Easy Fried Chicken

Many people are terrified of frying. I can understand why....its messy, not very healthy (but delicious!), and many people think hard to do if you don't own a fryer. The fact is though, you can easily do it with cookware you already have in your kitchen.

First, you have to decide what you are going to use to put the oil in. My cooking item of choice is a large cast iron skillet. It holds heat so well that it is perfect for frying, and even though it may seem to shallow, flipping the chicken is fairly simple. You can get a relatively good one for around 20 dollars at any cooking store or even WalMart. If you don't have a cast iron, a deep sauce pan or pot you use to cook your pasta in will work fine as well, but it just doesn't give you near as much room.

Once you decide on what you are going to use to make the chicken in, you need to pick an oil. Now, I always use vegetable oil, because it is the cheapest, and healthiest. However, if you want a truly great taste, the way to go is peanut oil. It adds a flavor to the meat that you don't get from veggie oil, but it is more expensive.

Now that you have all that down, dump oil into what you are using. Either way, I would fill up the pot or skillet halfway at first as that will be more than enough to fry in. Be sure to put the stove on a MEDIUM setting, because anything hire and you will have grease explosions.

OK,now that we have all that going, time to make the breading. This is VERY simple. All I do is put flour in (vary the amounts for how much you are making), salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and paprika. I like to add lots of flavors to my breading, but if you don't want that, just add salt and pepper. Also, and this is important for taste, season the chicken directly before you roll it in the breading, as again, it will add more taste to the dish.

Next step is one you can leave out if you want. Take an egg and beat it, then coat the chicken in it and then roll it in the flour mixture you have. The egg is not necessary, but I have found it makes for a much crispier breading in the end. Also, and this is a tip from the recipe I am leaving you at the end of this post, if you let the chicken stand for 20 minutes, the breading will adhere better, and again, become more crispy when fried. Remember though, you can leave the eggs and standing all out and throw the chicken right in without any horrible consequences.

Remember though, be careful putting the chicken in the oil as it is VERY hot. Just slide it in, and let it cook and then after about 8 minutes turn to get the other side. Cook times will vary depending on your stove, but in general it takes about 15-17 minutes for my chicken to cook through. Once it is done, pull it out and let it rest for 5 minutes on paper towels and dig in.

I will also leave you with this wing recipe from Sunny Anderson at the food network....it is one of my favorites, especially for a sporting event on TV and guests.

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/wings-3-ways-recipe/index.html

Try it out! It is a lot of work, but the wings are as good as any I have had in a restaurant

-Matt

A simple marinade for pork and chicken

This one is really easy. Take a gallon freezer bag. Add in some veggie oil, your favorite bbq sauce, a splash of mustard to your taste, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, garlic or the garlic you buy in a can that goes in your fridge, and a half an onion. Mix it all together and let the meat sit in the marinade overnight.

This is also a marinade that you can use several times over, so you can leave it in your fridge for future use.

-Matt

Something different with Ramen

Ramen Noodles are a staple of the college diet. They are so easy that anyone can make them. However, they get old, so every once in a while you can do something different with them.

What I usually like to do is make a marinade first in the morning before I leave or the night before, either in a gallon freezer bag, or some other container you have laying around and can cover. Take some vegetable oil, about half a cup, soy sauce, again, about a quarter of a cup, cut up a quarter of an onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and combine it in the bag and mix it up all together. You choose the meat....pork or chicken of your liking, or maybe even a beef cut like a chuck steak if you wanted.

Now, when dinner rolls around, take that out of the fridge. You can cook it whatever you like, be it on the grill or in a frying pan on top of the stove.

While the meat is cooking, take a package of Ramen, and simply follow the package instructions. It is that easy! Choose the flavor you want and let it cook until the noodles are tender. However, instead of using it as soup, drain the noodles, and place them on a plate and serve the meat over it once it is prepared.

This is a quick way to get a fast and filling dinner without any hassle at all.

-Matt