Cajun Fried Chicken (Simone)

This recipe is from my niece Simone, who learned it from her now ex-fiance, who came from Louisiana. After they had broken up, a friend of Simone's came over to comfort her. As Simone sat there bawling her eyes out, her friend inquired timidly as to whether Simone had gotten her ex's fried chicken recipe. Between sobs, Simone emitted a pitiful, "Yes!" With a sigh of relief, her friend patted Simone on the shoulder and assured her, "You're gonna be alright, Honey!" And she was right. (After the ingredients list, I'll copy Simone's sage advice and directions verbatim.)

1 cp flour
Tony Chachere's Creaole Seasoning (a few teaspoons)
-or-

• a few teaspoons of salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• and enough crushed pepper that you can easily see it in the mix

yellow prepared mustard
at least 1 T cayenne pepper

Buy the cheapest chicken parts you can get. I usually use thighs--I think they're tastier and I'm not a big fan of chicken breast. Too dry and too expensive. Plus, thighs are often on sale for well less than $1/lb. [I, personally, am a big fan of chicken breasts!]

Begin heating heating oil in a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. Use an oil that can handle higher temperatures (not olive). I was taught to make this chicken being told that only liquid Crisco was acceptable. In the past I used to reuse the oil, but it could really only be used twice. And now I deep fry so rarely that I just toss the oil out after it's cooled off.

Prepare a mixing bowl with 1 cup of flour mixed with 1 tsp of cayenne pepper, salt and crushed pepper. You can avoid the latter [the spices] by just tossing in some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. It's a hot, spicy, seasoned salt made in Opelousas, LA.

Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry. Leave the skin on, as it keeps the meat moist. You can pick it off later. (Ha!) Place the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl (such as your sink). Pour over enough yellow prepared mustard to thoroughly coat. Then dump in more cayenne pepper than seems healthy (like a tablespoon--yes, TABLESPOON) for six pieces of chicken. For whatever reason, when you fry this up, the cayenne pepper really melts into the background. Just mix this mess up with your hands.

Make sure the oil is hot enough by dropping in a piece of sandwich bread. If it begins to sizzle rapidly, it's ready. It if turns to cinders immediately, it might be a tad too hot.

Dip the chicken pieces in flour, enough to thoroughly coat. Then carefully place into oil. Allow to fry on each side until light brown and crispy. 8-10 minutes per side (for a thigh) should be about right. [My sister-in-law says you can tell the chicken is done by pressing on it with your finger. If it is firm, it is done. She says not to pierce it to see because then you let the juices escape. She also recommended putting the mustard, cayenne and chicken in a sealable plastic bag and letting it marinate for an hour or so.]

Chicken and Cabbage

1 T oil
1 1/2 cp chicken
2 carrots, sliced but not too thinly
1 tsp salt
4 cp cabbage, sliced in ca. 1/2" strips
1/2 cp water chestnuts
1 T cornstarch
1/2 cp cold water/bouillon/stock

Saute chicken and carrots in oil for 5 minutes. Add salt, cabbage and water chestnuts. Cook covered at med-low for 15-20 minutes--till all the veggies are tender. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir in. Stir till thick and translucent. Serve over rice.

Robin Hood Chicken (Simone)

This is a rub for chicken, but I prefer it for pork.

1/4 cp olive oil
2 T rosemary
2 T ginger
6+ cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 cp parsley
1 T kosher salt
juice from 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 450F. Combine ingredients and rub all over chicken. Bake chicken 18 minutes per pound, covering for the first half of the time.

Gina's Chicken and Dumplings

1 stewing chicken (4-5 lbs), 2 broiler fryers (3 lbs each) or 2-4 chicken breasts
1 sm onion, sliced
2-3 carrots, sliced
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
1 tsp salt
4 T butter
6 T flour
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 cp cream
pepper to taste
ca. 3 bouillon cubes, preferably Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes

Simmer chicken, onion, carrots, celery, and salt in enough water/stock/broth to cover. Cook until chicken is done, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Remove chicken from broth. Remove skin and bones and dice meat. Melt butter, stir in flour and paprika. Add paste to chicken stock gradually; stir; cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken, cream, pepper and seasonings. Prepare dumplings:

3 cp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 T fat
1 egg
1 cp water

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. Work in fat. Stir egg and water together and add to flour/fat mixture. Knead dough ca. 5-6 times and roll to 1/4". Cut in 2" strips and then in diamond's, 2" wide. Drop dumplings into boiling/bubbling chicken mixture while stirring, pushing them down into the mixture. Cook with lid tilted till dumplings are done, ca. 30 minutes.

Oven Chicken Salad (Aunt Angie's/ Betty Crocker?)

2 cp cubed chicken
2 cp thinly sliced celery
1 cp toasted bread cubes
1/2 cp chopped toasted almonds
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated onion
1 cp mayonnaise
2 T lemon juice
------------
1 cp toasted bread cubes or potato chips
grated cheese, as desired

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix ingredients together. Put in casserole dish, about 9" square. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and then 1 cp toasted bread cubes. Bake until bubbly, about 10 min.

How to toast bread cubes: Arrange bread cubes on a cookie sheet. Toast bread cubes at 300F for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

How to toast almonds: in an ungreased saucepan, stirring often until light golden brown or 10-15 minutes at 350F, stirring often