COOKING THROUGH NEW ORLEANS…NOLA Fried Chicken

Everyone knows to get the gumbos, red beans and rice, jambalaya or the shrimp creole’s but what about the fried chicken? It’s probably one of the least talked about foods outside of New Orleans.

So, here we go…

But first, I should note that a Fox News story last year did a survey for what’s the best fried chicken in America? They noted that the New Orleans restaurant Willie Mae’s Scotch House was a “no-brainer”. Pretty much every story on New Orleans fried chicken will tell you not to miss out on the Fifth Ward restaurant.

On the Fox News website, their quip on Willie Mae’s is this:

“Miss Willie Mae has been serving up mind-blowing fried chicken from a shack attached to her home for more than 30 years. The low-key operation remained a local treasure until 2005 when the James Beard Foundation honored it with its “American Classic” award and let the rest of the nation in on the secret. A few weeks after winning the award, Willie Mae’s Scotch House was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, so members of the Southern Foodways Alliance pulled together to rebuild the cherished chicken establishment. Mae’s great-granddaughter runs the Scotch House now, upholding the same dedication to unadulterated Southern cuisine that the restaurant is so well-known for.”

GoNola.com did a similar search, but for the Best New Orleans Fried Chicken. Their top restaurants are:

• Willie Mae’s Scotch House – 2401 St. Ann, New Orleans, LA 70119; (504) 822-9503
• Lil’ Dizzy’s – 1500 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116 (504) 569-8997
• Galatoire’s – 209 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA 70130; (504) 525-2021
• Coop’s Place – 1109 Decataur Street, New Orleans, LA 70116; (504) 525-9053
• Jacques-Imo’s – 8324 Oak Street, New Orleans, LA 70118; (504) 861-0886

While you’re in New Orleans, make sure you stop in one of the above restaurants and think outside of the typical Creole foods.

The saying goes that New Orleans is south of the Southern States, a country of its own. If you’ve ever been there you’d know. There’s no place like it. They do things a little different, a little spicer… and that South of the Southern Fried Chicken is no different. New Orleans’s is the original home to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen! Founded in 1972 by Al Copeland in the St. Bernard Parish. They added the one thing you’ll find more in a New Orleans Fried Chicken then probably anywhere else…

“As the company’s official history states, they sold “traditional mild fried chicken [but] business was slow, and the chicken team realized they’d have to sell a spicier alternative to their standard chicken recipe if they wanted to impress flavor-seeking New Orleanians.”

With Carnival Season going on in New Orleans, fried chicken is one of the favorite parade foods to take along. It’s popular at all the Mardi Gras parties. It’s perfect for picnics, ball games, and any kind of outing. It’s a traditional food all across the south, but never forget that it’s just as good in New Orleans. Stop in at the great trumpeter Kermit Ruffin’s restaurant, Kermit’s Treme Speakeasy on 1535 Basin Street NOLA 70116 (504.309.5828) were he has Southern Fried Chicken on the menu.

The gumbos, muffulettas, jambalaya and BBQ Shrimps are must gets, but save room for the great under-talked-about New Orleans Fried Chicken. I’m sure you’ll be telling everyone about it…

NEW ORLEANS FRIED CHICKEN

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic puree
• 1 tsp creole seasoning
• 1 tsp fried chicken seasoning
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• chicken pieces (I cooked 8 drumsticks and 8 tenderloin strips)

In a large bowl, mix the Worcestershire Sauce, olive oil, garlic and all the seasonings together and whisk in the buttermilk. Wash and dry the chicken pieces. Place the chicken pieces in the liquid seasoning. Make sure all the pieces are covered in the sauce. Allow the chicken to stand, refrigerated and covered for at least 2 hours, but the longer the better.

In an aluminum pan or cast iron skillet, Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Make sure that the oil does not boil. The temperature of the oil should reach 360 degrees. If you place a small piece of bread in the oil, it should immediately turn brown, that’s when the oils ready. The oil level should be about 1/2 inches deep. Roughly 2/3 of the chicken should be covered by the oil.

Roll out a piece of wax paper, spread flour out and mix in the baking powder. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Roll each piece of chicken in the flour, coating well. Shake off the excess flour.

Place a few pieces of chicken in the pan at a time. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan. It will bring the temperature of the oil down. I cooked two drumsticks and two tenderloin strips at a time. Once the chickens in the pan frying, set timer for 5 minutes. Do not turn the chicken until the timer goes off. Once it does, turn each piece and keep frying for another 5 minutes. At this point the chicken stripes were done, the internal temperature was above 165. I cooked each drumstick batch an additional 3-4 minutes. At that point the internal temperature was above 165. The test piece had the meat cooked all the way to the bone, which is good! Repeat for each batch you have left to cook.

