Now THIS is Fried Chicken

Look at that... THAT is fried chicken. What makes it different than any other fried chicken you ask? Oh let me tell you my dear. THIS is what makes the difference.This marvelous device:

If you don't have a deep fryer, you really are missing out. And they're good for more than just making chicken that looks this good.

I made MUCH more than Dad, LD & I could eat for dinner tonight. I used the "boneless, skinless chicken tenders" that you can find at Costco - They come all cut up and packaged into pouches. I used three pouches (About 30 pieces of Chicken total). Marinaded in Italian dressing for a few hours, then drained it. Coated in flour, dipped in and egg and 1/2 & 1/2 mix and then breaded it in equal parts plain bread crumbs and Parmesan Cheese. A few minutes in the deep fryer and they were prefect.

Add Easy Chicken Gravy, some biscuits and a veggie of your choice (or a salad) and you've got a fairly easy meal. The hardest part was cooking all that chicken! It just took quite a bit of time, but the deep fryer made it painless - literally - no hot oil splattering on me!

Easy Chicken Gravy:
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 can chicken broth
A generous splash of heavy cream
parsley

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, add flour and wisk together - it will start to thicken immediately. Add the chicken broth, mix well and then add the cream. If the chicken flavor isn't strong enough you can add a couple teaspoons of chicken bullion. Add a tablespoon or so of dried parsley and stir and simmer till it thickens - should only take a few minutes!

From French Fries, Onion Rings, Mozarella Sticks and Fried Zuchinni to  Donuts, and Oh so much more. Yeah, I know, you can fill a deep pan with oil and achieve very similar results. However, the biggest difference comes when it's time to clean up. The last time I made my Italian Fried Chicken, I fried the pieces in a deep frying pan. It required turning them over mid way through the cooking. And the mess? And smoking oil? Oh goodness, it was something else. And you can't beat a deep fryer for even cooking either.

So let me say this again - if you don't have a deep fryer, you NEED one. I'm not saying cook things in it every day. What I'm saying is that for every 10 times you cook something that CAN be fried another way (such as the oven or stove top etc), please cook that same thing just ONCE in the deep fryer. You'll be glad you did... or maybe you'll hate me for talking you into it.

First harvest

Today, I picked the first of our harvest (not counting a couple of tomatoes...those were a snack while I was watering). If you're interested in the rest of the gardening woes, read on here. And, if you're interested in a snack of more than a couple tomatoes, have at this one.

Today though, we're talking Peas.

Not a lot, but enough to add to a pasta salad

2-3 cups assorted pasta
2.25 oz sliced olives
peas... I think I got MAYBE 1/4 cup
1 dozen grape tomatoes, quartered or smaller
Gorgonzola cheese
dressing of choice - I made one using the following:
1/4c. olive oil
1/4c. +2tbsp rice vinegar (roasted garlic flavor)
1 tbsp sugar

Cook the pasta & add the peas in the last 10 seconds, drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water until completely cool.
Add tomatoes, olives & cheese, top with dressing, refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving

I also made some sweet & tangy meatballs and PW's Buttered Rosemary rolls and we made them into the most amazing sandwiches!

Sesame Hoisin Shrimp

When I set out to make this I started by thinking of what I HATE about Chinese food - not much sauce. It always seems to me that there's just enough sauce on the stuff to make me wish there was more. So obviously, my first goal was to make sure that there was an abundance of sauce... I wanted sauce left over! And guess what? I have LOTS of left overs!

Start by steaming some Calrose rice - make sure it's good & sticky! I love my rice steamer, but you can use a good 'ole pan if that's what floats your boat.

While that's cooking, prep your veggies - 2 carrots sliced ultra thin (use a mandolin if you can)
2/3 of a large yellow onion, sliced
1 lg head of broccoli, stems & all, sliced up

Next, make the sauce - mix these together in a bowl & set aside:
8 ozs. Hoisin Sauce, hold out 3 tbsp for the marinade for the shrimp
2 14oz. cans chicken broth, hold out 1/4c. for the marinade
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
6 tbsp corn starch

Now, marinade the shrimp: you could use any meat you like here, I just had shrimp that I needed to use:
60 smallish shrimp, prepped, cooked (I like the bagged frozen ones - all you have to do is defrost & pull off the tails)

Mix up the following and pour over the shrimp & stir
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/4 c. chicken broth
Make sure you let the shrimp marinade at least 30 minutes

About 20 minutes into the marinading process, heat some sesame oil in a large skillet - LOTS of sesame oil - a couple tablespoons at least.
Toss in the onions, carrots & broccoli. Stir till the onions are starting to cook then add some water, stir around and cover for about 5 minutes letting the water steam the veggies. You can cook longer, just all depends on how you like your veggies.

Once the veggies are starting to become how you like them, add the shrimp, mix to combine and then add the sauce.

Where's the picture of the veggies & shrimp in the sauce you ask? Well.... I kinda got hungry & forgot to take a picture of it....Serve like I did, over that sticky steamed rice, or chow mein noodles etc.... top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

And then, wonder why you haven't used Hoisin Sauce before!