chicken and waffles

Chicken and waffles:

If there is one meal that says I am from the south and I'm proud of it, it would have to be chicken and waffles. As far as my fried chicken is concerned, I wish I could say that I had an old family recipe but I sadly, I don't. What I do have is Alton Brown's fried chicken rub and buttermilk. And that makes for some of the best yardbird you have ever had.

What you need:

1) Chicken Legs, thighs and breasts. About a 1lb per person
2) 1 carton of buttermilk
3) Alton Browns fried chicken rub
4) flour
5) Crisco or other vegetable shortening
6) waffle mix

Alton Brown's Fried chicken rub:

2 tbls of kosher salt
2 tbls of smoked paprika
2 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
Put this mix into a shaker of some sort for easy coating, I use a Parmesan shaker from a pizza place.



Here's how I made the chicken:

1) Soak your chicken overnight in buttermilk! This is the most important step do not cheat on it. The buttermilk gives the meat a certain tangy flavor and gives the rub and flour something to stick to. After 24 hrs drain the chicken in a colander.

2) Get your fry station set up. If you do this all ahead of time it makes frying chicken pretty easy. If you skip it, you will make a huge mess any possibly give yourself and others food poisoning from cross contamination. Make sure you have a clear path to go from strainer-to sink-to dredge-to pan-to cooling rack. Use separate tongs for raw and cooked chicken.

3) Ok now get your cast iron skillet ready. Put about 7 or 8 scoops of vegetable shortening in the pan and heat to 340.

4) The dredge. Season the meat liberally with the rub then place the meat in the flour and coat. Place on a rack to give dredge time to stick to the meat. Repeat with all pieces of chicken.

4) Finally we fry! Place chickens in the pan and cook for 8-10 mins on each side. They are done when they hit between 160-180 on a thermometer.

5) Place on a cooling rack and let them cool for a least 15 mins. Fried Chicken is best served warm not hot.

Now let's talk about waffles. I usually loath pre-mixed anything, however I have never been able to make a waffle taste as good as the people at Stonewall kitchen. So I buy their mix. It really is amazing stuff. Just follow the directions on the back for prefect waffles every time.

There you have it, chicken and waffles. Make sure to get your maple syrup on both the waffle and the chicken, otherwise you are just cheating yourself.

hot mess on a sunday afternoon

everyone thinks they know how to make the best brisket, or knows someone that does. now I know too, and the best brisket I have had in a long time was at pecan lodge bbq at the farmers market.


i met some friends today for brunch BBQ. normally I'm more of a breakfast taco kind of gal, but I thought why not? i could use something to soak up last nights lingering poor beverage choices.


when we arrive the, line is ten deep at 11:00am which i think is clearly a good sign. there's a simple menu, with the usual options: 2 meats, 4 meats, and a meat sandwich. lord i love bbq places. they also have the requisite sides of fried okra, mac and cheese and more meat, hallelujah. there was also something intriguing called the "hot mess"...uh, yes please.

my husband, and personal bbq sensei , told me to get the brisket sandwich. i don't like to admit it when he's right, but it was a real good call.

the brisket was ri-dic-u-lous, tender, juicy, full of flavor, and it absolutely melted in my mouth. they even toasted the bun a little to keep the sandwich from crumbling under its own yummy goodness. solid.

for sidekicks i choose the the mac and cheese and the fried okra; i was not disappointed. the mac and cheese was completely unpretentious, no panko, gruyere, pancetta or truffle oil in sight. just some cheesy noodles with green chile and bacon on top served in a cafeteria style styrofoam cup.

what about the okra you ask? well the fried okra what crispy, hot and had okra inside, so it was awesome as far as i'm concerned.

my buddies had the fried chicken and the aforementioned "hot mess", which consisted of a mammoth sweet potato smothered with barbacoa, bacon, cheese and sour cream and chives. now that's a mess i can get behind. it is just as good as it sounds, trust me.



all in all pecan lodge was a great way to start a lazy sunday afternoon. a wonderful gem of a place where the atmosphere is great, the parking is plenty and the bbq goes hard. so thank you well informed friends, and thank you well knowing husband, and above all thank you pecan lodge for your delish brisket. in the famous words of governor schwarzenegger, "i'll be back"..

Oh Lamb How I Love Ewe...

Rosemary Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Mashed Veggies

Erin and I just had our last feast of the holiday season this past weekend.  We are about to embark on our second round of P90X, so we had our fair well to decadence meal.  Roasted lamb shoulder with a hot mint caper gravy and mashed root veggies. This one I stole straight from Jamie Oliver so thanks to our "cousin" across the pond for showing us how to make the best damn lamb we have ever had.

To get the the Lamb Shoulder I took a little trip to Rudolph's Meat market in Deep Ellum. This place has been in operation since 1895 and if you want the best meat in town, there is no other place to go. It's where a lot of local restaurants get their meat, and be for warned it is not cheap, the lamb shoulder I got was close to $15 a pound.....yikes, but it is the best, plain and simple.

So here is what you need:

4lbs or so of lamb shoulder
A bunch of Rosemary
A bunch of Mint
One small jar of capers
One whole head of garlic
4-5 russet potatoes
4-5 carrots
Olive oil
1 pint chicken stock

Here is how you put it together:

1) pre heat your oven as hot as it will get

2) score your lamb shoulder and season with salt and pepper on all sides.

3) in a roasting pan, lay down half of your Rosemary and cloves of garlic (skin on)

4) put the meat on top and place the rest of your rosemary and garlic on top and drizzle with olive oil.

5) cover with tin foil and toss in your super hot oven. now, here is the trick to the perfect lamb, once you have placed your lamb in the oven turn the heat immediately down to 330 and let the lamb go for 4 hrs. by getting the oven super hot then cooling it 330 you get a good crust on the meat, then as the oven cools you get the low and slow cooking needed to make fatty meats like lamb shoulder fall apart tender.

here is what you lamb should like like after 4hrs in the hot box

6) the gravy (to be made once you have taken the roast out of the oven): chop up your mint and capers and fold them into each other

7) take the Rosemary and garlic cloves out of pan and drain excess fat..there should be a good deal of rendered fat so be careful.

8) toss a tablespoon of flour into the pan and mix till it looks like library paste.

9) add about a cup and a half of chicken stock, your mint-caper mix and few shots of red wine vinegar. cook down into a gravy. When you are done transfer to a bowl to serve with the lamb.

 10) now for the mashed veggies. peel and cut up your potatoes and carrots

11) boil till soft, drain, and add a healthy pad of butter, a pinch of salt and pepper and mash up. It's that easy.

13) To finish off the meal we dressed some arugula with garlic olive oil and lemon to make a light salad.

This meal was a resounding success. We had a few friends over to share the meal and there was not one bite left.

As Erin and I work though our second round of P90X, we are going to attempt to create and document some of the high protein, low carb meals that we will be using to mold our bodies into beach form. See you guys soon.

Jack and Erin
The Foodliweds