Quicker Frying

Breading vegetables takes the longest time of any of the steps of frying. While getting a batch of okra ready to hit the oil, I tried something a little different that did shave off some time. Most cooks that fry know that when breading, the steps are dry ingredients, wet, then dry again. The fancy term for this is "standard breading method." I just say, "dry, wet, dry."
I filled a sheet pan with flour and did the first step of dry ingredients on all the okra at one time. I think it went a little faster this time. But, no matter how long it takes, a piece of crispy, salty okra is worth it.

Pickled Okra and Fig Preserves

My weekend was filled with two of my favorite things. Pickled okra and fig preserves. Thanks to generous friends with gardens much larger than ours, I was overcome with fresh brown turkey figs. If there's one fruit I couldn't live without, it would be figs. We even bought a house once based mostly on the enormous fig tree at the end of the driveway. No wonder they are mentioned so much in the Bible; eating figs is the closest to Heaven many of us have been. I made a batch of preserves so I can enjoy them in the dead of winter. I cooked equal amounts (in weight) of halved and stemmed figs and granulated sugar. I cook my preserves for several hours before I begin the ritual of canning. While most people my age were out with a cocktail on Friday night, I was standing at the stove processing jars of liquid gold. No complaints here.

I also had a bag of fresh okra as large as a couple of watermelons. I saved some to fry for tonight and pickled the rest. I found the okra I pickled and canned last summer didn't last too terribly long on the shelf. It should be eaten within a few months to keep the pods from turning into sponges of vinegar. This time, I tried this recipe from myrecipes.com. It's spicy and goes straight in the fridge. I was eager to try a version that didn't need to be canned. The okra is fabulous and the recipe is now the one I'll use each time.
What's my next project? A huge batch of pepper jelly.

Friends in Business

My friends, the Matonaks, have started their own business. They make very cool platters with tile and wood. Check them out and order one. You'll love it.
www.D3GTrays.com

The First Tomato

You know those meals that are so incredibly good that you don't even want to talk in between bites? I just had one of the meals right here in my kitchen. Today was the day the first tomato from the garden was ready to become my ultimate lunch...a tomato sandwich. I picked the Mortgage Lifter Heirloom tomato moments before it hit the bread. As soon as I plucked it from the plant, I could taste it.
With some white bread, a slice of Vidalia onion and a little Duke's Mayonnaise, I created one of the God-given joys of summertime in about 3 minutes. The tomato was still slightly warm from the backyard sunshine and the onion was gloriously sweet from the South Georgia soil.
Life doesn't get much better than this.

Get Frying!

It's a zillion degrees outside and even too hot inside to turn on the oven. If you're like me and still crave a big hot supper, heat up some oil and start frying. Frying is often overlooked as a fast way to cook with little residual heat to make the thermostat dance. Before the miracle of air-conditioning, frying was so prevalent in the South because it didn't heat up the kitchen like cooking in the oven.
During the most scorching hours of yesterday afternoon, I was frying up a batch of my grandmother's chicken for supper. We called my grandmother Tom, and her chicken couldn't be beat. Instead of opting for cold salad or a chilled soup tonight, pull out the cast iron skillet and relish in an old Southern tradition. I promise you'll be glad you did.

Tom's Fried Chicken

3.5 lb. Cut up whole chicken
1/4 cup salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour

Place chicken in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup salt and cover with cold water. Cover and soak chicken for 45 minutes.

Remove chicken from salt water; drain on paper towels.

Heat shortening in an 8-inch cast iron skillet or a large deep skillet to about 360 degrees.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Coat each piece completely with flour and gently place chicken in hot shortening. Fry 10 to 12 minutes per side or until golden brown, about 25 minutes total.

Check the temperature of the oil occasionally. If the oil is too hot, the chicken will be too brown on the outside but not fully cooked through.

Fry chicken in batches to prevent the skillet from becoming crowded.

Drain cooked chicken on paper towels or the more traditional folded brown paper grocery bag.

Serves 4-6

Vacation Cooking

After a week at the beach, I'm relaxed and practically high from lingering scents from the kitchen. Most vacationers use the time away to get out of the kitchen and into a restaurant. Not us - we cook more on vacation than in a normal week at home. I spent some time in advance to pick all the recipes I wanted to try while I was gone, knowing I'd have time to cook as much as I wanted. Of course, I turned to my favorite site, myrecipes.com, for some new recipes. My favorite new recipe on the trip was Cucumber Dip. With grated cucumber, rice wine vinegar, and chives, it was refreshing and an ideal appetizer for hot weather. I made some pita chips for scooping and it's now in my go-to entertaining repertoire.

Every vacation should include homemade ice cream on the porch. We indulged in peach ice cream, right out of the ice cream maker, until we could hold no more. Most recipes call for ripening the ice cream in the freezer for an hour or so after it's made. I prefer the soft frozen mixture the minute it's ready. Try my quick version for a homemade treat.

Peach Ice Cream
3/4 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup half and half
3/4 cups sugar
1 cups chopped fresh peaches
1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Whisk all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Pour mixture into the freezer container of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Yield: 1/2 gallon

Friday Night with Commander's Palace

My Friday night was spent celebrating the food of Commander's Palace. During a class with Michael Nix, a superbly talented wine buyer for Sherlock's Wine Merchant and Cook's Warehouse, we served eight recipes from the famous New Orleans restaurant. The Cajun spices were flowing as much as the wine. For a taste of our class, try this truly spectacular gumbo. I promise you won't be disappointed.


Commander's Palace's Gumbo Ya Ya

1 large roasting chicken (about 5 pounds), disjointed
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Powered garlic
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped celery
2 cups coarsely chopped green bell pepper
6 cups chicken stock
1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
1 pound andouille sausage, finely diced
4 cups fluffy cooked rice

Cut chicken breasts in half crosswise. This will give you 10 pieces of chicken. Season with salt, cayenne pepper and garlic and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Measure flour into a large paper bag. Add chicken pieces and shake until well coated. Remove chicken and reserve the flour.

In a large skillet brown the chicken in very hot oil, remove and set aside. Stir oil remaining in skillet with a wire whisk to loosen all the lovely brown particles from the bottom and the sides of the pan.

Whisk in 1 cup reserved flour and stir constantly until the mixture of oil and flour (the roux) becomes dark and brown. Remove from heat and add onions, celery and green bell pepper and stir constantly so that they do not burn. Transfer roux and vegetables to a large heavy saucepan or dutch oven.

Add stock to roux and vegetables and bring to a boil while stirring. Lower heat to a quick simmer and add garlic, sausage and chicken. Continue cooking until chicken is tender,
1 ¾ to 2 hours.

Adjust seasonings and serve in gumbo bowls over steamed rice.

Serves 8