Fried Chicken had been a problem for me for years… YEARS! I couldn’t figure out how to get the oil right. How to get the batter from not burning while the inside didn’t cook. Then if for some reason, the chicken was cooked, the batter would be super crisp and after one bite, the whole batter would come off! I’ve thrown out more bowls of batter and under cooked chicken then I care to talk about. I just kept trying and trying and reading and asking. This was the first time that I successfully made a great batch of Fried Chicken drumsticks and strips.

It cooked in four batches. I was careful not to over crowd the pan while frying the chicken. Once the first batch was done and drained on a paper towel, I heated the oven to 250 degrees and placed the cooked pieces on a pan and set in the heated oven. Once all four batches were finished, I had time to get everything else together knowing that the chicken was still staying warm in the oven.

Good luck. If you can’t get it, keep trying. I always kept in the back of my mind that if I messed up a meal, I’d get to order pizza! I few times we had pizza… Cookings supposed to be fun. It’s a hobby to me. I love to read about what I’m cooking and how it’s a tradition to someone, a way of life. Like the EVERY DAY’S A PARTY cookbook by Emeril Lagasse says on the cover, it’s about “celebrating with family and friends!”

It’s the one thing about New Orleans, the fun never stops!

BIG EASY WEDNESDAY: Chicken Quesadillas

The Big Easy Wednesday recipe of the week is… CHICKEN QUESADILLAS!

It doesn’t get much simpler then this. First I should mention though, this was a part of a three-day meal…

Day 1 : Spaghetti

Day 2: Chicken Quesadilla

Day 3: Home made Pizza

I saved the leftover sauce from the spaghetti… Below is the recipe that I used for the easy chicken quesadilla, then… for the third day, I took the leftover tortilla, spooned some of the leftover spaghetti sauce then topped it with cheese and made home-made Pizza!

Or, you can just made The Big Easy Wednesday recipe of the week…

CHICKEN QUESADILLAS

Ingredients:

• 1 package of flour tortillas
• cooked chicken (I used canned precooked chicken)
• cheddar cheese
• enchiladas sauce

Lay one flour tortilla down, spread across about a spoonful of enchiladas sauce on it. Place the pieces of chicken on tortillas then top with cheese. There is no exact measurements, just place on how much you like. I go cheese heavy.

In a skillet over medium heat, fry the quesadillas. As the cheese starts to melt and the bottom browns, flip it over and continue until the tortilla lightly browns. Repeat for each tortilla you make.

Place the remain enchiladas sauce in a bowl and heat in the microwave for about :45 seconds and serve on the side for dipping. Enjoy!

I made 4 quesadillas which used 8 tortillas. With the remaining 2 I used the next day for the home-made Pizza. It makes for a great thin crust crispy pizza! If you try it, let me know what you think.

Beer Bread

I’m always looking around for different recipes to try and to just read about the meals.  I’m doing searches all the time on gumbos, jambalaya, and researching some different meals I never made before for my COOKING THROUGH NEW ORLEANS series where I intend to make all the popular dishes that make New Orleans cuisaine the best in the United States!

During one of my many searches on, well, red beans and rice, I came across the Experience New Orleans website and they offer up a unique side dish that I never thought of doing before, but it’s not something I make all the time… BEER BREAD!  The recipe was submitted by Neil Dronet.

If you look on the website, at the bottom of the list of links is the tab for RECIPES.  There you’ll find the Red Beans and Rice with Beer Bread recipe that I have below.  Along with the Red Beans recipe, you’ll find a list of recipes worth checking out.  If you are planing a trip to New Orleans, for Mardi Gras or when ever, you’ll find some great travel information that will help you with your trip.  They have a great page on the YAT!  You know, the different language of New Orleans-speak.  There’s a video tour of New Orleans and so much more!

Experience New Orleans says this about themselves:

“We created Experience New Orleans to showcase the positive side of our city in 1994, after discovering that so many people we met online had a terrible perception of New Orleans. The press has always portrayed New Orleans as a city for adults only, one where everyone lives in the French Quarter, drinking and catching beads from balconies; where women draped in Mardi Gras beads rendezvous in the French Quarter, where no parades pass.

But we wanted everyone to know the city where we grew up–the New Orleans we’d never leave, a city with brilliant chefs, delicious Cajun and Creole food, European architecture, swamps, steamboat cruises on the Mississippi, plantation homes open to the public, and festivals year-round celebrating everything from strawberries to oysters.

Not to mention the music. New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, and live bands and street performers serenade you as you walk down the street. Some of our most celebrated festivals include Jazz Fest and French Quarter Fest, where everyone enjoys music and food for days.

Experience New Orleans was born”

Support the websites and places that showcase New Orleans.  What are some of your favorite websites about New Orleans?

