Crunchy-Like-Crazy Chicken Tenders

I love the weekends--for the obvious reasons of course--not being in the office, no phones to answer, no problems to solve, no documents to type, no emails to respond to. But my favorite thing about the weekends is that I eat whatever I want--nothing is off-limits. I get a little light-headed toward the end of every week just thinking about all the possibilities for indulging. This weekend I wanted outrageously crispy, spicy fried chicken like my mom used to make, the guiltiest of guilty pleasures. Her secret to crunchy chicken was adding buttermilk to the flour dredge mixture, a technique I use with my tenders.

There's no evidence that these tenders ever existed, other than a few crunchy crumbs on the platter last night. You'll just have to believe me--I made them, and they were spectacular.

Crunchy-Like-Crazy Chicken Tenders

1 lb chicken tenders
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/4 cup buttermilk (plus an additional 1/4 - 1/2 for dredge mixture)
1/2 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 buttermilk (more if needed)
Cayenne pepper or hot sauce (optional)

Vegetable oil

Place chicken tenders in a large, resealable bag. Mix hot sauce, 1/4 cup buttermilk, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper (if using), and pour over tenders. Seal bag, place in refrigerator, and marinate for 1-4 hours.

In a shallow dish, combine flour and salt. Into 1/4 cup buttermilk, add cayenne pepper or hot sauce to taste, if desired. Drizzle buttermilk into flour, lightly stirring with a fork. The texture should look similar to shortening cut into flour. Add more buttermilk if needed at this time or during the dredging process to keep the lumpy texture.

Remove tenders from bag. Add to flour mixture, several at a time, and toss to coat completely. Remember to add more buttermilk, if needed.

Add 3/4 - 1 inch vegetable oil to an electric skillet or pan. When hot, add tenders in batches, if necessary, and cook for about 3 minutes on each side until tenders are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to drain.

Serve with your favorite sauce, if desired, and savor the weekend.

Mama's Tea Cakes

I would guess that many Southern cooks inherited tea cake recipes from their mothers or grandmothers. I stumbled upon my family recipe and baked them recently. I haven't tasted my mama's tea cakes in about 35 years since I was a young girl.

My mama would bake tea cakes often whenever we had a sweet tooth and didn't have anything else in the house. I'm embarrassed to say I thought they were a mediocre substitute for a bag of Chips Ahoy or some Duncan Hines something-or-another from a box.

What do I think now after tasting them again? I love the vanilla goodness, the buttery richness, and the simple, uncomplicated sweetness. I love that this tea cake is part of my family's history. And I love that I think about my mom when I eat them.

Mama's Tea Cakes

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, well-beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Cream butter for about 3 minutes. Add sugar gradually, egg, milk and flavoring. Sift dry ingredients, and add to first mixture. Roll mixture out on lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut with round cutter (approximately 3 inches). Bake on a greased or parchment-lined pan at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes about 15 cakes.

Spicy Oven-Roasted Catfish with Sautéed Greens and Sweet Potatoes

Sardis Lake, known for its catfish, bream, crappie and bass, is located about 25 miles northwest of my home in Oxford, Mississippi. Occasionally, our local farmers market sells delicious Sardis catfish, and I was happy to find a couple of packages there yesterday. Since my healthier self has been speaking to me lately—about the importance of practicing my principles and remembering my reasons to be good—I resisted the urge to fry those wild-caught beauties last night. Instead, I decided to roast them. I admit they were pretty tasty with sautéed mustard greens and roasted sweet potatoes.

Spicy Oven-Roasted Catfish

4 catfish filets (about 4 oz. each)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place fish in zip-lock bag. Blend next nine ingredients together, and pour over fish. Toss and rub ingredients in bag until fish is covered. Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour.

After marinating, place fish on baking sheet, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until flakey. Serve with sautéed greens and roasted sweet potatoes.

Sautéed Mustard Greens

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 bunches mustard greens, washed and chopped
Chicken Stock
2 tablespoons sherry

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, sprinkle with salt, and sautée for about 5 minutes. Add greens, and cook for a couple of minutes until greens begin to wilt. Add 1 cup of stock, and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover pan, and cook greens for 20 minutes, stirring often to ensure that greens cook evenly. Add sherry, and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place cubed sweet potatoes on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Season with black pepper, and toss. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender.

Creamy Garlic Guacamole

Guacamole. What's better in life? Just give me a big bowl and a bag of tortilla chips, and leave me be.

When it comes to my favorite dip, the fewer ingredients, the better, but I do love a lot of avocado (for extra creaminess) and a lot of garlic. I have some friends who add sour cream to theirs, and I've heard of others who add—gasp!—mayo. I don't see the need to tamper with this most perfect of foods though.

