Southern

oven-fried chicken

Mmm...greeease...

Again it’s been a while since I posted a food entry. It’s not that I haven’t been eating or cooking. It’s just I’ve been doing a lot more thinking about food and cooking rather than writing ever since I read The Flavor Bible (which I still need to blog about). Anyway, back to what makes the world go round: food.

I’m often asked what would be my last meal. Because this question is so difficult for someone that loves so many different kinds of food, my last meal would inevitably be a multiple-course meal consisting of all my favorite eats: sushi, French fries, my mama’s eggrolls, New- York-style cheese pizza, fried chicken, and a bowl of noodle soup (most likely ramen or pho). I don’t know if there’s a commonality to my favorite foods except maybe DELICIOUS! Just kidding. Maybe unhealthy? Aside from the sushi, I guess.

So yes, fried chicken is one of my favorite foods. Most things can’t go wrong when they’re dropped in a vat of oil. While I love KFC’s original recipe and Popeye’s Cajun spicy fried chicken, I thought why not try my hand at homemade fried chicken? The last time I attempted fried chicken years ago, I made the mistake of not monitoring the oil temperature and so the chicken turned out charred on the outside and still raw on the inside. This time, I followed a method from Ina Garten that involves frying the chicken to seal in the juices and then finishing it off in the oven for thorough cooking. I tried to look online for KFC’s secret original recipe but my kitchen was missing the MSG (not to mention marjoram at the time) so I had to make due with only nine out of the eleven secret herbs and spices. I only put in about half the amount of herbs and spices as I should have, and the chicken could’ve used more flavor, but trial error is inevitable. I boosted the measurements in the recipe below, so hopefully your chicken turns out even tastier. A quick tip before you fry: to keep chicken crispy, set fried pieces atop brown paper bags instead of paper towels after frying. Happy frying, and remember that if the Blind can Cook it, so can you!

 

: Oven-Fried Chicken

: Original recipe from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

 

  1. 2 (3 lbs.) chickens, each cut into 8 pcs.
  2. 1 qt. buttermilk
  3. 2 c. all-purpose flour
  4. 1 tbsp. kosher salt
  5. 1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
  6. 1 tsp. dried basil
  7. 1 tsp. chili powder
  8. 1 tsp. garlic powder
  9. 1 tsp. dried marjoram
  10. 1 tsp. onion salt
  11. 1 tsp. dried oregano
  12. 1 tsp. paprika
  13. 1 tsp. ground sage
  14. 2 tbsp. MSG
  15. vegetable shorening or oil for frying

 

  1. Place chicken pcs. in a baking pan and pour buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  2. Combine flour, and all 11 herbs and spices in a lg. bowl. Take each chicken piece out of the buttermilk and cover liberally with flour mixture. Pour oil or shortening in a lg. heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1″. Heat oil to 360 degrees.
  3. Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in oil and fry for 3 min. on each side or until coating is a light golden brown. (It will continue to brown in the oven.) Don’t crowd the pieces. Remove chicken from oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow oil to return to 360 degrees before frying next batch.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  5. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 min. until chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 1 hour(s)

green bean casserole

Every Thanksgiving, I serve fried turkey and broccoli rice casserole (which I make from scratch), and corn, stuffing, and mashed potatoes (which I don’t make from scratch). The sixth side always changes from year to year. First it was asparagus (which I later realized is a mistake because asparagus is apparently out of season in November). Then it was steamed green beans which turned out to be very boring. I knew I wanted this fifth side dish to be something green since so many of the other dishes were not as nutritious, and we all know Thanksgiving is the week of binging on high-calorie, high-sodium foods, so I figure why not throw something a little more healthy in there? Well, the steamed green beans were too healthy, and so this year, I will settle on a compromise between healthy and tasty. I will make a green bean casserole. (Okay, I know with these canned beans and all the cheese, sour cream, and butter, this is far from healthy, but I’m deluded into thinking anything green = good for you.)

Casseroles never sound that tasty to me; I always think of a slop of leftover ingredients piled on top of each other in a baking dish and thrown into the oven until it all melts together into some congealed mass. I think of it as the American version of fried rice: its sole purpose is to use up leftover food, and anything goes. That is, until I made that broccoli rice casserole some nine years ago. Then I thought, Maybe, just maybe, casseroles don’t all have to be nasty.

