Thursday, May 1, 2008

Last Night's Dinner #112: Cumin & Lime Roasted Corn on the Cob & No-fry Fried Chicken



I haven't made Karen's No-Fry Fried Chicken in a while so I busted it out last night along with some Cumin & Lime Roasted Corn on the Cob. This would've probably been ten times better with Cotija (Queso Anejado) Cheese but I didn't have any and couldn't be bothered to go outside again.

I dropped the corn into some boiling water and cooked it for about 3.5 minutes. I kept them into a strainer and allowed them to dry for about an hour (probably not necessary). I then cranked up the broiler and in the meantime melted about 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and added to it... a couple pinches of salt, a pinch or two of cumin, and a dash of cayenne pepper.



Brush the cobs with a tiny bit of the butter mixture (reserve the rest) and broil the corn until nicely charred (turning to get even charring). Squeeze in about 1/2 lime into the butter mixture and mix. Drizzle remaining butter/lime mixture over grilled corn. Yum.

No Fry Fried Chicken:

I've changed a couple of things on the original recipe.


I allow the drumsticks to sit in some buttermilk for a couple of hours


Panko breading gives it a crunchier crust - mix about 2 cups of Panko with 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (you can use the pre-grated stuff, but Karen thinks you get a better browning if you use freshly grounded) - I haven't tried the pre-grated stuff, so I'm not sure. Add whatever dry spices you have - I added about a teaspoon and a half of salt, pinch of pepper, two teaspoons of dried parsley, oregano, thyme, pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of paprika.


Probably not necessary since they've been sitting in buttermilk all afternoon (in the fridge), but I dipped the chicken in egg then coated it with the panko mixture. Really piling it on. I press the breading into the chicken with my palms to make sure I get an ice thick layer.

It's important to use a rack so the chicken can crisp up all around. Transfer into a preheated 400 F degree oven. Cook for about an hour, depending on how big your pieces are. I like to turn the pieces every 25 minutes, giving them a nice even tan.

3 comments:

Luke said...

Aaah! It all looks so delicious!!! The corn looks good, especially...nice way to add variety to the standard (but oh so great) corn on the cob.

In other news...I'm in total blog block. I need inspiration! I've been neglecting it--what do you do to get out of blog funk?

Marichelle said...

Losing your blog mojo is definitely not fun... I've been through that before and unfortunately I don't have a magical solution. I would just use the time off to maybe reassess what you're most passionate about and why you started the blog in the first place. Sometimes, when you get off-track and you veer off of your original mission you lose yourself, your voice and then you find yourself lost for words. If you stay true, then I find that you get lost less often :)

krissy said...

this recipe looks so good! i want to try it with tofu. i wonder if it will work?