Monday, January 2, 2012

Tempt my tummy tuesday

So many yummy things to eat.... going with the Tacoma post so here is some Southern fried Chicken. 

Ingredients

  • 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

  1. Season chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and paprika. Roll in flour.
  2. Add 1/2 to 3/4 inch oil to a large, heavy skillet. Heat to approximately 365 degrees F (185 degrees C). Place chicken pieces in hot oil. Cover, and fry until golden, turning once, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain on paper towels.                 

  • If you want to make fried chicken, you can get good results using a fryer, broiler, capon, young chicken, and roaster or game hen.
  • Soaking the chicken overnight in brine or buttermilk makes the meat more tender and juicy.
  • Slice whole chicken breasts in half for more even cooking. They also cook faster like this.
  • Adding celery sticks to the frying oil enhances the color and flavor of the fried chicken.
  • Dry any wet utensils before they touch the hot cooking oil to avoid the hot fat spattering.
  • Use tongs instead of a fork to turn the chicken. A fork might pierce the skin and the chicken will lose juices.
  • If you like your chicken fried, try peanut oil. It gives the chicken a great flavor.
  • Drain fried chicken on a brown paper bag or metal rack. Draining it on paper towels might make it lose crispiness. In addition, covering it will make it lose all crispiness.
The above tips should help to ensure your fried chicken recipes are delicious. If you are using a whole chicken and you have some left over, you can put them in a pot with carrots, parsley, and water to cover. Simmer until the liquid reduces by half, strain and refrigerate. When the mixture is cold, skim off the fat and use it in soups and sauces. You can also freeze it.

A few things I love.... to eat in Tacoma.

I have to say that I am pretty happy that the holiday season is very close to be under wraps and put away for a year. This season just blew past me with out warning, I do miss that I didn't really get to be home and that I was stuck in the hospital and the hospital housing. 


While I have been down here something I never thought could happen has......... I have fallen in love with the City of Tacoma. It was always a city that I never really spent to much time in. A town that I would simply drive past. Now that I know all the back ways to get to and from places without taking the freeway. Ever sense my parents accident in September. In doing that we have fallen in love with some amazing places to eat and shop.  6th Ave runs from the first exit once you leave the Tacoma Narrows bridge you can drive it all the way down to down town Tacoma. 


We have fallen in love with Masa a Tex Mex Restaurant that has a to die for Chips and Salsa and the best happy hour that is all day SUnday thru Wednesday.


 There is a place to eat some wonderful.  southern food called Southern Kitchen it has the most wonderful fried chicken I have ever eaten in my entire life. 


My Dad took us to Red hot. Where I stepped out on the wild side and got a hot dog that had bacon and Peanut butter, it is a bar so you have to be 21 or over to go there but they go once a week to the Seatac airport and pick up hot dogs flown in from Chicago!   


After long days at the hospital walking to the local areas to have a different bite besides the lunch room food at the hospital we found a few other places all within walking distance to the hospital. that we found we liked as well... A place called the Hub that has a brewery right below them, & the best Yogurt shop Called Gibsons, just to name a few of the places we have been making our regular stops in at.  


Over the time that I have been here in the darkest emotional days of being here with my boys so sick I have become a person in love with the community of Tacoma, the business people, the people on the sidewalk and walking in the park, it is amazing to me that in this big city second to Seattle in our state that you can still feel like it is a small town. A love that I was very embraced and loved in. The town that has held us and continues to hold us and our boys while we make it a home away from home will always have a very important and special place in my heart. Do yourself a favor and make some time to go down to Tacoma and plan a trip on a tank.  I will post the next few weeks about what to do and where to do it in Tacoma. Just try it 
& you will Fall in love like I did!!