Fast-forward some years later to 2007 or so. Our church catered our holiday dinner from Cleburne Cafeteria. I had the first enjoyable green bean casserole. So now in 2010, I will attempt to make a version of this homestyle favorite.

I do have to admit that the great thing about casseroles is their ability to be prepared ahead of time. For example, today I will prepare both the broccoli rice and this green bean casserole, cover it securely, and refrigerate it until it’s ready to go straight into the oven. So go ahead and prepare these casseroles today, then bake it tomorrow. For big holiday dinners (or just any time you’re entertaining), it’s nice to have a repertoire of dishes that can be prepared ahead of time so that you don’t find yourself scrambling to do everything last minute on the day of.

I’ve found that typical green bean casseroles contain condensed cream of mushroom and are topped with a layer of fried onions. I found this alternative version of the dish which uses sour cream and Ritz crackers instead. Once it’s out of the oven, we’ll take a photo and upload it, and I’ll adjust the recipe according to my personal taste and experience.


Recipe: Green Bean Casserole

Summary: Original recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. white sugar
  • 1/4 c. diced onion
  • 1 c. sour cream
  • 3 (14 oz.) cans French-style green beans, drained
  • 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 c. round butter cracker crumbs (Ritz)
  • 1 tbsp. butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a lg. skillet over med. heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for 1 min. Stir in the salt, sugar, onions, and sour cream. Add green beans and stir to coat.
  3. Transfer mixture to a 2.5 qt. casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a sm. bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese.
  4. Bake for 30 min. or until top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Quick Notes

French-style green beans are the skinnier version of regular green beans. Often they are cut lengthwise into thinner strips.

Cooking time (duration): 45

Diet type: Vegetarian

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (Traditional)

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broccoli rice casserole

Recounting the first Thanksgiving I ever hosted back in 2001 (the year I graduated college and finally had a kitchen and place I could call my very own), in addition to the deep-fried turkey, I made this broccoli rice casserole. I probably found the recipe online but I honestly don’t remember where–it could’ve possibly been before I discovered All Recipes.

Regardless, it was very simple to make, and my dad raved about it, asking to take home a chunky portion as part of his Thanksgiving leftovers. My friend, Mark, also asked for the recipe, followed by Danny years later. Nearly going on its tenth year in the making, this dish is a must-have at all my holiday comfort food gatherings. I’ve also brought it to several potlucks; up or down the ingredients according to number of people. Remember, if the Blind can Cook it, so can you.

Note: I’ll upload a photo of the dish come Thanksgiving when we actually make it. For now. here’s a photo of the Pancake Bunny.



Pancake bunny

Do you like my new hat?



Recipe: Broccoli Rice Casserole

Ingredients

  • 20 oz. frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
  • 2 (10.75 oz.) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 16 oz. processed cheese, melted
  • 3/4 c. minced onion
  • 2 c. uncooked minute rice
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook minute rice as directed.
  2. In a med. pan, saute onion in butter over med.-high heat until yellowed.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  4. In a lg. bowl, mix broccoli, onion, cheese, cream of mushroom, rice, and salt & pepper to taste until well-blended. Pour mixture into a 10″x13″ casserole dish. Bake for 60 min. or until edges are browned.

Quick Notes

I personally like the edges and even the top pretty brown. It adds flavor and texture.

For the cheese, I like to use Cheez-Whiz.

Cooking time (duration): 75

Diet type: Vegetarian

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (Traditional)

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deep-fried turkey

Fried turkey

Frying the turkey



For nine years and counting, it’s been my little tradition to fry a turkey for Thanksgiving. In 2001 when I started my first job out of college, my Louisianan coworker, Brandi, informed me her family deep-fries a turkey every year for Thanksgiving. I pictured a spicy flour battered turkey–just like Popeye’s chicken but in whole bird form and five times larger. I was surprised to learn that fried turkey wasn’t battered at all–simply rubbed down with Cajun spice and then thrown (very carefully) into a vat of hot peanut oil. I was a little disappointed since fried chicken skin is always the best part but since everyone and their mama claimed fried turkey is so good, I decided to give the turkey frying a try anyway.

To try this at home, I recommend acquiring the following items:

  • 1 40-qt. stockpot with basket (these are usually sold together for turkey and crawfish cooking purposes–both Southern/Louisianan dishes)
  • 1 propane burner for outdoor cooking
  • 1 propane tank
  • 1 lg. pc. cardboard to lay under burner so oil splatters won’t stain your concrete

You can find the turkey fryer at Academy; I personally found mine at Tuesday Morning for about $50 if I remember correctly. The propane burner and tank is from Wal-Mart. I imagine you could probably make one stop at a Home Depot or Lowe’s and find all these things.

