Farewell...for now

The time has come for my final post.

This has been fun but I am signing off now.  Interim has come to a close and this class has been great.  I can truly say that what I learned in this class is something that I can take with me beyond Wofford.

One of these lessons that I am quite grateful for is the knife skill portion of the course.  Though it did not take a large chunk of our time, I really did put this to use outside of the classroom.  Now I like to think that I am a chopping machine.

Also, cooking with others in the class has also been fun.  I had plenty of laughs from my peers and Dr. Sloan.  I will definatly recommend this interim course for others to take in the years to come.  

It has been great but I need to go to sleep now.  

Adios, Salut, Tchao, etc etc...

- A. Lamar Hunter

Chicken in a Waffle Bites

This is a very unconventional recipe that I first found on the foodnetwork on this link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-and-waffles-on-a-stick-recipe/index.html

I made the exact recipe and the food turned out ok but I was not a fan.  This is how they turned out:

I then began my search for a real waffle iron that would make a better version of the above recipe.  This is what I found:

After finding a great waffle iron I went on a search for great waffle batter.  I got the recipe from Todd Wilbur's website: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Waffle-House-Waffles-Recipe.html

This was a recipe that is supposed to be similar to Waffle House's waffle recipe.  After combining a better spice combination for the chicken and using the waffle batter I finally got the recipe for great chicken and waffles mixed together.  This recipe yields about 12 chicken in waffle bites.  

**The original recipe called for using skewers and called it chicken and waffles on a stick but I took the skewers out because I was not a fan of it**

Ingredients

Fried Chicken:

12 chicken tenders

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups canola oil

Salt and pepper (for taste)

Waffle:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons shortening

½ cup half-and-half

½ cup 2% milk

¼ cup buttermilk

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Fried chicken – Take the tenderloins and cut them into thirds.  Then place the pieces in between a piece of syran wrap.  Begin to pound the tenderloins into flattened pieces of about ½ to 1 inch thick. 

Add pieces of tenderloins to a medium bowl.  Add spices to the bowl and mix together. 

Add flour to a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Place pieces of tenderloins in the flour and fully cover the tenderloins with the flour. 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Once the oil is heated add enough chicken tenderloins to fill the skillet.  Pan fry the chicken for five minutes on one side and then flip and fry for another 3-5 minutes on the opposite side. 

Take out the chicken and place in a large bowl lined with paper towels to soak up the extra oil from the chicken.  Salt the chicken to taste.

Waffle – Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium-to-large bowl and stir together to combine.

Beat the egg in another medium bowl.  Then add the sugar, butter, and shortening in the bowl and mix well with an electric mixer until it is smooth.  Add the half-and-half, milk, buttermilk, and vanilla to the bowl and mix well again with a fork.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture then mix briefly, just enough to mix most of the dry mixture.  It is ok if there are lumps.  Mixing for too long will cause tough waffles.  Then cover and chill for 3-12 hours.  (chilling for 12 hours makes better batter). 

Mixing together – Preheat the waffle iron.  Once it is heated then spray the waffle iron with non-stick oil spray.  

Add about 2 teaspoons of the batter onto each of the four sections of the waffle iron.  Then place a piece of chicken on each section containing the waffle batter.  Then add more waffle batter on top of the chicken until the chicken is fully covered in batter. 

Close the waffle iron and keep it on until the waffle iron says the waffle is ready.  Use a fork or spatula to remove the chicken in a waffle from the waffle iron. 

Repeat the “mixing together” steps for the remaining chicken pieces.  

Jamaican Curry Chicken and Fried Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is a common dish that I have heard many know much about.  Jamaican curry chicken, or just curry chicken for short, and dumplings is a dish that is quite common to those who are Jamaican.  Usually curry chicken is cooked and accompanied by rice, but on occasion it can be accompanied by fried dumplings.  These dumplings are usually served for breakfast or lunch, but not usually during dinner.  If a Jamaican family cooked curry chicken for dinner, but had left overs, the next day the curry chicken and dumplings can be eaten either for breakfast and/or lunch.  

The key to curry chicken is the type of curry powder used.  Almost every Jamaican family has their own version of Jamaican curry powder.  Most purchase this type of curry from an authentic Jamaican store but it can also be purchased online.  My family usually uses Blue Mountain Jamaican Curry Powder but this recipe uses JCS Reggae Country Style Jamaican Curry Powder.

