Going to the South, New York Style

Tonight's dinner is one of my favorite meals to eat and cook :) well sorta, if I were better at timing it I would like it a whole lot more. Tonight's menu is fried chicken, sauteed asparagus, and Faux mashed potatoes aka "pureed cauliflower". 

Fried Chicken:

                    10 each                                   Chicken parts ( I mixed up legs and thighs)
                    2 cups                                     Buttermilk

*Marinade the chicken in the buttermilk for 6-8 hours and no more than 24 hours

                           3 cups                                     Flour (you can do a GF flour here I didn't)
                           2 Tablespoons                       Chili powder
                           TT (to taste)                           Salt and Pepper
                           4 each                                      Eggs
                           1-2 cups                                  Oil

Mix the Flour, chili powder and salt and pepper together in a gallon plastic bag and set to the side. In a separate bowl crack all the eggs and scramble them (with no heat, just mix the furiously). Drain the chicken for a minute or two and then begin the process. Cover the chicken in egg and then throw in the "flour bag". Once your bag is 3/4 full zip it shut and shake, shake, shake it, shh, shh, shake it good, shake it like a Polaroid picture!!! Take the chicken out and let it sit for a couple minutes and then dredge it again. You can do this up to 3 times, this builds a nice thick crust on it once you fry it.

In a cast iron heat oil till 350 degrees. Test it with a piece of the chicken to make sure it is the perfect temp or you can temp it with a high temperature thermometer. make sure that you don't put so much oil in the pan that when you flip it to fry the other side you have any chicken over lapping. Because then it gets burnt and that's no fun. It takes about 10-12 minutes to fully cook to the middle and that's another reason why you don't want to have the oil to high. 

Unfortunately, I didn't cook mine all the way through so I threw mine in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. It did the job! And then I ate it all up yuuum!

Cauliflower Puree:

                                                     1 each               Medium head cauliflower
                                                     TT                     Salt and Pepper

*Add butter and milk for the right texture. Depending on everything depends on how much you should use. I used about 3 tablespoons vegan spread and 1/2-1 cup almond milk. It was a tad runny but I like it that way. 

Steam the cauliflower until it slides easily off a fork and place in blender or a food processor. Blend with all ingredients until smooth-ish... it'll still be a little textured because the cauliflower doesn't break down completely like potatoes.

For the asparagus you can do as you please. I cut them into 2 inch pieces and added olive oil, salt and pepper and then sauteed them. I like them warm but crunchy.

And then you set up your table with beautiful wedding china and a lovely glass/bottle of wine or water and enjoy a very southern meal in a less intimidating setting. I can eat this meal and not feel so terrible about consuming it :) Toast! Enjoy Family!