The advantages of frying a turkey are:

  1. It’s delicious. Once I went fried, I never went back. Even the breast meat is juicy.
  2. It’s quick. Roasting a turkey takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes per pound depending on if it’s stuffed or not, and you have to tend to it frequently for basting. Frying, on the other hand, takes 3.5 minutes per pound, just a fraction of the time it takes to roast the bird. And once you get it in the fryer, you don’t have to touch it till it’s finished.

The disadvantage? Obviously, it’s not as healthy. But when you’re stuffing yourself with mashed potatoes and casseroles and pies for the holidays anyway, who cares? That’s the Southern motto.

This turkey has received rave reviews from every mouth it’s touched for the last nine years. So why not do it yourself this year? John and I like to sit in our garage and driveway, pop open a beer, and relax while taking in the wonderful smells of deep-fried turkey.

Note: This photo of the turkey was actually taken in 2006 because the one we took of the turkey this year was half carved and not a good picture.



Fried turkey 2

The tasty end result



Recipe: Deep-Fried Turkey

Summary: Call it Cajun, call it Southern. I just call it damn delish.

Ingredients

  • 3 ga. peanut oil for frying
  • 1 whole turkey, no more than 14 lbs.
  • 1/4 c. cajun or creole seasoning
  • 1 jar cajun or creole marinade with syringe for injecting

Instructions

  1. The day before cooking, remove giblets and rinse turkey. Pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Inject turkey with marinade: 1 syringe-ful in ea. leg, 1 in ea. thigh, 1 in ea. wing, and 2 in ea. breast. During injection, pull syringe out slowly while pushing down plunger to spread marinade evenly throughout meat.
  3. Rub inside and outside liberally with seasoning. Marinate in refrigerator overnight.
  4. When ready to cook, fill 40-qt. pot with 3 gal. peanut oil. (This should fill about half the pot.) Heat oil on high heat to 400 degrees or until oil has lines in it, indicating high heat.
  5. Make sure skin at turkey neck has at least a 2″ opening so oil doesn’t get trapped inside the bird later. Place turkey in basket neck side down.
  6. Slowly lower basket into pot. Cook 3.5 min./lb. or until internal temperature of thigh is 180 degrees.
  7. Remove turkey and let it sit for 20 min. before carving.

Quick Notes

Note that it takes 24 hours to thaw five lbs. of turkey. I.e. a 14-lb. turkey will take 72 hours. And remember that it needs to be fully thawed before the marinade can be injected, which means if I had a 14-lb. turkey I wanted to fry on Thanksgiving Thursday, I need to move it from the freezer into the fridge Sunday morning (thawed by Wednesday so it can marinate a full 24 hours before going into the fyer.

For the marinade, we always use Tony Chachere‘s Creole butter flavor. As for the rub, we used both Rudy’s turkey rub and Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning.

Peanut oil is ideal for deep-frying because it has a high smoking point.

Birds 14 lbs. or less are ideal for this method of cooking–any larger, and the bird’s skin could be overexposed to the hot oil, resulting in a charred skin. And we can’t have that considering skin is the best part!

Be extremely careful when frying the turkey. They say you should cook this completely outdoors in case a grease fire shoots up to the sky, but we always cook ours in the garage and have yet to have a black hole on our ceiling. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)

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country green beans

Let’s face it. Most Southern cookin’ recipes are not the healthiest–fried this, fried that, butter this, lard that. Typically, a hefty scoop of mashed potatoes would go wonderful with this birthday meal #2 next to the chicken fried chicken and the baked mac ‘n cheese, but I decided to “healthen” it up a bit and cook some fresh green beans instead. The nice thing about this choice is that it also adds color to the dish, making it more appealing to our visual sense. (I know this shouldn’t matter to the Blind Cook, but I am, after all, cooking for others who are sighted.)

Okay, so once I took a look at the list of ingredients, the green beans didn’t look too healthy any more, but I figured I’d be using much more butter in mashed potatoes, so better to just stick with the greens.

It turned out this was the only dish that incurred no leftovers. Was it because a pound of beans could easily be devoured by six hungry stomachs? I like to think that it was just that good. The best thing about these country green beans, however, may be that it was damn easy to cook. I mean, look at the instructions–it’s only one step!


