Spicy Southern Fried Chicken

A picnic in the southern United States just wouldn’t be complete without some fried chicken. My grandmother always fried hers in peanut oil because of its health benefits with the added bonus of a very high smoke point, ensuring the chicken will get crunchy on the outside, keeping it tender on the inside.

Did you know that today is International Picnic Day? Yep, that’s right. Why it falls on a Wednesday is anybody’s guess but at the very least, even if you have to work today, let me encourage you to take your lunch outside and find a picnic bench and enjoy it in the sunshine. 

If you’ve read my About Me page, you know that my grandmother’s fried chicken is one of those things I keep trying to duplicate. Mine’s good, because all crispy fried chicken is good, but it just isn’t the same as when she made it for me. I am also open to trying other people’s fried chicken recipes. Because, once again and repeat after me, there is no bad fried chicken. 

A number of years ago my daughters gave me Maya Angelou’s memoir/cookbook, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table.  *Affiliate link* Her fried chicken recipe calls for marinating the chicken for an hour in a generous quantity of fresh lemon juice. I was a little skeptical at first, but I can tell you, it brightens the flavors beautifully without being overwhelmingly lemony. I like to add a bunch of cayenne too to make it spicy but otherwise, this is essentially Maya Angelou’s fried chicken. Just one more reason to admire our late poet laureate and mourn her recent passing.

Ingredients
1 chicken (Mine was a huge fryer, about 6 lbs and a pack of just wings)
2 cups or 480ml fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons cayenne

For dredging the chicken:
2-3 cups or 250-375g flour

For frying:
3-4 cups or 710-950ml peanut oil

Method
Wash and dry the chicken with some paper towels and cut it into pieces.  Put all the pieces into a big Ziploc bag or a large bowl and add the fresh lemon juice.

Put it in the refrigerator for one hour, turning the chicken halfway through to make sure the top pieces get their share of lemon juice time.

Rinse, dry and season the chicken generously with salt, black pepper and cayenne.  I say three teaspoons of cayenne in the ingredients list but truth be told, I just keep sprinkling it on until the chicken is covered in red. We like our chicken spicy.

Put your flour in a paper grocery bag. This was something my grandmother insisted on. Plastic would not do.

Dredge the seasoned chicken in the flour.

Heat your oil in large pot. I use a heavy roaster, just like my grandmother did. Ideally, the oil should be at 375°F or 190°C when the chicken is added. Add a few pieces of the chicken and cover.

Fry on high until brown on both sides.

Reduce heat to low, cover the pot leaving just a small gap, and cook for 30 more minutes.

Remove from heat, drain on paper towels (an extra paper grocery bag also works well) and serve hot.  I pop mine into a warm oven if I am not serving immediately and to keep the first batch warm while I fry the rest.

Repeat the process until all the chicken is cooked.

Enjoy!

This leg is for you! 

Raspberry Lemon Blueberry Bars #CreativeCookieExchange

Lemon bars with cream cheese are the cheater’s way to cheesecake in just a couple of easy steps. Add seasonal fruit to fancy them up.

This month’s Creative Cookie Exchange theme is red, white and blue and we were free to interpret that any way we wanted. I love it when the themes are wide open like that! Since it’s summer and juicy bright berries are all over the markets, I couldn’t resist using blueberries (Texas grown, naturally) and raspberries (Californian, I believe) for my blue and red. The white was a little more challenging. Can we all just pretend that the fresh lemony cream cheese is whiter than it appears, please? Thank you! In return I will promise you that these bars have the seal of approval from my family and you won’t regret making them for yours.

Ingredients (for 18 bars)
For the base:
1 1/2 cups or 175g graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/4 cup, tightly packed, or 50g light brown sugar
Zest of one large lemon
Pinch fine sea salt

For the top layer:
2 large egg yolks
5 oz or 150ml (190g) sweetened condensed milk
4 oz or 115g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup or 80ml fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup or 50g sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 1/2 oz or 100g fresh raspberries
3 1/2 oz or 100g fresh blueberries

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and line an 8x8 inch or 20x20cm or equivalent volume baking pan with parchment paper. As you will see, mine is actually rectangular.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a medium bowl and pour in the melted butter. Stir until completely mixed.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press the crumbs out evenly, being careful to make sure they go into the corners as well.

Bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, condensed milk and softened cream cheese in another bowl until well mixed.

Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Whisk again until completely combined.

Gently fold in the raspberries and the blueberries. Gently now. You don't want to break the berries.

Pour the lemon raspberry blueberry topping over the graham cracker bottom and spread it around evenly with a spatula. Redistribute the berries if you need to. But, once again, gently.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until just set.

Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least one hour before serving. Cut into bars and serve. Bars can be kept in the refrigerator for up to five days, but they'll never last that long.

Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from Two Peas and Their Pods' lemon raspberry bars.

If you are looking for red, white and blue inspiration for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, I’ve got a great list of links for you!

• Dried Berries and White Chocolate Chip Cookies by Holly at A Baker's House
• Lemon Blueberry Cookies by Kathia at Basic N Delicious
• Patriotic Pinwheel Cookies by Becca at It's Yummi!
• Raspberry and Blueberry Alfajore Cookies by Brenda at What's Cooking America
• Raspberry Lemon Blueberry Bars by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Red, White, & Blue Oatmeal Cookies by Felice at All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Spicy Blue Cheese Shortbread Cookies by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Sprinkle Cookies by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Vanilla Pudding Cookies by Jill at Made with Love

Want to join the Creative Cookie Exchange? 
If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura via email (thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com) and she will get you added to our Facebook group where we coordinate events.

Need more creative cookie recipes? 
You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board, and our monthly posts. You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Peppermint Patty Chocolate Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Baking with candy is an easy way to turn a sweet favorite into a delightful muffin and socially acceptable breakfast food. Try this recipe using Twix, Snickers, Milky Ways, Almond Joys or whatever chocolate candy is your own personal favorite.

It doesn’t happen very often but I am happy to say that I have not only my husband but both daughters under one roof this weekend. I know that these occasions will get more and more rare as they get older so I am cherishing this time. My motto has always been life before blog, so I'm posting my Monday Muffin later than usual today since a late family breakfast out at the iconic Houston restaurant House of Pies seemed way more important this morning. I chose to use one of my younger daughter’s favorite sweets, York peppermint patties, to make a chocolate muffin I hope she likes as much as the actual candy, which is a pretty tall order.

We are all still full from breakfast so I’ll have to report back on this later, but I’m pleased with how they came out. If you are a fan of chocolate mint anything, you are going to like them too.

Ingredients
8 peppermint patties or 125g, chilled
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or just over 26g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

For decoration: 6 peppermint patties, chilled and cut in half.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin tin by lining with muffin papers and then spraying the top with non-stick spray to keep the melted peppermint patties from sticking.

Chop up the first eight peppermint patties into small chunks.

Combine your flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add the chopped patties into the dry ingredients and stir to separate them so they are coated and are not sticking to each other.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top each with one half of a peppermint patty.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. You can try the toothpick test but remember that you will probably hit a piece of peppermint patty in the muffin which might make you think it’s not cooked yet.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!