“The Best Things In Life are Chicken Fried”

    Close your eyes.... Okay read this and THEN close your eyes...
 I want you to take a second to think about your favorite food memories. Remember those special dishes that you shared with loved ones that created lifelong memories.  Isn't it amazing how just the thought of that food can take you back in time? 

Maybe you think of fried chicken? That toasty smell of flour coated chicken frying to a crispy golden brown?  I remember my Grandma standing there in front of her favorite cast iron skillet, and the sound of her voice with the sizzling sound of chicken frying in the background. I can recite every detail of the taste of Grandma’s fried chicken. My Grandma is my hero. She is still the best cook I know.

Grandpa and Grandma gardening in Arkansas
Photo by Triple S Photography

    What about that burger place you would eat at when traveling to a favorite spot? That meal you had at a fancy restaurant you will never forget? Potato salad someone made at that BBQ in 1993 that you compare ALL potato salad to?
    So today I challenge you. (Yes it's my 3rd post and I am already asking favors, but trust me.) Get in the kitchen and make your own tribute to that dish. So what if you don't remember the recipe, go for it! As a chef I can tell you after lots of hours in the kitchen that I haven't mastered a recipe yet. There is always something I want to make better next time. So do your soul a favor, and MAKE THAT DISH!    
      About a year ago, I called my Dad and told him that my sister and I were making his world famous baked tacos, and told him how special that dish was when he would make it for our family. I never realized until I became an adult just how important those times would be. Some of my earliest memories were of my family, sitting at the table, and talking over a home cooked meal. Now Dad (and Mom’s) baked tacos are a favorite dinner of my nieces and nephews. My Dad is a great cook and I will never forget the proud happy laugh Dad gave me when I told him.  

        So, the other day I was walking through the grocery and I started missing another important man in my life, Uncle Ron. Ron is my cooking partner in crime, another dad to me, and one of my best friends. Until this summer I have always lived 10 minutes away from him, and I admit that I'm having a hard time being so far away from Ron AND Lydia. (35 miles. but hey, that's far) So before I knew it, I was home from the grocery store with all the ingredients for Ron's FAMOUS chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, and baby peas. You know that scene in Titanic where Leonardo Dicaprio yelled "I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!! WOOOO!!!?.......................yeah, he had just eaten Ron's chicken fried steak.

It’s. So. Good.

Back to the story- 3 hours later (whew!!) and my first chicken fried steak I've ever cooked was on the table. I know, I'm 32 and this was my first chicken fried steak attempt? And I call myself a Texan? Okay, before you kick me across the Red River realize this... why in the world would I attempt this dish when Uncle Ron makes it for us all the time and it’s perfect?! 
    So there I sat, ironically at Ron’s table he gave me when they remodeled their kitchen last year. (The very kitchen table I had so many wonderful meals and memories with the family. It was one of the best presents I could ever receive.) I took a few bites…was it Ron's famous chicken fried steak? No. But it was close. Instantly I felt happy that I came close, and it made my heart feel a little bit better. All the sudden those 35 miles didn’t seem so far.

 I have watched my dear Uncle Ron make chicken fried steak a thousand times, but I don't have it yet. That’s okay Ron, I’ll keep trying.  

   So, experimenting with the chicken fried steak dinner is still in the works, just like Dad’s tacos, and Grandma’s fried chicken and other dishes from great cooks who inspire me. So until I post those recipes, you can find me on my treadmill…..and
speaking of treadmill…..

                                                    My  “ I Told Ya So”  Mashed Potatoes*

These potatoes are so awesome that they can be made hours before, and refrigerated until you’re ready to show off your newest mad potato skills.:)

Grab:

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and large diced (Peeling potatoes makes me feel like a real woman;)

2 cups of buttermilk, or a milk and cream mixture, or heavy cream  (live a little, eat salad tomorrow)

2 sticks of UNSALTED butter, reserving a few pats for topping (I will explain why I only use unsalted butter another time)

2 tablespoons of salt ( I use kosher salt for 99.9% of all my cooking needs)

Salt and Pepper to taste (I use white pepper, freshly ground mixed peppercorns, or freshly ground pepper only. Do not use the black pepper in the tin can; it is WAY to bitter tasting. I’m a proud pepper snob)

a dollop of cream cheese or sour cream if you want to get jiggy with it

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven or large pot, add potatoes, 2 tablespoons of salt, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium high heat until fork tender.