Recipe: Country Green Beans

Summary: Original recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
  • 1/4 c. chopped onion
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/4 c. chopped cooked bacon
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • 1/4 c. water
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a med. saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cover and simmer over med. heat until beans are cooked through, about 15 to 20 min.

Quick Notes

You can use kitchen scissors to trim the ends off green beans. But being blind, I found that snapping them off with my fingers was more efficient. This will work if the beans are fresh enough to snap easily. Otherwise, they’ll be too soft and pliable, and you’ll end up losing more bean. In this case, stick with the scissors.

Variations

The original recipe used ham, but since I already had turkey bacon on hand from the clam chowder, I decided to use that instead.

Cooking time (duration): 25

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)

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baked mac ‘n cheese

Who doesn’t love mac ‘n cheese? Besides the lactose intolerant, of course. And if you don’t like mac ‘n cheese because you don’t like cheese, then I have nothing more to say to you.

Up until this birthday dinner, my mac ‘n cheese was always of the Kraft variety. I remember due to a NMO exacerbation several years ago, I was on corticosteroids whose main side effects on me are insomnia and increased appetite. Often accompanying these appetite changes were strange cravings, and during this particular round of steroids, I ate at least one serving of Easy Mac every day. I even had to go to Costco and buy in bulk.

But thank heavens, my taste buds have since sophisticated, and I tried making good ol’ mac ‘n cheese from scratch this time. The idea came to me when I was watching this “Good Eats” episode on melted cheese, and Alton Brown baked some mac ‘n cheese. And then when I went online to search for the recipe and saw it’s enthusiastic reviews, I was sold.

It was definitely a hit. The panco bread crumbs made all the difference. Overwhelmed by the exoticism? Let’s break it down.

Panco is simply Japanese for “bread crumbs.” The difference between this variety and the American kind is that panco is flaky rather than crummy–uh, I mean crumby (sorry, another bad joke). This means there is more surface area so to make a long story short, your foods will turn out crispier, crunchier, yet lighter. Even after microwaving the leftovers, the panco still added a delightful crunch to the mac ‘n cheese.

Another differentiating factor is the sharp cheddar. None of that bland, watery mild cheddar here. We like a hearty, pungent cheddar. I cheated and opted for the kind that come already shredded in a bag, but if you’re looking to build up forearm muscles, try buying a block of sharp cheddar (either white or yellow or both) and grating it yourself? We received this sweet mandolin slicer as a wedding gift, and it makes cheese grating easy. And remember that if the Blind can Cook it, you can too.


Recipe: Baked Mac ‘n Cheese

Summary: Original recipe from Alton Brown

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked slightly less than al dente
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 4.5 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 tbsp. mustard powder
  • 3 c. milk
  • 1/2 c. finely chopped yellow onion
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3/4 tsp. paprika
  • 1 lg. egg
  • 18 oz. grated sharp cheddar
  • 1.5 tsp. salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp. butter for topping
  • 1 (3.5 oz.) pkg. panco bread crumbs

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a med. saucepan, melt 3 tbsp. butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard powder, and whisk continuously for 5 min. so that no lumps form. Stir in milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for 10 min. before removing bay leaf.
  3. Temper in the egg, and stir in 3/4 of the cheddar. Season with salt & pepper. Fold in the macaroni, and pour into a 2-qt. casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
  4. In a separate sm. saute pan, melt the remaining 3 tbsp. butter, and toss the panco to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 to 40 min. or until edges are slightly browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 min. before serving.

Variations

I changed up some of the measurements only because the ingredients came packaged in varying amounts. (E.g. I didn’t want to purchase 2 boxes of panco or have to save only 4 oz. of the 12-oz. pkg. of macaroni.) And I thought the recipe still turned out okay. I think the thing with casserole type dishes is they don’t have to be an exact science. This is good for all you non-recipe followers out there. (You know who you are.)

I also baked the macaroni for longer than what the original Alton Brown recipe called for because I like the edges a little burnt. Personally, I think it tastes better and adds that toasted crunch.