 

**One key note about working with curry is it does stain very easily.  It should be handled with care and should be prepared in metal dishes.  If the curry powder is used in a plastic dish or with plastic utensils it will stain either of them.**

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken:

2 ½ lb boned chicken thighs

1 onion

3 celery stalks

3 whole carrots

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

4 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

2 ½ Tablespoons canola oil

2 Tablespoon Jamaican curry (divided)

Dumplings:

3 cups enriched bleached all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder (double acting)

½ teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon 2% milk

1 cup cold water

STEPS:

Chicken:

Slice carrots and celery into ½ inch slices.  Slice onions into ¼ x 2 inch slices.  Cut chicken thighs into three equal parts using a cleaver.  Make sure to chop evenly so that even cuts are placed through the bone of the chicken.

Mix chicken, vegetables and seasonings in a large bowl

Add oil and 1 Tablespoon of curry to large pot and turn stove on medium heat

Wait 30 seconds to 1 minute, allowing the curry to cook in the oil, then add meat and vegetables to pot along with 1 Tablespoon of curry.

Mix chicken and vegetables with curry and then cover the pot.  Cook for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is tender, mixing occasionally every 10 minutes.

Dumplings:

Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Melt butter in a microwave for about 1 minute and immediately add milk when the butter is fully melted.  Allow the butter and milk to cool to room temperature, then add to flour mixture

Add cold water in ¼ cup increments.  Do not add more than 1 cup of water to the mixture.

After adding water, begin to mix the dough with your hands (you know when you are done when the dough does not stick to your hand).

If after adding up to 1 cup of water and the dough is still sticking to your hands, begin to add flour in 3 Tablespoon increments.  Knead the dough repeatedly until the dough is not sticking to your hands. 

Add 2 Tablespoons of oil to a skillet over medium heat

Scoop tablespoon sized dough balls from the large dough mixture and place on a plate.  Roll balls into about the size of a ping-pong ball.  Flatten the balls with your fingers to be about 1-inch thick circles.  Once flatten, with your thumb, lightly press into the middle of the circles to cause an indentation

Place dough dumplings into the skillet. 

Let it cook for 3-4 minutes on one side and then flip.  Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side or until both sides are golden brown.

Place fried dumplings in a medium bowl lined with paper towels to soak up any additional oil on the fried dumplings. 

The Beginning

Above is a picture of Me (on the left) and my girlfriend (on the right).  Because this is an introduction I felt that I should include someone who is a major part of my life.  Her name is Mercedes Jeter and she is also a student at Wofford.  One of the main reasons I have included her in this blog is because she will be one of the main individuals taste-testing the meals that I will attempt to produce during Interim.  She will be the one telling whether or not the food I create is edible or if it just deserves to be served to the Wofford squirrels. 

Over the course of Interim my main goal is to cook many types of food and hone specific recipes that have been used throughout my family for years.  Because my father is Jamaican and my mother was born in South Carolina, I have been immersed into many different cultural specific recipes, ranging from the infamous jerk chicken with rice and peas, to red rice with fried pork chops and corn on the side.  Below is a meal that has been cooked by mother for years that I attempted to recreate.  It is backed spaghetti with sausage and ground beef and cheddar and mozzarella cheese.  It was scrumptious.  

Because of my diverse backgrounds with various types of meals, I have grown to enjoy many different types of food.  I just have a list of food items that I refuse to eat.  This includes:

1. Chili 
2. Beans by themselves - if the beans are incorporated into something else then I may eat them
3. Brussel Sprouts - disgusting
4. Hot Dogs - I only will eat hot dogs if I have to.  I prefer to stay away from them. 
5. Chocolate cake - no idea why.  I think it's just too much chocolate for me
6. Shell fish - I have an intolerance to this, but I love shrimp.  It makes me sad to know that I can't eat it 

Again, I do have a food intolerance to shell fish.  This has not been clinically tested but I do know that I'm not allergic and know that whenever I do eat shell fish I begin to get quite nauseous and feel horrible afterwards.  Fish does not bother me much though.  I do not know why I am not a fan of the food items listed above.  What I do know is, I will eat each one of the items listed if I have to, but I do not prefer the tastes of these foods.  

Other than the foods listed above, I basically will eat almost anything that someone puts in front of me.  This does not involve but I will try it if I'm in a country or area that considers them a delicacy.  We'll see what type of food I either eat/make this Interim.  I'm sure whatever I cook or eat, it will be fantastic.