Chickening Out!

As I alluded to in my last post (I allude a lot... maybe I shouldn't... maybe it makes you go blind...), I didn't sleep well Tuesday night. I went to bed at 10:30 PM, but woke up at 1:00 AM and couldn't fall back asleep. The last time I looked at the clock, it was 3:20 AM. As a result, when I finally did fall asleep, I overslept. I finally heard the alarm clock at 6:15 AM (45 minutes late). So, the Blog entry was posted just a tad later than usual.

At lunch, I made some Campbell's tomato soup (trying to use up the milk before it goes bad) and a grilled cheese sandwich. I also was thinking about supper (anything but shrimp salad!) so I took out some boneless, skinless chicken breast to thaw. Now, as I have repeatedly said, I always go for bone-in, skin-on chicken anything (it has so much more flavor), but this was some "special" a while ago that I've had in my chest freezer.

I took the rock-hard chicken and put it in a marinade of buttermilk (have to use that up as well and it gives the chicken a certain "tang"), a generous amount of Frank's Red Hot Sauce, salt and pepper. I left it on the counter, covered with cling warp, to thaw.

Back at work, I checked the Weather Channel online about 2:00 PM (I left the sunroof open and the windows down an inch or so for the heat). This morning, there was a "slight" chance of thunderstorms this afternoon (another hot, muggy day). But, when I looked then, there was a Severe Weather Alert (possible thunderstorms, with an inch or so rain and high winds - it was supposed to hit here about 2:30). Just then Jake let me know it was raining like hell on campus (about 5 miles from my building). So, I let everybody know what was coming and went out to button down the car.

What was ever worse was I had a 4:00 PM meeting in Allen Park (about 15 miles from here). It normally takes about 20 minutes, but I left about 45 minutes so I wouldn't be late (I HATE being late for a meeting).

Turns out I got there at 3:40 PM (Hey, I paid $1,700.00 for a turbo charger I didn't need, right? No point in not using it!). So, I sat outside the conference room until other people started arriving. I assumed this meeting would run late and I would get stuck in rush hour traffic. And I was right!

What made it even worse was when the Director of IT (my boss's boss) came in, looked at me askance and asked, "Why are you here?" I said, "I was on the appointment list, so I accepted." She said, "Oh, I asked the Vice-President to invite "John" (meaning my boss) and he must have thought I meant you." Nice...

So, I was at a meeting I didn't need to go to until 5:40 PM (I do know all the folks and did ask probing questions and answered some as well - so I did good). Then I drove home and got there about 6:10 PM.

The rain had stopped and I checked the gauge. It showed just a little in the tube. So, I hooked up the square sprinkler and watered the raised bed garden. Before I turned the water on, I picked another five "almost ripe" tomatoes. Those went on the kitchen window sill as well.

Back inside, I debated about the pan to use to coat the chicken. I finally decided to use a flat sheet cake pan (what is that, like 11 inches x 9 inches?) To that I added two cups of all-purpose flour, one tablespoon of baking powder, one tablespoon of garlic powder, some salt and some fresh ground black pepper. I mixed that up with a whisk, drained the chicken for a bit and added it in.

Now, normally I use a wet, dry, wet hand in coating things. But here I used a wet, wet hand technique. I put the chicken breasts in the flour and heavily coated them with the flour. I let that sit for about 10 minutes (turning it occasionally), while I went outside, turned off the raised-bed garden sprinkler and then watered the newly sown grass for a while (it may rain tonight, or even tomorrow, but who knows?)

Back inside, I filled my largest cast iron skillet up to about half with canola oil. I fired up the burner and monitored the oil with my instant read thermometer. At 375 degrees F., I shook off the excess flour and fried the three chicken breasts.

I turned them when they got golden brown (3-4 minutes), fried them 3 minutes more and then reduced the heat to 325 degrees F. Next I fried them 10 minutes on a side. I warmed up the leftover rice (you remember the rice, right?) and sliced up a tomato.

I put the chicken on a rack to drain and hit them with a little more salt. After a bit, I plated everything and went in to watch TV about 8:30 PM.

The chicken tasted fantastic: it was juicy, moist and delicious. The only problem I had with it was the crust was too thick and hard for my liking. Too much time in the flour, I suppose.