Southern Fried Chicken

This Tuesday's dinner was a team effort... some Southern Fried Chicken with Macaroni and Cheese. I was responsible for the fried chicken, and I didn't want anything too complicated... (see my next post--it will be about the disaster that was my Ultimate Lasagna... hahaha). Turns out fried chicken really isn't that hard. I can't say I know the total cooking time... but the total time may be something round 1-2 hours with breaks for sneaking a peek at the baseball game on tv;o)

Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/southern-fried-chicken-recipe2/index.html

Cooking Notes:
1) I think I'm gonna work on my own "House seasoning" used on the chicken. According to the recipe, Paula Deen's house seasoning consists of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I was consciously using garlic salt, and I tried to be careful about the amount of salt I was using. Unfortunately, the chicken still came out a bit over-salted.

2) Secondly: instead of buying yet another ingredient for this one-time recipe, I found a recipe for "self-rising flour".

For 1 cup of self-rising flour: Combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

3) Lastly: I halved boneless and skinless chicken breasts and drumsticks instead of a whole chicken cut into pieces for this recipe. I was very satisfied with the outcome. I figured the boneless-ness would make them fry faster, and it did. The drumsticks came out the best--especially when I made sure that they were completely breaded AND I kept them frying a bit longer than the breast pieces--just to make sure that it gets a good brown and cooks all the way through.

Jenny found a yummy recipe for Mac N Cheese--it has ham AND tomatoes in it. Here it is:

Macaroni and Cheese adapted from Amanda Hesser’s “Cooking for Mr. Latte”

2 tablespoons butter , plus more for buttering dish

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese, plus more for topping
(Yikes!) My note for this one is either don't be afraid to add more cheese (if you want it to be cheesy)... or consider blending the jack with another cheese; because it came out kinda mild.

3 1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni

1 cup country ham, cubed

1 cup canned whole plum tomatoes with juice , drained (reserve the juice)
Note: We decided even though there was no specific instruction to slice them... those whole plum tomatoes come pretty huge and instead of mashing them we roughly sliced them. (meaning, they don't have to be "pretty" slices.)

3/4 cup coarse breadcrumbs

ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and butter an 8 x 8 baking dish.

In a saucepan, heat the two tablespoons butter until foamy. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until it turns golden, then slowly pour in the milk, continuing to whisk.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat and let it thicken.

Stir in the cheese and remove from the heat (it should be a loose sauce). Fold in the macaroni and ham, then add tomatoes by squeezing them between your fingers. The mixture should be loose like a thin batter; if it’s gluey or thick, add a little milk or drained tomato juice.

Pour into the casserole dish and spread breadcrumbs over the surface. Top with 1/4 cup cheese and ground pepper. Bake until browned on the top and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

I think this may be a lil better than KFC... jus think about it;o)