Cooking time (duration): 60

Diet type: Vegetarian

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (Traditional)

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chicken fried chicken

With a side of country green beans and baked mac 'n cheese



Aahhh…even the post title can make one salivate. In my last post about chicken fried foods, I talked about the Luby’s $2 Thursdays, which I have yet to try. Since then, I found a chicken fried chicken recipe online and watched a Travel Channel “Food Paradise” episode on deep-fried foods, and it was only a matter of time before I busted out the cooking oil. And then came along my friends’ request for comfort food. Perfect.

Before we get to the anticipated recipe, did you ever gaze at a Cracker Barrel or other diner menu and wonder what the difference was between a country fried steak/chicken and a chicken fried steak/chicken? In college, (it seems I learned many things in college), I met some folks from Philadelphia who brought it to my attention that the term “chicken fried steak” is just odd. Is it a chicken? Or is it a steak? Is there such thing as chicken steak? Well, the term “chicken fried,” whatever it precedes, refers to a style of frying the food item the same way one would prepare fried chicken–that is, to batter it and then deep-fry it. Indeed, the Philadelphian folks were appalled and overwhelmed by the range of things us Southerners deep-fry: steaks, bacon, pickles, Twinkies, Oreos, Snickers, beer, Coke, butter, even shoes. Because in Texas, you deep-fry everything just because you can. But back to the original question: what’s the difference between country fried and chicken fried? According to Alton Brown, a country fried steak/chicken is dressed in brown gravy while a chicken fried steak/chicken uses white gravy. So there you have it. Consider yourself a Southern fried expert.

So without further delay, here’s the chicken fried chicken recipe I used as the entree for the birthday dinner. Not only was it delicious (what fried thing isn’t?), it was easy. So for sure, if the Blind can Cook it, you can too. Use this to impress your non-Texan friends next time they’re in town. Or throw a Southern-themed dinner party. Just make sure you have some Tums on hand.


Recipe: Chicken Fried Chicken

Summary: Original recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2 to 3/4″ thick
  • 25 Ritz crackers
  • 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. paprika
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/2 c. oil for frying

Instructions

  1. Place Ritz crackers in a gal.-sized Ziploc bag and smash to crumbs.
  2. In a shallow bowl, mix together flour, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. In the next shallow bowl, mix together the beaten eggs with salt & pepper. In the third shallow bowl, pour the smashed Ritz crackers.
  3. Coat each side of the tenderized chicken breast halves first in flour mixture, then egg, then cracker crumbs. Double-coat in flour and egg if desired. Let sit for 10 min. or until chicken is dried before frying.
  4. Meanwhile, heat oil to med.-high heat. Fry chicken for 10 to 15 min. or until done, flipping every 5 min.

Quick Notes

Peanut oil is best for deep-frying since it has a higher smoking temperature. Other good oils for deep-frying are safflower, sunflower, or canola. (I foresee a post on deep-frying coming up.)

Variations

The original recipe didn’t call for any of the spices but I figured garlic and onion and paprika couldn’t hurt. They are, after all, what goes into good fried chicken. I used Ritz crackers since that’s what I had on hand, plus I figured the buttery flavor of the Ritz would add flavor to the chicken. But original recipe uses saltines, so those could work too.

Cooking time (duration): 45

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)

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ribs, legs, and wisconsin wieners: part 2

Continuing from the previous post on the Labor Day barbecue, here are the other two recipes that made up our grilling festivities.

Note: Again, I apologize for the lack of photos on a food post, but the food just got to’ up before John had a chance to snap some on his phone.

We grilled up about 25 chicken legs, and so to avoid monotony, I decided to use two different grilled chicken recipes. The last time I made this chicken recipe, it was a hit so why not go again for a crowd pleaser? The recipe is simple, requires few ingredients, and is easily adaptable according to how you feel like eating it. (You’ll see what I mean in the recipe below.) Now make it and eat it. Don’t you think it’s better than that crap Jack-in-the-Box version?


Recipe: Teriyaki Chicken

Summary: Original recipe for the baked version from All Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp. cold water
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. soy sauce
  • 1/4 c. cider vinegar
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp. ground or minced ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 12 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.
  2. If baking, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken in a 9″x13″ baking dish. Brush both sides of the chicken with the sauce. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake for another 30 minutes or until no longer pink and juices run clear. Baste with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.
  3. If grilling, cut chicken into 1″ cubes and marinate chicken in sauce for at least 1 hour. Before cooking, skewer the meat. Heat grill to medium-low heat and oil grates. Grill until done, about 10 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time.

Quick Notes

If grilling, try also grilling pineapple slices. In either case, serve with rice.