BEER BREAD

• 1 12oz regular beer (room temp)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl.
3. Mix well with a fork. (Batter may have some small lumps.)
4. Pour into a 9″ greased bread pan. (You can even use a non-stick spray.)
5. Spread batter evenly in pan, reaching all 4 corners.
6. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. (Since oven times can vary, start checking at around 50 minutes.)

I never baked bread before, but this was a really easy bread to make.  Plus, after buying the bag of Self-Rising Flour, it’s inexpensive since I always have the other ingredients on hand.  I make it a lot for different meals, not just Red Beans and Rice.  Enjoy!

BIG EASY WEDNESDAY: Easy Beef Enchilada

The Big Easy Wednesday recipe of the week is… Easy Beef Enchilada.

Have you ever read the back of a canned good and saw a recipe?  The back of the Uncle Ben’s Rice Box has a recipe for jambalaya, have you ever made it?  Once, my wife wanted baked ziti, while we were at the grocery store, so I grabbed a box of ziti noodle that had the recipe on it and shopped off the box.

After a few meals using canned enchilada sauce, I kept reading the recipe on the can, so I decided to give it a try.  Surprisingly, the enchiladas where great!  My wife loved them.  The only things I’d include next time is a dollop of sour cream.  I added a side of refried beans and Mexican style rice.  My wife wanted cole slaw, it’s weird to me, but a Mexican restaurant in the area offers that as a side…

It’s quick, it tastes great, and it’s… easy!  This Big Easy Wednesday recipe of the week is…

EASY BEEF ENCHILADA

• 1 lbs ground beef
• 2 cans of enchilada sauce
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheese
• burrito sized flour tortillas (10 pack)

Brown the ground beef then drain.  Add 3/4-cup of enchilada sauce and 1-cup of the cheese.

Preheat the oven at 375… grease 9×13 pan.  Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the enchilada mixture in a tortilla.  Roll the tortilla up.  Place the fold size down in the pan.  This is produce between 8-10 enchiladas.  Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas then spread the cheese on top.

Cook uncovered in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Add your favorite sides and enjoy!

What box or can recipe have you tried?  Anything you’d make again or something you’d steer clear of?  I’d make this one again.

Creole Macaroni and Cheese

Fried chicken, or the New Orleans Hot Dog needs a side.  My wife’s favorite side dish is a good ‘ol bowl of macaroni and cheese.  I’ve tried making a creole style version.  It was simply adding creole seasoning to the melting of the cheese and adding green onions for a garnish.  That was it.

I’ve never made macaroni and cheese from scratch before.  It was always out of the box, Kraft style.  In a recent Louisiana Cooking and Culture magazine, they had a recipe for a Creole Macaroni and Cheese.  It was one of the best mac ‘n’ cheeses I ever had.   At the next holiday or family event, this recipe will surely be a part of it.

The next time you need a side dish, go creole…

CREOLE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients:

• 16-oz elbow macaroni, cooked
• 3 tbsp flour
• 6 tbsp butter
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 12-oz evaporated milk
• 4-oz jalapeno Velvetta cheese
• 8-oz shredded cheddar cheese
• green onions for garnish
• salt, pepper and creole seasoning

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, add flour and make a blonde roux.  Whisk in the salt, pepper and creole seasoning.

Slowly add in the half-and-half and the evaporated milk, keep a constant whisk.  Add the Velvetta cheese and whisk until it’s melted and smooth.

Cook the sauce until it’s thick, about 15 minutes.

While the sauce is thickening, cook the noodles and preheat the oven at 450 degrees.

After 15 minutes, add the cooked macaroni and blend in well.

In a greased 9 x 13 pan, pour in the mixture.  Cover with the shredded cheddar cheese and cook for about 10 minutes, until it is bubbly and golden.

Garnish with chopped green onions and serve with a main dish.  Enjoy!

 

COOKING THROUGH NEW ORLEANS… Gumbo

It’s the most versatile dish to come out of New Orleans… the GUMBO.

Gumbo is also probably the most influenced dish by the many cultures that made New Orleans their home, for good or for bad.  With the slaves from Africa bringing the name, ochinggômbo, for the thickener okra.  The Native American Indians for the other thickener, filé, which are made from powdered leaves of the sassafras tree along with the custom of serving it with rice.  The roux comes from France.  The Spanish brought the pepper that they got from Indians of Central America.  Then there’s every cook, chef, author and person with a blog adding in their own ingredients to the over two-hundred year old dish.

The Times-Picayune website, Nola.com, offers this excerpt from “The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book,” circa 1901:

“Gumbo, of all unique dishes of the New Orleans cuisine, represents a most distinctive type of the evolution of good cookery under the hands of the famous Creole cuisinieres of old New Orleans… With equal ability the older Creole cooks saw the possibilities of original and delicious combinations in making Gumbo, and hence we have many varieties, till the occult science of making a good “Gombo a la Creole” seems too fine an inheritance of gastronomic lore to remain forever hidden away in the cuisines of this old Southern metropolis.”

