Fried Chicken

Until about a year ago, the only friend chicken I had enjoyed was the kind from KFC or Chic-Fil-A. I didn't realize how easy (although a tad messy) it was to fix at home. Homemade fried chicken has a moistness and texture that's hard to find in the fast food joints.

Start by selecting the chicken parts you want to fry. Breasts, legs, wings, and thighs all make great choices. You can leave the skin on, or remove it for a healthier meal.

Frying chicken involves three steps:

1. Soaking the chicken breasts/thighs/legs/wings in buttermilk
2. Dredging the chicken pieces through "the batter"
3. Frying the chicken pieces

Start by placing the chicken pieces in a container and cover with buttermilk. Some recipes insist that the chicken sit refrigerated in the buttermilk overnight, but I usually just let it sit for a couple of hours.

When you're ready to start cooking, get a large, heavy frying pan and pour in enough oil so that it comes up 1/8"-1/4". Heat the oil on high for a few minutes as you create the batter and dredge the chicken.

To create the batter, combine flour with a bit of pepper and salt. You can also add additional powdery spices: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, paprika, and so on. Next, crack an egg or two in a bowl and mix the yolks and whites. Then, remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk and dredge the chicken through the flour.

One of the main challenges of frying chicken is getting it so that the outside is crispy and the inside thoroughly cooked, yet moist. It is easy to burn the outside and leave the inside uncooked, so it may take a little practice to get cooking just right.

Put the chicken pieces in the hot oil and turn the heat down to medium. Let the chicken cook for about 6 minutes on one side then turn over the chicken. After turning the chicken, cover the frying pan and turn the heat down to low. The cover traps the steam and helps moisten the chicken and ensures a cooked-through bird. After 10-15 minutes, the chicken will be cooked inside, but the batter may not be crisp enough. Remove the lid, return the heat to medium-high, and cook on each side for a minute or two until the chicken is crispy.

Turn off the heat and drain the chicken on a rack (not on paper towels, which can stick to the skin/batter!). Let the chicken cool and then serve!

Cornbread

Whenever I leave on a business trip my wife bakes up a mean batch of cornbread to keep me sated and thinking of home while away. The cornbread, individually wrapped in saran wrap, makes a great on-the-go snack or meal replacement while waiting at airports or when arriving at a hotel after the restaurant has closed. Her recipe is one of the more healthy cornbread recipes, with a lighter, fluffier result, and is so easy to make that I whipped up batches on my own from time to time.

The ingredients for this delicious cornbread are as follows:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• a pinch of baking soda

(For a less healthy, heavier batch of cornbread, use regular yogurt instead of the nonfat kind.)

Once you've got all of your ingredients, simply mix them together and then pour into a glass pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes and then set out to cool. If you're making the cornbread to comfort your significant other while they're away, after the cornbread cools cut it into 2"x2" squares, wrap in saran wrap, place in a brown paper bag, and put it in your spouse's suitcase. :-)

Enjoy!