Variations

On Sunday’s barbecue, we used whole chicken legs instead of skewered chicken thighs. The preparation is all the same: marinate the skinless chicken legs in the teriyaki sauce for at least 1 hour. Grill time is obviously longer–about 60 minutes–and we suggest you baste frequently, at least once every 15 minutes or so. Turn the legs over halfway through cooking to ensure both sides are done.

Cooking time (duration): 70

Meal type: supper

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My next recipe is considered the soul food of Wisconsin. That’s right, beer brats. “Bratwurst” is a German compound word–brat means “chopped meat” (but is often misconstrued as originating from braten which means “fried”) and wurst means “sausage.” I had no idea bratwursts were the pride and joy of Wisconsin until the best rated bratwurst recipe I found on All Recipes had “Wisconsin” right in its name. Then I dug around online and stumbled upon this page. Boy, do those Wisconsinites love their brats. Miller Park in Milwaukee is the only baseball stadium in the U.S. to sell more brats than hotdogs. Now I can add beer brats to the very short list of things that remind me of Wisconsin: the Packers, the Bucks, the Brewers, beer, cheese, and “That ’70s Show.”

While our brats did not taste as yummy as the ones from Austin’s The Best Wurst on 6th Street, they were good in a sober Houston sort of way. And with Oktoberfest coming up, you can be sure this recipe would add just the right Munich touch to your festivities.


Recipe: Wisconsin Beer Brats

Summary: Original recipe from All Recipes.

Ingredients

  • 12 bratwurst sausages
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3 (12 fl. oz.) cans or bottles beer (more if necessary to cover ingredients)
  • 1.5 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 12 hoagie rolls
  • sauteed sauerkraut
  • brown mustard

Instructions

  1. Prick bratwurst sausages with a fork to prevent bursting while cooking. In a large stockpot, bring beer, onion, butter, and pepper to a simmer. Add sausages. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
  2. Heat grill to medium-high heat. Lightly oil grill grates, and cook bratwursts for 10-14 minutes, turning occasionally for even browning. Serve immediately in hoagie rolls with onions and sauerkraut and brown mustard.

Quick Notes

The recipe calls for hoagie rolls, never hot dog buns. I didn’t get to taste one with any sauteed sauerkraut. Instead I had it with sauerkraut straight out of the jar, and boy, was that no good. Sauteeing the sauerkraut is a must–do it in a little bit of butter for optiumum results. You can even throw those onions leftover from the stockpot into the skillet. And always serve with brown mustard; yellow mustard is an abomination.

Cooking time (duration): 40

Meal type: lunch

Culinary tradition: USA (General)

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And that concludes our Labor Day cookout. As I always say, if the Blind can Cook, so can you.

ribs, legs, and wisconsin wieners: part 1

The Grillmaster 4-burner gas grill

Labor Day was first celebrated on September 5, 1882, in New York City. The Central Labor Union started the “workingmen’s holiday” which quickly became a federal holiday in 1894 after a number of workers died at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals following a Pullman strike, and President Cleveland made reconciliation with the labor movement a top political priority. The first Monday in September of each year then became the official Labor Day.

Labor Day, as outlined in the original proposal, was to be celebrated with a parade exhibiting the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations followed by a festival for the workers. Today in the minds of sports fans, Labor Day marks the start of football season, and for other Americans, it is the symbolic end of summer: a day of rest and parties and thus the barbecue.

At the start of summer, John and I gifted a grill as a housewarming present to ourselves. After consulting Consumer Reports, we settled on a Grillmaster four-burner propane grill from Lowe’s for $200. I can recall the night my then fiance lugged the box upstairs to our balcony where he proceeded to piece the thing together in order to passively avoid having to do any wedding preparations. Since Houston summers are notoriously sweltering, we only used the grill once back in May the day after our wedding to celebrate my birthday. After that, the Grillmaster donned its cover, and the balcony was abandoned except for a few anolamous balmy evenings which, sadly, I could count on one hand. Also, toward the end of summer, we finally dish out the money for a 16-foot retractable SunSetter awning after I complained my husband’s ear off about how it’s too hot and sunny on the balcony. This reason to have an awning party combined with our underused grill and the fact that it was the end of summer days, we decided to have a barbecue to commemorate the first Labor Day in our new home and as husband and wife.

