Better-for-you Fried Chicken

Here is my attempt to be like the Pioneer Woman (http://thepioneerwoman.com/) and write up a recipe with pictures. Please excuse the picture fuzziness, as my camera doesn't do well with low light and my kitchen is basically a galley.

This recipe is one of Keith's favorites and I think it's somewhat healthier than regular fried chicken, but I haven't done the calorie count, so who really knows?

First, you cut up your boneless, skinless chicken into smaller pieces. Then, get out two random dishes. I used a bread pan and a strange-shaped bowl. One is for your wet ingredients and the other is for the dry stuff.

The wet ingredients: one egg, some buttermilk (1/3 cup? I don't measure), season salt and ground pepper. Mix together with a fork.

Here are your dry ingredients. You can leave stuff out or add other stuff in as you see fit. You can see that this is a very precise science.

Bread crumbs- I use panko, will be the the bulk of your dry ingredients. Maybe 1 cup? Parmesan cheese will be next- maybe 1/4 cup (forgot to add it to the lineup for the picture), then ever so much season salt, garlic powder, ground pepper, cayenne pepper, and just a little Italian seasoning. Don't overdo it on the cayenne.

Next, heat an iron skillet on medium and heat some olive oil. 3 TBSP?

Then, dip your chicken into the wet stuff.. There you are, parmesan! You missed your group photo.

Then the dry stuff...

Then you put it on the pan. The real trick of this recipe is getting all of your chicken pieces to fit on the pan. Success!
You'll cook them for 5 minutes or so, then flip
Cook on that side for another 5 or so minutes. I usually turn on the oven at the beginning to 375 or so and stick the pan in the oven after the chicken is brown on both sides because I'm psycho about overcooking my chicken so I don't get salmonella. Better safe than sorry.

Here's the finished product:

For this particular meal, I just cooked up some broccoli to serve with it. Other times, I have served the chicken with baked beans, baked butternut squash, potatoes, etc.

Now, go get cooking! My next cooking project? A cheesecake. We'll see how it goes. Or if it goes at all.

Chicken pasta

So here is a new recipe that is so easy and tasty that I make it probably twice a week. It's basically pasta with some kind of meat, some vegetables, and parmesan cheese. I'll write up the chicken version here.
Ingredients:
Pasta
Onion
Garlic
Spinach
Tomatoes
Chicken
Parmesan cheese
Lemon zest

1. Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta. Add salt once it starts boiling.
2. In a skillet, sautee some whole cloves of garlic (maybe cut in half), and a small onion, minced, in some olive oil over low heat.
3. Add 2 cubed chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper, and cook through on medium heat.
4. Remove the garlic chunks.
5. To the skillet, add a bag of spinach and let it wilt down.
6. At this point, add the pasta to the water, if it is ready. Right now I am using no yolk egg pasta to bump up the protein. You could use whatever kind you have handy.
7. Add cut up tomatoes to the chicken and spinach. I like to use grape tomatoes and cut them in halves or quarters. If I only have a big tomato or a roma tomato, I just cut it down to size.
8. Once the tomatoes are hot, add the whole mix to the drained pasta. and mix it together.
9. Add about 1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese and mix it in. I also like to add some lemon zest to brighten up the flavor- about 1/4 teaspoon.

*I've also made this pasta with bacon instead of chicken and it is AMAZING!!