of went by the times on each side in each recipe to determine doness. And, mine was getting so dark, it just had to come out, and I figured that those thicker thighs, if they weren't quite done, would continue to raise in temp as they spent some time in the oven, but I suppose a meat thermometer is really the way to go. Somewhere up thread, fifi mentioned the temp at which she pulls the chicken. And, don't forget that if you do the buttermilk one, lower the temp of the crisco to 325.

Thanks, Helen, for the exhaustive report, and going the extra three miles to test so many versions! Your comment about the buttermilk chicken requiring a lower temp was interesting. I think within the next couple of weeks, Brook's recipe will be on the menu here!

OK. SO back to the time and temp thing. Bittman's column in the NY Times today focused on braising; specifically the chuck roast. He, too advocates "300 degrees, more or less." Further, he says that No matter what technique you use, if you rush the cooking, the meat will be disappointingly chewy. If you take your time (and of course these recipes can all be cooked in advance and reheated without suffering, or kept warm over a very low flame for hours." So, most of us are thinking that low and slow is much lower than 300 (which is the same temp Molly suggests for a couple of the chuck roast recipes. I'd slow his recipes down, as well! BTW, his beef in coconut milk looks remarkably similar to Molly's Beef Rendang, without letting the coconut milk cook down as much; nor does it allow for that browning that makes it so wonderful. So, are we cutting edge of take it lower and slower, or is there something we don't know?

Now, brooks, don't you really want to do it over a napkin or a plate so that you can also scarf all of the exploding bits? Have your kids had the same lecture about not picking on pieces they aren't going to eat?

Need to add that if you are doing a whole chicken, by all means do the back. All kinds of nooks and crannies for good stuff. I think it's easier to do the back if you wack it in back through a couple of the vertebrae.

Like fifi, I did it tonight, including using the same recipe. I did not document as well, with photos, as she did, but, I had soaked it in buttermilk, kosher salt and some Choloula (sp?) the night before. By the way, this was a 3 lb. chicken, raised by a 4-H (or maybe an FFA kid; her name was Megan). I, like fifi, used the full amount of flour, except I did not use a full-size grocery bag. I used the kind that holds two bottles of liquor ( ), and let it set on the cooling rack. Then, I got to putting the Crisco and bacon grease (I was about a 2/3 to 1/3 split) in my new cast iron skillet over a medium heat. I would have started things off faster, but I was also busy with other things): So, I missed photoing the frying part. I had one whole chicken, cut up by me (1 minute, 30 seconds it took). I cut the breast halves each in half, and used the back (all kinds of nooks and crannies for good crunch stuff), cut in half. Please note that my chicken was a mutant which contained 2 livers and 2 hearts. I did not use the gizzard. I did not marinate the organ meat in the buttermilk, merely floured it. So, here is the finished product. I mentioned cream or milk gravy to my folks last night, and they all went "yuck." Heidi has been having some trouble, so I opted for her favorite, potato salad. This may be southern fried chicken, but up here, it's picnic food, and a picnic screams for potato salad: It's Heidi's favorite version. Red potatos, hard cooked eggs, shallots and celery (both minced fine) and with a dressing of mayo, miracle whip (no comments, please), yellow mayo and some white wine vinegar. I didn't go by Martha's recommendation on temp, but by Brooks, so put it in at 350. Although the chicken had been sitting out for a bit, the temp drop was noticable, so I put the lid on for a few minutes before removing and going the splatter screen route. I started with "presentation" side down. I was worried it was browning too quickly, but it didn't burn, nor did it taste burnt. It took two batches. Legs, thighs and one half of the back in the first go-round. Breast pieces, wings and other back half in the second go round. I think Martha's times are also off. I turned the first batch at 11 minutes and moved it to the oven 10 minutes later. The livers and hearts went in about 2-3 minutes before I took off the last batch. Some other comments: I opened up by paper bags that were lining the sheet pan because I wondered what the ink of the face up side (advertising the boat show) would do to the chicken and whether it was toxic or not. Like I said, Martha's times and temps were off. But, the crust and skin were shatteringly good. Chicken was moist and tender. Yes, the shaking part is messy. I used one hand for wet and one for dry. Still, there was some of that wet flour goo on the counter. Clean it up quickly, or it is like glue. Even with a splatter screen there is a lot of grease on the counter and stove front. Peter asked if I would pay him to clean it up. Most certainly, young man. A buck well spent. I did light a candle in the kitchen, which I think really helps with the smell, even though my crappy exhaust fan (on the list of replacement items) was full on. Wear clothes you don't care about. I have flour goo and grease splatters on my painting sweatshirt. Do not do this naked. I can only imagine. In retrospect, I was not as attentive as I should have been, partly because Heidi has really taken a turn for the worse (seizures) and I spent part of that time on the phone with the neuro. I need to know my stove better, and pay a little more attention to temp. And, I should really have pulled out the instant read meat thermometer before I started, but I couldn't find it when I needed it (but found it a few minutes later. Would I make this again? Absolutely. Dinner was yummy, and I have great leftovers for lunch tomorrow (or dinner tomorrow night). I will report tomorrow on how this is eaten straight out of the fridge. Edited to add: Peter and Diana know now there is a serious penalty for picking off the crunchy bits on pieces they don't intend to eat.

