Dinner 2018

[Tropicalsenior]

3 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Brined a huge chicken a few days ago for fried chicken night

 

I fried it and then threw it in the IP for a bit.  Made it super tender

Absolutely gorgeous chicken! Would you be willing to share the process start to finish? I've been trying to get chicken to look like that for 50 years.

[ElsieD]

35 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Brined a huge chicken a few days ago for fried chicken night

 

I fried it and then threw it in the IP for a bit.  Made it super tender.

 

 

Question:  if you are finishing it in the IP doesn't that affect the crispness of the chicken?

[Shelby]

34 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Absolutely gorgeous chicken! Would you be willing to share the process start to finish? I've been trying to get chicken to look like that for 50 years.

Oh thank you!  It's truly nothing special that I do.

 

The whole chicken goes into a container with a lid.  Fill the container with enough water to cover the chicken and add some Morton Tender Quick--I don't measure....maybe a bit under a half a cup?  I will measure next time.  Mix it around to dissolve and let it sit in the fridge at least 24 hours.  I've lost track of time and let it go for 72 and it was fine --but keep in mind, we like salt.  You may want to reduce the salt or skip this step completely.

 

When ready to fry, take it out the chicken and cut it up (or you can obviously do already cut up chicken).  Put it in a mixture of buttermilk and beaten eggs --enough to cover all of the chicken.  I usually do two beaten eggs.  Let it soak for at least 1/2 an hour.

 

While the chicken soaks I take a big ziplock bag and fill it a little less than half with flour.  Next I dump some granulated garlic, Lawry's salt and black pepper in--don't skimp, you want to be able to dip your finger in and taste the spices.  Close the bag and shake to mix it up.  ( you can do this in a bowl, but I make a lot less mess with this method).

 

Heat veg. oil to 350F in a skillet--I use a cast iron.  

 

Place all chicken in the ziplock and shake it around to make sure it's all coated.

 

Place chicken in heated oil and fry until nicely browned on each side.

 

(we like using our pressure cooker after frying--not only does it  make it tender, but we think it gets a bit of the oil out so in our delusional minds it's "healthier" --so this means I don't fry the chicken as long as I would if I was eating it without pressure cooking it.  If you pressure cook it, place a cup of water in the liner.  Place chicken on a trivet or some kind of holder.  I do wings for 10 mins on high pressure, natural release.  I do legs, thighs, breasts etc. for about 20 mins high pressure, natural release.  No, this does not produce crunchy chicken--the coating will be soft...kind of like Kentucky Fried chicken used to be.)

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Question:  if you are finishing it in the IP doesn't that affect the crispness of the chicken?

It most definitely does.  If you want crunchy chicken, do not IP it.

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Oh thank you!  It's truly nothing special that I do.

 Thank you for these directions. It certainly looks special, I'm going to try it.

[liamsaunt]

Sandwiches again last night.  Everyone was too hyped up for the football game to have a nice sit down dinner, so I made grouper reubens.  Very tasty and the outcome of the game was quite satisfactory.  

 

[lindag]

42 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

 Thank you for these directions. It certainly looks special, I'm going to try it.

 

Me too, it looks and sounds terrific.

[ElsieD]

Me three, once it warms up enough for me to be able to do the frying part outside.

[mgaretz]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

It most definitely does.  If you want crunchy chicken, do not IP it.

 

Have you tried IPing it first then frying?

[shain]

17 hours ago, cakewalk said:

That's a nice looking loaf, Shain. Can you share the recipe? 

Here you go:

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, mgaretz said:

Have you tried IPing it first then frying?

Great idea. I cooked some chicken thighs in the IP and then finished them under the broiler with barbecue sauce and they were great.

[chefmd]

Roasted chicken, carrots, cumin/yogurt/cilantro sauce.

[robirdstx]

 

Instant Pot Pulled Pork on a toasted Ciabatta Bun with BBQ Sauce and Sliced Onion (my husband added dill pickle slices and yellow mustard to his sandwich).

Edited January 15, 2018 by robirdstx (log)

[suzilightning]

9 hours ago, Shelby said:

Brined a huge chicken a few days ago for fried chicken night

 

I fried it and then threw it in the IP for a bit.  Made it super tender.

