Make your own coating for chicken :
You can make your own coating for chicken by combining bread crumbs with an assortment of spices, rather than buying the more popular store brand. This coating can also be used on fish and pork chops. This reminds me of the time that I lived in Buffalo and we had a party at our apartment. Spike no longer lived with me but another teacher had moved in to help pay the rent. Since I had to work nights, I was going to be late for the party so I had to delegate cooking the chicken to Harry, my housemate. I prepared some chicken coating mix and Harry had to do the rest. The chicken turned out good but a few days after the party I noticed a funny smell in the kitchen. The garbage had been removed
so it wasn’t that, but I could not figure out what it was. A day or so later the smell was worse. I finally figured out what the rotten smell was: before Harry cut up the poultry, he removed the internal organs and instead of throwing them in the garbage, he put them in the kitchen pantry. Whew!
Tasty baked chicken serves 4:
1 chicken, cut up coating mix
Wash the chicken and shake pieces dry. Place some of the coating mix in a plastic or paper bag and add the chicken pieces, a few at a time. Shake the bag to coat thoroughly. Repeat with the remaining pieces. Place chicken pieces on a rack on top of a cookie sheet and bake for fifty minutes in a 375° oven. Remove from oven and serve. To make bread crumbs, dry a few pieces of bread overnight. Place the bread slices into a blender, a few at a time and turn on the blender until you have bread crumbs. It couldn’t be easier. Now you have a use for stale bread. chicken coating mix for about 3 chickens
2 tbsp dried minced onion 2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp celery seed 1 tbsp chili powder
4 cups bread crumbs ½ tsp dried mustard
½ cup olive oil fresh ground pepper
Crush the minced onion and celery seed in a mortar and pestle. Put the bread crumbs into a large bowl and stir in the oil, mixing thoroughly. Add the crushed onion, celery seed, and the remaining ingredients and blend well. The coating can be stored in the refrigerator.B acon is easier to cut if it is frozen or only
slightly thawed. I store it in the freezer, since it keeps longer that way. When I need a slice or two, I cut perpendicular to the way the slices run. Thus, I cut an amount of small pieces equivalent to the number of slices that I need. This also eliminates the need to crumble the bacon later.
Bean with bacon soup serves 8
1 ½ cups pea beans 3 large onions, chopped
4 slices bacon ½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp dried sage 2 quarts of water
½ tsp dried thyme 1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp olive oil fresh ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced 3 tbsp vinegar
Soak the beans overnight or use the quick method (see the hickory baked beans recipe). Sauté the bacon in a heavy iron skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon, drain on a paper towel; discard the drippings. Crush the sage and thyme in a mortar and pestle. Add oil to frying pan and sauté the garlic, onions, sugar, sage and thyme until the onions are brown. Be careful not to burn them, but the darker they are, the better the flavor will be. The sugar helps to brown them. Place beans into a large Dutch oven and add the browned onions and water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 1½ hours. Turn off the heat, crumble the bacon and add it, along with the Tabasco sauce, ground pepper and vinegar. Stir well. Serve with croutons made from dark bread, using the crouton recipe but substituting dark bread.