If you decide to share this guacamole, which I've been known to do, you'll have a nice bowl-full for you and your friends.

Servings: 4-6
Leftovers: 0


Creamy Garlic Guacamole

3 ripe avocados
1 lemon or lime
½ cup onion, finely chopped
½ cup tomato, seeded and finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ tablespoon jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cilantro (optional)

Cut avocados in half and remove seeds. Scoop insides with a spoon into a bowl. Add lemon or lime juice and mash with a fork to desired texture. Add onion, tomato, garlic, jalapeno pepper and salt.

Garnish with diced tomatoes and fresh cilantro if desired. Serve with your favorite chips, on a good sandwich, or in chili.

Hot Fudge Pie

It seems like 100 years ago, but it was really only 35 or so. The quaint, small town of Oxford, Mississippi, was much quainter and much smaller when I was a young girl. Every Sunday after church, and at least once a week, my mom and I would head to the Holiday Inn's El Centro Restaurant, a popular spot for locals. Once there, we were warmly greeted by Mr. Hugh Parsley, who managed the restaurant. Mr. Hugh was a charming, flamboyant host, who wore white three-piece suits, shiny shoes, and gaudy ties. He always greeted his regular customers by name and stopped by each table to catch up on lives, families, jobs.

El Centro served the most wonderful Sunday lunches. The fried chicken was almost as good as my mom’s, and the dinner rolls were delectable, but the main attraction that kept folks coming back was the too-wonderful-for-words hot fudge pie al la mode. It was a chocolate marvel—soft and gooey on the inside—sugary-crusty on the outside—and when it was just right, the vanilla ice cream would melt, oh so gently.

By this time, you probably have your oven preheating. Go ahead. You know you want to.


Hot Fudge Pie
from the Holiday Inn's El Centro Restaurant
Oxford, Mississippi

1 stick unsalted butter
3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
4 eggs
3 tablespoons white Karo syrup
1 ½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter and unsweetened baking chocolate in a double boiler; let cool. Meanwhile, beat eggs with white Karo syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat in chocolate, pour into pastry-lined pie plate, bake for 30 minutes or until top is crusty and filling is just set.

Note: I used a regular pie shell, and I had a little chocolate mixture left over. Deep dish may be preferred for this recipe.

Crispy Potato Latkes with Garlic

My sweet friend, Jenna, celebrated Hanukkah last month with her favorite traditional dish, latkes. She described them to me using adjectives that would seduce any true foodie: golden, crispy, savory, crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside.

Well, Hanukkah has passed, and I’m not Jewish anyway, but that’s okay—I love latkes. If you don’t know latkes, and you just happen to be from the South, they’re like your grandmother’s potato pancakes, catapulted to an otherworldly level. But don't wait for the holidays—have these lovely potato pancakes any time of the year—like now.

Jenna uses vegetable oil to fry her latkes—I've opted for olive oil. I think it's a matter of personal preference, so use what you like. This recipe yields 4 (5 in.) latkes.


Crispy Potato Latkes with Garlic

1 large russet potato (about 1 lb), peeled and grated
½ yellow onion, peeled and grated or finely minced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 large garlic clove (or to taste), minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Olive oil
Sliced green onions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees, or heat warming drawer to high. Place a sheet pan, topped with a wire rack, in oven/warming drawer.

Grate potato and onion, and spread longways in a thin dishtowel or cheese cloth. Twist the towel, squeezing out as much excess liquid as humanly possible. Place potato and onion in a bowl. Add flour, egg, garlic, salt and pepper.

In a small, non-stick or cast-iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. When oil begins to ripple and smoke, drop potato mixture by 1/3 cup into skillet, one at a time, flattening with the bottom of the measuring cup, spatula, or spoon. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until browned. Place fried latke on wire rack in oven or warming drawer. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet, and cook next latke, repeating process with remaining latkes. Hold in oven or warming drawer until ready to serve. Garnish with green onions.

Roasted Broccoli with Balsamic Vinegar

I sometimes take humble, underappreciated broccoli for granted, forgetting its versatility—not to mention its numerous health benefits. This roasted broccoli tastes perfect alongside my Asian-style chicken thighs. A touch of balsamic vinegar adds that little zing that makes this most modest of veggies shine.

Roasted Broccoli with Balsamic Vinegar

3 medium heads of fresh broccoli, cut into florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl, toss broccoli florets, olive oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Sprinkle liberally with salt.

Pour florets onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crisp-tenderness.