 

when is dinner?!?   

 

[kayb]

I recreated a dish I had at a restaurant and enjoyed recently -- bacon barbecue mac and cheese. Made my usual mac and cheese, added a pound and a half of chopped pork barbecue that'd been mixed with some sauce and toasted in the CSO, as well as about a dozen strips of thin bacon. Put it all back in the oven and baked it.

 

The children pronounced it fine. I thought it was OK, but it wasn't what I was in the mood for.

 

[Ann_T]

@Shelby That is the best looking fried chicken.  

 

First pizza of the New Year.

Dough was a six day dough,  made on Monday and left in the fridge until today.   I had my son take it out of the fridge around 3:00 PM so that it would be 

ready to go when I got home from work this evening. 

 

Baked two pizzas, one at a time on a stone on the grill.  Temperature was around 700°F.

 

One three cheese pizza for Matt and an Italian Sausage and Mushroom for Moe and I.

 

The sausage was a quick homemade version, of ground pork, garlic, crushed fennel seed, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a little red wine.  

 

[HungryChris]

Baked, stuffed shrimp. Something I learned to do eons ago, but still good on occasion.

HC

 

[scubadoo97]

Last night I made lamb shanks with mashed potatoes 

[ProfessionalHobbit]

I had a craving for meatballs; I've made this recipe so many times, it's almost second nature

 

1 1/3 cups breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk

14 oz. ground beef
14 oz. ground pork (if you don't have ground pork, you can substitute sweet Italian sausage meat)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 egg
grated nutmeg
3 tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley and mint
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a pair of cookie sheets with parchment paper.

 

In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs and milk. Soak crumbs for 10 minutes.

 

 

In a larger bowl, combine beef, pork, cheese, egg, nutmeg, herbs and breadcrumbs. Mix together all ingredients, then season with salt and pepper.

 

 

Shape into balls with either your hands or with a teaspoon and arrange on the parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 425 F oven, turning the balls once at the halfway point. Remove cookie sheets from oven. Set aside.

 

In the past, I'd resort to frying them in olive oil.

 

 

You can do that if you like, but I prefer baking the meatballs. Less mess, plus the balls are lighter and aren't as oily-tasting.

 

 

 

For the tomato sauce:

2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 crushed garlic clove
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves

 

Next, in a Dutch oven or other large pot, warm olive oil along with a crushed garlic clove. Fry garlic on low heat or until the oil becomes fragrant. Once that occurs, add crushed tomatoes. Fill the can about 1/3 with water and add that to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer sauce for 15 minutes. Add the meatballs and partly cover. Braise the meatballs in the sauce for 20-25 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

 

These are fine as is, or you can serve them with pasta, bread or mashed potatoes.

 

 

Meatballs with tomato sauce

 

These were topped with fistfuls of grated cheese and herbs.

 

This recipe makes about 40 meatballs and is sized for up to 8 people.

[gfweb]

@Shelby "fried it and threw it in the IP"  seems counterintuitive. Doesn't it wreck the crispy bits?

[liuzhou]

Linguine with a spicy pork ragu (pork, tomatoes, onions, chilli, anchovies, Chinese chives, black pepper).

 

 

Seconds and thirds were had.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2018 by liuzhou (log)

[rotuts]

@ProfessionalHobbit

 

I completely agree on baking MB's

 

your look delicious

[rotuts]

@Shelby

 

if you want really tender FCk

 

why not IP fist ( plain ) 

 

cool a bit then coat and fry ?

[lindag]

21 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Me three, once it warms up enough for me to be able to do the frying part outside.

That's what I have to do too....can't stand the lingering odors/grease in the house.

[KennethT]

@rotuts I've tried that before, but rather than using the IP, I cooked chicken thighs SV, then chilled to refrigerator temp.  Coat like normal but I fried in oil a bit hotter than normal because I wanted to brown the crust but only warm the insides to eating temp.  It worked well, but I don't think the crust adhered as well as normal - sometimes it would come off in big flakes..... but I think it was definitely worth revisiting.