rosefox: A cheerful chef made out of ginger. (cooking)
[personal profile] rosefox2014-06-28 01:15 pm

Oven-fried chicken or catfish with almond meal

Note: The coating can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. It keeps until the almond flour's expiration date.

Note: You can skip the pre-coating and egg wash steps if you want, but the coating won't be as thick or crispy.

Ingredients

Meat
6 to 8 catfish filets*, or 8 to 12 skinless bone-in or boneless chicken thighs

* If using larger slabs of fresh fish from the fish market, carefully trim away all dark meat and blood, cut into even-sized filets, soak in ginger ale (yes, really!) or lemon water for about 15 minutes, and rinse well. Then proceed as you would with supermarket-style filets.

Coating
3 cups almond flour
2 Tbsp fresh minced thyme, or 2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp fresh minced oregano, or 1 tsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp mustard powder
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp garlic powder
.5 tsp onion powder

Other
Cooking spray
2 eggs
2 Tbsp soy milk
0.25 c GF all-purpose flour

Equipment

4-cup airtight storage container
Tray
Large bowl
Whisk or spoon
Pie plate or other large pan
Measuring spoons and cups
Baking sheet
Oven-safe wire rack
Aluminum foil
Wax paper (optional)
Oven
Meat thermometer

Steps

0) Mise en place. Gather and measure your ingredients. Trim the meat and pat it dry. Preheat the oven to 425F for chicken or 475F for fish. Line the baking sheet with foil and put the wire rack on it. Line the tray with wax paper or foil. Put the all-purpose flour in the large bowl. Put the ingredients for the coating in the storage container, seal tightly, and shake until well mixed. Measure about half a cup of the coating into the pie plate.

1) Pre-coat. Dip each piece of meat into the flour, coat it thoroughly, and place it on the tray. When all the meat is floured, rinse out the bowl. In the bowl, whisk together the eggs and soy milk.

2) Coat. For each piece of meat, dip it in the egg wash, let excess egg drip off, press one side firmly down into the coating, then flip over and repeat on the other side. Move the thoroughly coated meat to the wire rack. Add more coating to the plate as necessary.

3) Bake. Lightly spray the top of the meat with cooking spray. If using chicken, put a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the largest piece, being careful not to put it against the bone. Put the tray with the wire rack in the oven. Bake fish at 475F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Bake chicken at 425F until internal temperature reaches 160F, then increase oven temp to 475F and bake until golden brown on the outside and 175F on the inside. For extra browning, finish under the broiler.

Sources:
http://www.southernwithatwist.com/recipes/almond-crusted-catfish
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/686-the-best-oven-fried-chicken
http://www.enjoy-how-to-cook.com/breading-chicken.html
rosefox: A cheerful chef made out of ginger. (cooking)
[personal profile] rosefox2014-06-14 02:23 am

Turkey burgers

Ingredients

1 package (1.3 pounds) ground turkey
Italian seasoning
Optional: breadthings (bread, buns, whatever)

Equipment

Mixing bowl
Plastic cutting board
Large nonstick pan
Large lid
Stove (one burner)
Flipper-type spatula
Instant-read thermometer
Optional: toaster oven

Steps

1) Open the package of turkey. Shake enough Italian seasoning over the top of the turkey to cover it with an opaque layer of herbs.

2) Put on gloves and put the turkey into a bowl. Mix the turkey well with hands until the seasoning is evenly incorporated.

3) Heat the pan over medium-high heat. Move the turkey to the cutting board. Divide it into six equal lumps and shape each lump into a thick, round patty.

4) Arrange the patties in the center of the hot pan so that they don't quite touch, and cover them with the lid. The lid should cover the patties completely. Cook for 5 minutes. The patties will get quite puffy and may press against the lid; this is normal and fine. (It comes from the liquid inside the burger expanding into steam in the closed environment.)

4.5) If you plan to toast bread/buns for the burgers, now's a good time to put breadthings in the toaster oven.

5) Carefully remove the lid, tilting it over the pan so that the liquid that collected in the lid will drip into the pan and not all over the stove. Watch out for spattering sizzling liquid. Flip the patties and flatten them slightly with the spatula. Put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes.

6) Carefully remove the lid as before, and set it aside. Press the patties gently so that the excess liquid runs out. Verify that they have reached an internal temperature of 165F; if they haven't, cook them uncovered until they do. Serve immediately.

Raw patties can be frozen; cook frozen patties the same way, but for 7 minutes on a side instead of 5. Cooked burgers will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.

Sausages, via the oven, simplified.

Ingredients:

"Shady Brook Farms Lean Italian Turkey Sausage" sausages:



Steps:

Phase 1

* Start the oven up at 350°.
* Line a pan with tin foil.
* Put one of the nonstick-coated metal racks on the pan.
* Put the sausages on the rack.
* Put the pan on the lower rack in the oven.
* Set a timer for 20 minutes.

Phase 2

* Stick the digital thermometer probe into one of them.
* Wiggle it around until you find the coolest spot.
* Set it to beep when the internal temperature reaches 170°.
* Note: There's a "ground meat" setting you can use if you don't remember the numbers.
* Note: The thermometer to use is the one with the black body and cord, not the silver body and cord.

Notes:

* If the sausages are cooking too slowly for your liking, you can turn the heat up to 375° or 400°; it doesn't really make a difference except in the risk of overcooking/drying out, and the thermometer should take care of that.
* You can put the thermometer in when you first put them in the oven, but usually they're too squishy and it will fall over/slide out.