Wednesday, February 10, 2016

House Autry Southern Fried Frenzy

     My great, great grandfather was born in Alabama.  The women of my family have been cooking real southern food since the 1800's.  And, I am no exception.  There's no place I feel more at home than in my kitchen. Being raised by old fashioned southern women, I can tell you that I have spent my life surrounded by bold flavors and traditional southern food.  Our theory on cooking is that there's nothing that can't be breaded and fried.  (And generally smothered in gravy.)

     House Autry has been making real southern staples since 1812.  They probably know as much about cooking up some spectacular southern country food as my great granny did.  So, when they invited me to try out their House Autry Chicken Breader for a blog post, I jumped at the opportunity.  What could be better than frying up some real southern food and sharing it with all of my friends here?

     The obvious thing to do with chicken breader would be to fry some chicken, right?  But, why be obvious when you can try something unexpected?  I decided to serve BBQ Pork Sandwiches with a fried side dish that will make your eyes pop! Remember those bold flavors that I mentioned?  How about some sour pickle chips, jalapeno slices, sweet onion, and potatoes?  If they don't sound exciting enough for you, just wait until you see what we are going to do with them!

     First we need to drain the pickle and jalapeno slices (a small jar of each).  Next, cut one large potato into 1/4" skinny fries, and cut those in half to make them shorter than your usual french fry would be.  Finally, slice your onion 1/4" thick and cut it into pieces similar in size to the potato.

     In order for everything to fry together and turn out right, the potato pieces are going to need parboiling  and pre-frying.  Don't worry.  This is easy, too.  Put some water on the stove to boil and when it's going, drop the potato pieces in for 3 minutes.  Drain those and then put them in the deep fryer all by their lonesome selves for 5 minutes.  Drain them on paper towels and you are ready to cook everything.

     When you start this dish, you will want to start your oil off at 340 degrees.  That's for the first batch of potatoes alone.  Then you want to turn it up to 375 degrees for the main cooking.  If your oil isn't hot when you drop your food in, it is guaranteed to be soggy and greasy.  So get that oil good and hot before you start!  Granny would insist on cast iron.  The truth of the matter is that this is a personal choice.   I find that using a modern deep fryer makes it quick and simple to turn out fantastic fried food.  If you are new to frying and interested in learning to make authentic, delicious southern food, I recommend making the investment in a good deep fryer.

     Now it's time to bring out the House Autry chicken breader.  One of the reasons I love this breader is because it's made from basic ingredients that I can pronounce and it's not loaded up with preservatives.  They add sodium bicarbonate to the breader, which is going to make your coating extra light and crispy, plus the seasonings they use are just so delicious!  Plus, we are going to add our own ingredient that is going to make this breader positively magical.  Beer!  That's right.  And it just so happens that an 8oz box of House Autry chicken breader mixes to a perfect batter consistency when combined with a 12oz bottle or can of beer.  Put the entire box of breader in a bowl, pour in your beer and whisk until it's smooth.  Add all of your pickles, jalapenos, potatoes, and onions, and toss them around with some kitchen tongs to make sure they are coated well.

     It's time to fry our delicious mixture.  This is where a lot of people get intimidated by Southern cooking.  Don't worry.  It's actually really easy to fry.  Southern women have been breading, battering, and frying everything under the sun for hundreds of years.  And they did it without any of the modern conveniences we enjoy today.  I promise it's really not difficult.  Like most things, all it takes is a little bit of practice.  It's especially easy if you get yourself a deep fryer.

     Your fryer is hot and your vegetables (yes, according to southerners these are all vegetables) are battered.  Make sure your fryer basket is immersed in the hot oil.  You don't want to add battered food into the basket first, otherwise it will stick.  (You don't need to worry about this step if you are using a cast iron skillet.)  Using your tongs, drop the battered mixture into the hot oil in small quantities.  It should take about 3 minutes for your batter to turn light brown and crispy, and that's when everything is ready to come out.  Simply lift the fryer basket out of the oil and turn everything onto a plate layered with paper towels.  It will take a few batches to cook everything.  If you try to put it all in at once, you will end up with one large fried clump rather than individual bite sized pieces.

     The finished product is a southern fried side dish filled with bold flavors that will rival any plate of pub snacks.  I served mine with basic BBQ pork sandwiches and my husband and son couldn't get enough of this dish.


Southern Fried Frenzy Recipe:
Ingredients
Pickle Chips (1 jar - appx 8-10 oz)
Jalapeno Slices (1 jar - appx 8 oz)
1 Medium Onion
1 Large Russet Potato
1 8oz Pkg House Autry Chicken Breader
12 oz Bottle or Can of Beer
Oil for Frying & Water for ParBoiling

1. Put water on to boil.  Turn Fryer on 340 degrees to heat.
2. Drain pickles and jalapenos and set aside.
3. Cut the potato into short, skinny french fries.
4. Cut the onion into pieces that are similar in size to the french fries.
5. When water is boiling, place potatoes in for 3 minutes.  Drain potatoes.
6. Fry potatoes at 340 degrees for 5 minutes.  Remove and drain.
7. Increase fryer temp to 375 degrees.
8. Combine House Autry Chicken Breader  and beer.  Whisk together until smooth.
9. Add pickles, jalapenos, onion, and potato to batter and toss until everything is evenly coated.
10. Drop battered "vegetables" into hot oil in small batches.  Fry for 3 minutes or until brown and crispy.  Drain on paper towels.

The BBQ Pork was a Boston Butt left in the crockpot all day with a favorite BBQ sauce and served on homemade hamburger buns that can be found on AllRecipes.


    

3 comments:

  1. I don't eat fried foods, but this would be great for people who do. #ProductReviewParty

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't imagine life without fried food. I'll bet you have some amazing recipes to share that I would never think of. :-) #ProductReviewParty

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why are you torturing me with those pictures of delicious fried foods! I. Can't. Even. Lol! #ProductReviewParty

    ReplyDelete