Homemade Fried Chicken Tenders – Rachael Ray

January 24, 2008 at 10:44 am (American Food, Rachael Ray, chicken) ()

Ingredients

  • 4 cups buttermilk
  • 2 cloves garlic, grated
  • A few dashes of hot sauce
  • 4 tablespoons (a large palmful) fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons (a large palmful) fresh dill, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons (about a palmful) fresh chives, chopped
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds chicken tenderloins
  • Canola oil
  • 2 cups flour, plus more as needed
  • 8 to 12 scallions, depending on size, trimmed of roots
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • Assorted sliced vegetables, such as seedless cucumbers, celery and carrots

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix together the buttermilk, garlic, hot sauce, parsley, dill, chives and lemon juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Season the chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and place in a shallow dish or large disposable plastic bag. Pour about 1/3 of the buttermilk ranch over the chicken pieces then cover the dish with plastic wrap or seal the bag and marinate for 10 minutes or up to an hour in the refrigerator. Reserve the remaining buttermilk dressing in the fridge.
To cook up the chicken, place a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add an inch of canola oil to your pan and get it hot. Place two high-sided dishes on the counter and fill one with flour and the other with 1/3 of your reserved buttermilk ranch. Dip the trimmed scallions into the buttermilk ranch, then into the flour; then back into the buttermilk ranch and back into the flour. Once they’re double-coated, shallow fry them in the oil until they are golden brown on each side, then place on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining scallions.
When the scallions are finished frying, repeat the process with all the chicken strips, adding more flour to the dish as needed.
While the last batch of chicken tenders is cooking up, stir the sour cream into the remaining reserved buttermilk ranch and transfer it to a serving dish. Put your chicken strips and scallions in a bucket and serve the dipping ranch and sliced veggies alongside.

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Bacon Cheese Stuffed Burgers by RR

January 6, 2008 at 6:20 pm (American Food, Burgers, Rachael Ray)

5 slices bacon, chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 1/3 pounds ground beef sirloin (97/3%)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend or coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 pound favorite cheese, crumbled/grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
4 crusty Kaiser rolls, split
4 leaves crisp romaine lettuce

Preheat grill pan over high heat.
In a medium pan brown bacon over medium high heat and drain on paper towel lined plate.

Brush scallions with a little oil and grill on hot grill pan 2 or 3 minutes on each side. Remove from heat to cool.

Combine ground beef with Worcestershire and steak seasoning or salt and pepper. Divide meat into 4 equal parts. Combine cheese crumbles and cooked bacon. Take 1/4 of the meat in your hand and make a well in the center of it. Pile in cheese and bacon, then carefully form the burger around the cheese and bacon filling. Make sure the fillings are completely covered with meat. When all 4 patties are formed, drizzle burgers with oil and place on hot grill pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side over high heat, reduce heat to medium low and cook burgers 7 or 8 minutes longer, turning occasionally. Do not press down on burgers as they cook. Transfer burgers to a plate and let them rest 5 minutes before serving.

Chop cooled, grilled green onions and add to a food processor. Add mayonnaise and cumin to the food processor and pulse the onions and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Pile burgers on crusty buns and top with crisp lettuce leaves and a slather of green onion mayonnaise. As you bite into the burgers, you will find a smoky, cheesy surprise at the center.
 

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Danny Devito’s Big Sicilian Meatballs

January 2, 2008 at 10:45 am (Italian Food)

Ingredients
4 to 5 slices of bread, torn up
3/4 cup milk
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
2 28-ounce cans San Marzano plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground sirloin
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup (about a handful) flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon allspice
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup currants
1 egg

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425ºF.
In a small bowl, place torn up bread and pour milk over it, set aside to soak. Step Step  
Drizzle a good amount of EVOO into a roasting pan, then pour in the 2 cans of tomatoes and crush them up with your hands or a potato masher. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside while you prepare the meatballs.
Step In a large bowl, combine ground sirloin, garlic, parsley, grated Parmigiano, allspice, red pepper flakes, pine nuts, currants, egg and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Squeeze out excess milk from the soaking bread (it should be loose and in small pieces) then add it to the meat mixture and mix everything with your hands to combine.
Step Form 12 baseball-sized balls, each about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and place them on top of the mashed tomatoes in the roasting pan. Transfer to the oven and roast until the meatballs are brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.
While the meatballs are cooking, chop the hearts of romaine, red onion and orange and toss together in a large bowl with lemon juice, orange zest, about a tablespoon of EVOO, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove meatballs from the oven and arrange torn pieces of crusty bread in and around the meatballs and sauce. Serve with some ricotta cheese mixed with lots of black pepper and the torn basil alongside.

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