Adventures in Frying - A Poultry Tale

"The Shed" - Boonville, CA

Time to celebrate - many different things, the wedding of good friends, the start of "real" fall, and my first attempt at frying (I take every opportunity I can to celebrate). I have almost finished reading my Lucky Peach from cover to cover and along the way I began to drool heavily over Jonathan Waxman's fried chicken. Having never fried before I did not have the proper equipment so I bought myself a splatter screen and a tub of crisco (I tried to fry in peanut oil, but the store was out so I decided to take matters into my own hands and gleefully picked up the crisco). For an article expounding on the health benefits of lard please click here. 

Jonathan Waxman's wonderful butchering diagram

I do see the virtues of doing a double-dredge and getting a little more crust - I love the crust - but the chicken did come out crispy and golden and was even moist on the inside - all in all a success! I served it with cornbread, buttermilk mashed potatoes (because you can never have too much starch), and jalapeno-cilantro slaw. Oh, and beer - cheap beer.

Cocktail Hour - The Perfect Margarita

Hog Island Oyster Company

It hasn't exactly felt like summer in San Francisco, not that I'm ever one to complain about such things, but we are making the most of this foggy, 68-degree "summer." We spent a pretty glorious weekend in Pt. Reyes surrounded by some of my favorite people and good food. And what's a weekend spent with friends without a nice cocktail or three?

shaker

 I read a little blurb in Bon Appétit a few months back about a simple fresh margarita that made me salivate immediately. I have been buying weekly batches of limes ever since and whipping up a quick margarita whenever I feel like it. 

Sunning; The view from the house in Inverness

Tomales Bay

L'chaim

Note: this photo makes it look deceptively warm

A Party! Complemented By Some Bourbon-y BBQ

I will begin with a confession - I did not make this sauce, I observed its making and enjoyed being a taster but I was most definitely not the chef. My lovely mother took on the job of BBQ sauce-maker and it turned out to be absolutely perfect (and, as proof, it was completely inhaled by the party-goers). We decided not to marinate the chicken and instead our master griller brushed the chicken with sauce as it cooked giving it a delicious, caramelized glaze. It was cooked to perfection and was such a success that we even glazed our sausages with it and gobbled those up as well. 

The aftermath

For the original recipe from Bon Appétit please click here. 

Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Chili-Lime Shrimp

In keeping with the seasons, I have been craving summer-y foods - cold, fresh fruit, burgers, the taste of  grill and one of my go-to meals of late has been a cold noodle salad that I came up with in an effort to make something refreshing and to make a dent in my enormous bottle of fish sauce. This dish has turned into one of our household faves, not only because it is yummy and refreshing, but also, for the cook-er, it is quite simple to throw together. You will find the recipe below but please note that you should always throw in whatever toppings or whatever sauce-y components that sound good to you (I change the proportions based on my mood - spicy, citrus-y, etc.). 

Also, I forgot to note that this lovely recipe card and the card I used in my last post were designed by The Dapper Paper Co. and you can purchase your own set here. I LOVE their stuff and want to have some sort of important event just so I can have an excuse to have invitations designed by them.

Also, continuing with my peony trend - I bought the most spectacular peonies at Trader Joe's that started out a bright pink color (I guess they are "coral" peonies) and then they slowly morphed into a light pink and finally a stark white. It made for quite the dramatic show.

Pancakes for Breakfast

I am not usually one for breakfasts, but every now and again, on a lazy Sunday I get the undeniable urge for a big breakfast. On this particular Sunday, I decided that I NEEDED pancakes. Being out of practice of making pancakes I forgot how easy it is. I used up what was left of my sour cream and made these delicious, not-too-sugary pancakes (which I then smothered in maple syrup to fulfill my sugar needs). 

This recipe is courtesy of Gourmet Magazine and can be found here.