Pursuing Bliss in a Random Life is about finding the humor in everyday situations. It's the random moments of clarity in the middle of chaos. It's the reminders of what is truly important, of the things that make this life not just livable, but memorable. This is my search: not just to achieve, but to maintain happiness. Family, friends, faith, food, fun: Bliss.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Indulging my inner wanna-be chef

I will state right off the bat that these pictures are not good, my camera had no batteries so I took them all on my cell phone. That said....


Sunday morning, my eager, over-achiever self set out to make "Sunday Supper" for the family. I started at 9am. Yes, peeps, that's right: 9 AM. On the menu: Roasted Corn on the Cob, Biscuits with Honey Butter, Homemade Mashed Potatoes, and the pièce de ré·sis·tance - Homemade Fried Chicken.

Let us begin with:


Potatoes in the collander

As I was only making a half batch, I opted for 7 potatoes, rather than the 5 lbs the recipe called for. Washed and peeled, we have this:

Then chopped, and into the water they go:

20 minutes later, after draining the water and adding gads of butter, some milk (I was out of half and half) and some cream cheese:

Hungry yet? =) I added some Lawry's salt, regular salt, and pepper, and spread them in a baking dish. Topped it off with more butter and Lawry's, and baked for 20 to 30 min, and voila:
Yes, that IS a puddle of butter you spy on top. Yummy.

Next up: the corn. 

I opted to roast them in foil packets, rubbed with butter, salt and pepper. I've used herb butter before, but my  guys are purists - lots of butter and salt and they are happy. I roasted them at 350 degrees for about 40 min - the recipe says 450 for 8 to 10, but I had more cooking to do, so I chose the slower option. Worked out great though.

Now, the hardest part. Fried Chicken sounds easy, and yummy. What it is, is messy. (Fun, but messy.)

I started with one cut up whole chicken, soaked in buttermilk overnight. I tried Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's recipe, and so far, like the others I've tried, it was a winner. Check out her cookbook for the exact recipe.

Breaded and ready for the fryer:

I've never used a candy/oil thermometer before, or fried anything to this extent. The hardest part was keeping the oil in the pan, and even close to the right temperature. It all worked out though, as you can see:




I finished baking the pieces in the oven, 350 degrees. It took about 15 min for the smaller pieces, but close to half an hour for the 2 breasts.

Then I whipped up some biscuits (from a can, sorry - at this point it was pushing 3+ hours of cooking) and some honey butter, and we finally got to eat. My hubby absolutely demolished his piece of chicken. I'd say that equals SUCCESS!

Now that I've tackled the biggest and most complicated dish I'd chosen, I'm ready to move on to other things. Steak with whiskey cream sauce, fried onion straws, cheese grits, and sangria anyone? Oh yeah, don't forget the olive bread!

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