The book, first published over a hundred and ten years ago, included gumbo recipes that had ingredients using chicken, ham, oysters, turkey, squirrel, rabbit, beef, veal, crabs, shrimp, greens, and cabbage. Some of the gumbos are made with okra, others with filé.

Since there isn’t a question about what can be put in a gumbo, one can question how do you like your gumbo thickened?  Is okra better than the filé?  The New Orleans Conventions and Visitors Bureau website, under the traditional foods page, they offer this:

“Classic gumbo recipes call for okra simmered for hours in a stock made as rich as possible using a variety of meats, onions, celery and bell peppers. Served over rice, variations include seafood gumbo with shrimp, oysters and crabmeat, or chicken gumbo with andouille sausage.”

What do you think?

I tend to agree with them.  I prefer to make my gumbos using okra.  It has a better taste and I think the gumbo is thicker and richer.  Below are two recipes.  One using the filé, which is the gumbo in the pictures, and the other one is using okra from a post I put up just over a year ago.  Both are the classic Chicken and Sausage.  Try both and see what style you like better.

The other debate with the gumbo is, do you add tomatoes?  The second recipe has tomatoes.  Tomatoes are usually found in okra gumbos but some say the tomatoes are for jambalayas, not gumbos.

Two things are certain though, no matter how you cook your gumbo or what you put in it, when it’s gumbo time, it’s a special time!  And that old Southern metropolis will never hide away such traditional, classic foods!  Not if I can help it…

CHICKEN AND ANDOUILLE GUMBO (filé)

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs chicken breast, cut to bite sized pieces
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and creole season to season chicken pieces
• 1 lbs andouille sausage (or smoked sausage), sliced
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 celery rib, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• file powder, to serve with
• tabasco sauce, to serve with
• cooked rice

Cut the chicken to bite sized pieces and season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and creole seasoning.  In a large dutch oven, add the vegetable oil to the pot and over medium-high heat cook the chicken until golden brown.  Once cooked through, with a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and set aside.

Keep about 2 tablespoons of the remaining juices in the pot and add the flour.  Make a dark brown roux.

Add the onions, celery, bell pepper, parsley, garlic and thyme.  Saute for about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock to the pot along with the cooked chicken, sausage and bay leaf.

Reduce the heat and simmer for one hour.

Serve the gumbo in a bowl, place rice in the middle, top with green onions for garnish and a few dabs of tabasco.  For looks, I sprinkle some creole seasoning over the rice.  Serve with file powder on side along with some bread and a side dish.  Enjoy one of New Orleans most famous dishes, the gumbo!

CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO (okra)

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs Chicken, cut to bite size pieces
• 1 lbs Smoked Sausage, sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
• Creole Seasoning
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 flour
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 cups okra, chopped
• garlic
• 2 cans (cups) diced tomatoes (drained if using cans)
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 bay leave
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Cooked  white rice
• parsley for garnish
• green onions, chopped for garnish

Season chicken pieces with Creole Seasoning.  Heat 1 tablespoon olive in a pan, saute the chicken and sausage until cooked.  Once cooked, remove and set aside.

With the other tablespoon of olive oil, heat in pan over medium heat.  Cook the okra until slightly crisp, the slime should be cooked out of it.  About 5 minutes time then set aside.

Start with a roux… 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup flour.  With a wooden spoon, stir until it’s a dark brown.  Once the roux is almost finished, add onions, green peppers, celery, and garlic.  Cook until vegetables soft.  After 5 minutes, remove from heat.

Pour the chicken stock on a Stock Pot.  Bring to a boil.  Add the roux with vegetables, chicken, sausage, okra, and tomatoes.  Add in Worcestershire Sauce, and the remaining seasonings.  Once it returns to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2013… cooking through New Orleans!

Happy New Year! Welcome in 2013…

I’d like to thank every one who has stopped by to read one of my stories and recipes.  For nominating the blog for various awards.  I’ve noticed the readership as grown and grown over the past year.  I’m glad that a guy living in Michigan can share his love for New Orleans to many people around the US and to readers throughout the world!  Thank you all!  I hope I can spark something that makes you want to read and learn more about New Orleans, from the food to the music!  There are so many great things about New Orleans.

In 2013, I’m looking at some of the most famous dishes from New Orleans to make.  I’ve already made many here, but like they say, there are as many recipes for one dish as there are people in the Crescent City.  This time through, I’m looking to make things out of my comfort zone, something I’d never make before but is New Orleans, like using oysters, crawfish, and more shrimp – more seafood!

I am truly humbled by you stopping by reading and trying these recipes with me.  Let me know how these recipes work for.  What are your favorite ways to cook a gumbo or a po’ boy.  What are your favorite meals from New Orleans?

In 2013, I’m cooking through New Orleans… join me!

Thank you,

Red Beans and Eric