What do I do with the grease? Strain and save or pitch?

Tammy, I further thought about the beef salad. Basically, I do something not dissimilar to larb -- equal parts of fish sauce and lime juice, scallions and I like cucumbers in it (but not tomatoes, which is not uncommon). I don't usually use garlic, but do add quite a bit of minced cilantro. I also add those Thai crused hot peppers or bird chilis, but you may want to put that on the side. It looks pretty on a nice bed of romaine. What else are you planning to serve at this meal? (you can reply by link to your cooking for 40 thead, if you'd like to avoid double posting!).

I also asked about this once, and that particular place put paprika on their noodles after soaking. Must have been weak or old paprika because there was no evidence of it in taste, just color.

Bella, I would start with her temps, and keep lowering until you get to that "barely bubbling" stage. That's what I did with the first two recipes, and now, I automatically adjust the temp down and the time up. I don't know why the discrepency of what we are finding, and what she suggests. I have been braising for many years, having learned this technique from my grandmother, and always gone very low and slow. fifi affirmed what I've always done! Maybe she just prefers a little higher and quicker? Maybe her oven isn't callibrated .

Thanks, patti, for the report! I just wish you'd taken at least a bite of one of the tenders...

My chicken is happily bathing in buttermilk, kosher salt and some tabasco. I cut the breast halves and the back into halves. So, what does everyone do with the livers and hearts? Buttermilk or not? And, in my kitchen, these are the cooks treats. My mother says she was 30 before she knew these parts we edible -- they never appeared on the plate!

Dean, I'm trusting that you will join into this once your kitchen is done. Mighty nice grease inauguration, I do think.

OK. So, I have a cast iron skillet. I have a splatter screen. I will have a small chicken tomorrow. But, given the splatter factor, and the fact that all of those cast iron chicken friers I see, I wonder why a person wouldn't use a LC dutch oven?

Very, very exciting! How have you been eating?

fifi, the most perfect chickens were the ones of my youth. Those summers on a farm in Nebraska. When my grandmother wanted to fry chicken, we went to a farm, where the 4-H kids (or FFA kids) were raising them for A Project. My grandmother would espy the right chickens (smaller rather than larger), and she and I would chase them down, grab them, wack their heads off and do the thing. But, that was then and this is now. The then involved a party line so you could, with one call, find out just where the best chickens were, who had had a baby, and who was ailing. Now adays, it involves the yellow pages. And will be different than than a quick jaunt on gravel roads in a circa 1957 Chevy pickup to a farm where we'd also probably score some milk (we'd milk it ourselves) and whatever veg the mom didn't want to take care of that day. Was the flour or bacon grease better back then, or is it the memories?

Mother of three reporting. Sometimes they are hungry and eat voraciously, sometimes they just pick. Some are picky eaters, some are not. But, how you present the food is important. Describe it as fun, new, whatever, but just don't say "I'm not sure if you'll like this or not." Tell a story to accompany the food. A personal story from when you were a child. Don't necessarily feel you have to feed them as you've been fed as a child, but try and expand horizons. Until you meet these kids, and eat with them, there's no way you'll know what you are getting into. Will you be doing the shopping? If so, get the kids to go with you. Play food games. Most of all, make food fun for kids. I do, and my kids are adventurous and willing to go along for the ride.