2. While waiting on potatoes to cook,  grab a saucepan and put on low heat. Add your milk, butter, and a good amount of salt and pepper.(your jiggy optional dollop of cream cheese or sour cream can be added here also) Heat until butter is melted. It’s a beautiful thing. (sorry I have no salt and pepper specifics ,but that is why you taste taste taste later)

***now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees***

3. When potatoes are fork tender, drain them well, and prepare to mash. I have a very important tool that I use for this process, a potato ricer. If you do not have a potato ricer, don’t worry. Mash your potatoes any way you want. However…this is a LIFE CHANGING kitchen tool. I love mine and on cold nights I want to snuggle with it.

4. When potatoes are riced, or mashed, start adding your warm cream mixture. Stir a little, add a little. There is a chance you might not want to add ALL of the mixture, so find your favorite consistency and WHOA.

5. Grab a spoon, or 5, and taste taste TASTE, until your potatoes are properly seasoned. It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it.

Okay, you are almost done:

Grab a baking dish and add potatoes and spread until even on top. Add reserved pats of butter to the top and pop in the oven until butter is melted.

Now here we go…… turn your oven up to broil (don’t be scared, but do not walk away. Please do not grab something from another room, take a phone call, watch a little tv, write a poem, take a Hawaiin vacation, or go Christmas shopping) You will only need to broil for a couple of minutes TOPS!

The top of the potatoes will brulee, ooooh la la, to a golden brown on the top and create a golden buttered light “crust”.  This will make you very happy. Watch the puzzled looks when you serve these, smile and look humble as you watch the lives of others around you change when they take a bite of potato heaven.

Close your eyes and take a moment as YOU take a bite. You can actually feel your soul soothing.  Ohhhh yeaahhhh….

                                 *also known as my BEAUTIFUL niece/Goddaughter/Namesake Juliet’s potatoes

                                                                    

  

"A Taste of Summer, Without the Heat Advisory"

Simply bruschetta.
This is a beautiful concoction of fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, fragrant basil, pungent minced garlic ( actually I mince and chop in this recipe, but specifics don't matter here, right?) and the grand finale DRIZZLE of extra virgin olive oil. No Rachael Ray, not just any EVOO, olive oil I got from my recent culinary trip to Italy. I picked up a few bottles in Verona Italy from a vineyard where they grow the olives alongside roma tomatoes,  and sweet bell peppers. A bite of this sends me straight back to Italy sitting at the long table in an old castle dining room surrounded by amazing friends and amazing wine. We tore it up.
Don't get me started on the little topping of freshly grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese I also smuggled out of Italy. That's another story.
Anyway, back to the recipe...
The crusty bread is from.... Kroger. The deli has some delicious take and bake baguettes.
I like to think of this dish as Italy's answer to Texas style pico de gallo. Or chips and chunky salsa.
I know, I know, Italy was there first.

Ingredients:

4 or 5 red ripe tomatoes chopped  ( I add a dusting of salt to the chopped tomatoes to enhance the juice and draw out that sweet summer flavor, even if it's January)

several leaves of fresh basil ( I repeat, FRESH BASIL, no if ands or dried butts) thinly sliced or chiffonade

3-5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced ( do this yourself, don't buy the jarred garlic, it tastes sad)
I always use tons of garlic. Maybe I have seen Twilight too many times?

the very best olive oil you can find- Extra Virgin-  yeah baby

salt to taste

Crusty bread slices

Grated or Shaved Parmesan to top ( from a block of the good stuff, not the bag of Kraft already grated cheese from 2006)

Directions:

1. Grab a bowl
2. Add tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil. Salt to taste
3.Top sliced crusty bread with a healthy dollop of mixture.
4. Drizzle with more olive oil.
5. TASTE TASTE TASTE. Does it need salt? More garlic?  More basil? Don't be shy, adjust ingredients until you find your favorite balance.
6.Top with some Parmesan, and if you want to get saucy, drizzle some good balsamic vinegar over the top.

*The day I made this, I drizzled the top with some fig balsamic, but try adding your own spin, you won't regret it.

Peace Love and Good "Parma",
Julie

The Brie-ginning......

Hello internet. Are you listening? Is anyone out there?

Let's just begin by saying... I'm lost. I am trying to decide on the perfect balance of my two true loves, being a guitar teacher to the most wonderful students on earth, and my culinary career.
Can I do both? Yes!
For now, I will follow my heart. My buttery, cheesy, sandwich filled heart. I am teaching by day, and starting my first cookbook by night. I hope my blog leaves a song in your heart, and a growl in your stomach.