Now every barbecue must have some sort of meat or meat byproduct or else it cannot be considered an authentic Texas BBQ. This time, we decided to do pork spareribs, chicken legs, and Wisconsin beer brats. As a bonus, I’m going to cram two recipes into today’s post.

Let’s start with the ribs. I love pork spareribs. I think they’re much juicier (read: fattier) than their beef or baby back counterparts. Spareribs are taken from the belly side of the rib cage below the section of back ribs and above the sternum. They’re flatter and contain more bone than meat not to mention more fat which is why they’re so succulent. On the other hand, baby back ribs are taken from the top of the rib cage between the spine and spareribs below the loin muscle. The term “baby” means the ribs are taken from a market-weight hog rather than a sow. Back ribs have meat between and on top of the bones; and are shorter, curvier, and meatier than spareribs. Needless to say, I always get pork spareribs. People often say ribs are hard to cook, but I’ve found that I have yet to mess up a rack of pork spareribs. The recipe is very simple too.

Note: Sorry there are no photos of the food–the carnivorous friends of mine were vultures and tore up all the food before we had a chance to take pictures.

Recipe: Rudy’s Oven-Roasted Pork Spareribs

Ingredients

  • 2 racks of ribs, about 3 lbs. each
  • 1/2 c. Rudy’s dry rub
  • Rudy’s or Stubb’s BBQ sauce

Instructions

  1. Wash ribs if so desired. Rub Rudy’s dry rub liberally over both sides of the rib racks. Wrap in 3 layers of aluminum (preferably heavy duty) foil and let marinate overnight in refrigerator.
  2. Remove from fridge and let racks return to room temperature before cooking.
  3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook for 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and let meat sit in its own juices for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve with barbecue sauce.

Quick Notes

Okay, so I cheated. I used Rudy’s ready-made dry rub instead of making my own. But when you are designated to entertain/feed dozens of people, why make it harder on yourself when the Rudy’s rub is perfectly delectable? I got my Rudy’s rub from the Rudy’s Country Store & Bar-B-Q

I also cheated in the fact that I said we were having a barbecue, and my first recipe used the oven. You can grill ribs on low heat for hours if you want to keep it real. Remember to keep the grill cover closed. This will produce fall-off-the-bone ribs, but you can achieve the same thing in the oven in a fraction of the time. Of course, I know some true barbecue experts out there will say it’s totally different in taste or whatnot, but in our defense, we needed our grill space for other things (see below).

Variations

You can also baste the ribs before popping them into the oven with the barbecue sauce, then uncover the ribs in the last 15 minutes or so of cooking to thicken the sauce. I find that some people prefer dry ribs, though, which is why I skip the basting, opting to use barbecue sauce as a dipping condiment instead.

Cooking time (duration): 70

Meal type: supper

Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)

Microformatting by hRecipe.

Our next recipe called for the same Rudy’s dry rub but on chicken instead of pork. (See how versatile this Rudy’s dry rub is?) We chose to grill chicken legs because: (1) dark meat is juicier than white meat; (2) legs are easier to eat and less fatty than thighs; <3) they take less work than, say, burgers; and (4) they’re less expensive than breasts or beef.

Recipe: Rudy’s Grilled Chicken Legs

Ingredients

  • 12 chicken legs, skins removed
  • 1/2 c. Rudy’s dry rub
  • olive oil
  • Rudy’s or Stubb’s BBQ sauce

Instructions

  1. Apply dry rub liberally over chicken legs. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Heat grill to medium-low heat. Oil grill grates with olive oil.
  3. Grill chicken for 50-60 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking time.
  4. Chicken is done when it is no longer pink on the inside. Serve with barbecue sauce for dipping.

Quick Notes

Remember to oil the grates before each new piece of chicken. This helps the meat not stick to the grates while cooking.

Variations

If desired, baste the chicken with barbecue sauce in the last 15-20 minutes of cooking. Don’t make the mistake as I did in college of basting the meat with sauce before grilling–this will result in a burnt mess. You want to baste it towards the end, giving it just enough time to thicken and stick onto the meat but not to turn into a charred, carcinogenic mess.

Cooking time (duration): 65

Meal type: supper

Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)

Microformatting by hRecipe.

Everyone marveled at how yummy the ribs and chicken turned out. And with it being this easy, why not add it to your barbecue repertoire? You can feed the masses while not having to do too much work. Stay tuned for the other chicken recipe and the Wisconsin wieners. And remember, if the Blind can Cook it, so can you.

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