With the price of gas soaring, many of us are staying home this summer instead of taking road trips or long vacations. Here are three recipes to make that summer pool party or backyard gathering a little more delicious.
Fabulous Fried Chicken
I stole this recipe from a good friend of mine named William who wheedled it out of a 70-plus year-old African American lady named Katherine, who used to chef for many Old Hollywood notables. She brought the recipe when she left the South over 50 years ago, and had been guarding it jealously ever since. I don’t know how he did it, but after several years of wheedling, William finally got the prize.
Makes 30 pieces of chicken, enough for 9 hungry guests. Eat up, y’all!
3 large whole fryers
½ gallon 2% buttermilk
About 6 cups flour
About 3 tsp salt
About 6 tbsp poultry seasoning
About 6 tbsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
About 3 tsp ground white pepper (use black if you want)
About 1½ tsp nutmeg (yes, nutmeg)
About 1½ tsp cayenne pepper
Fresh ground black pepper
More Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
About 1 pint Canola oil
Rinse and pat the chickens dry. Section the fryers into drumsticks, thighs, wings and breasts. Cut the breasts in half. Each fryer should give you ten pieces. Reserve the backs and giblets for other uses.
Place the pieces in a deep pot, and cover entirely with the buttermilk. Cover the pot and place it in the refrigerator for 48 hours. (Yes, two days and nights.)
Combine the flour and seasonings, adding the cayenne last, a little at a time. Taste the mixture with a wet finger. It should have strong flavor, with a slight bite from the cayenne, but should not be hot. Correct if necessary.
Pour ½ inch Canola oil in two large skillets, (preferably cast-iron) and heat to about 300 degrees F.
Remove 8 pieces of chicken from the buttermilk and immediately dredge in the seasoned flour mixture. Let them sit a minute or two until the flour gets gummy. Test the oil temperature with a small piece of batter. It should sizzle and bubble.
Place no more than 4 pieces of chicken in each skillet; fry about 10 minutes per side, moving the chicken around occasionally between turnings. Remember; do not put too many pieces in a skillet as the chicken will become soggy. Remove to a rack when done.
Before coating the next batch of chicken, shake the flour mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Repeat this process until all the chicken has been cooked.
Serve with The Best Potato Salad and Pink Turtle Cocktails.
The Best Potato Salad
Makes about 6#, or 24 healthy servings.
5# medium WhiteRose potatoes
8 large stalks celery (2 ½ cups chopped)
1 medium Spanish onion (2 cups chopped)
12 large baby kosher dill pickles (3/4 cup chopped)
2 cans (each 6 oz total drained weight) large pitted black olives
6 large eggs
2 medium Fuji apples, (Any firm, crisp, sweet apple will do. Should yield 2 cups chopped.)
1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
4 tsp cheap yellow mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Cover the unpeeled potatoes with salted water and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a gentle boil about 30-45 minutes, or until a fork slides easily in and out when piercing the largest one. Drain and cool thoroughly in the sink under running cold water.
Place the eggs in water to cover and bring to boil, reduce heat and cook without boiling ten minutes, or until the yolk is bright yellow and firm. Drain and cool thoroughly in the sink under running cold water.
While the potatoes and eggs are cooking, chop the celery, onion, pickles, and olives into roughly ¼ X ¼ X ¼ inch pieces.
When the potatoes are chilled and firm, peel with a butter knife and cut into ½ X ½ X ½ inch pieces. Add celery, onion, pickles, and olives.
Peel the eggs when cool and chop roughly the same size as the olives. Add to the other ingredients. Mix everything, season with salt and pepper.
Add the mustard a teaspoon at a time to the mayonnaise in a separate bowl until the mixture is tangy but does not taste too much like mustard. Pour the dressing into the salad a little at a time and mix thoroughly until the salad is moist but not sloppy.
Cut the unpeeled apples away from their cores and chop into ¼ X ¼ X ¼ inch pieces. Mix into salad.
Rest the salad in the refrigerator, covered, for 24 hours.
Note: Because of the apples, this salad will not usually keep longer than three days, five at the most, without souring. However, you will not have a problem with this, as the salad is so good that it will vanish immediately.
Pink Turtle Cocktail
This is a recipe for alcoholic pink lemonade. It tastes delicious with fried chicken and potato salad, served outdoors by the pool from an iced pitcher to a group of friends on a hot day.
Pink Lemonade:
Juice 12 fresh lemons
Add sugar and water to taste
Add Grenadine syrup for the pink color
OR: open a couple of cans of commercial pink lemonade (varieties like raspberry/lemon are also delicious), and follow directions to mix, using slightly less water than the recipe calls for.
In a glass pitcher, combine 1 ½ ounces of good vodka with each 4 ounces of pink lemonade until the pitcher is ¾ full. Add ice and thin lemon slices for garnish and color. If you have strawberries, raspberries, or other fresh and colorful fruits and berries in the refrigerator, add some to the pitcher also, if you feel creative.
Pass around the pitcher to fill tulip glasses garnished with lemon slices.
Enjoy!
