Chicken and Pickle Juice......finger lickin' good.

Do you girls and guys like the taste of Chick-file chicken? So sweet, tasty and delicious.

Do you know what makes it taste that way? You guessed it....pickle juice.

I came with my own little yummy recipes to spice up your boring ol' chicken. And it doesn't take that long.

For Orange Chicken:

• Take 4 chicken breasts and give them a couple of pokes from a fork.
• Cut them into bite size peices, or a little bigger.
• Mix 1/2 the juice from a jar of Gerkens pickles, or dill pickle juice will do (the juice from the Gerkens has a nutmeg kick....it's so good.)
• Place 1/8" high of olive oil in your favorite frying pan and heat to medium hot.
  
• Let the chicken soak in the pickle juice for about 15 minutes.
• Take a bowl and mix 1 and 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp. pepper, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. sugar. May add or decrease as your taste pleases.
• Dip the chicken pieces a couple at a time in the flour mixture.
• Place in the frying pan and brown each side until golden brown.
• Place chicken pieces on metal dripping pan (where you place your cookies for them to cool) and coat with Spring Roll Sauce on each side.
• Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• Serve over white, brown or fried rice, or a bed of cabbage, almonds, and red peppers.
• Or after baked throw into a already cooked pan of stir-fried vegetables.

For Southern Fried Chicken:

Do the same as above to individual size breast pieces. Of course, exclude the Spring Sauce.
Place the breaded, fried, baked chicken breasts in a bun with some yummy herb mayo, and fresh veggies like lettuce and tomatoes and enjoy!

About Mayonnaise: Some "trendy" cooks will just swear that they never eat mayo....but beware of those cooks. They are probably flip-floppers and I don't trust them. Any great southern cook thinks Mayo has it's purpose and will use it when appropriate!

Mexican Girl's Milestone...

I CAN MAKE TORTILLAS!

I would try to make them and they never would really work out. This time I wanted to give it my all.

(Here's a pic of MY tortillas I made this week...)




There are only 5 ingredients for flour tortillas: flour, shortening, salt, baking powder, and water.

But there are a bunch of little techniques you have to have COME TOGETHER at the perfect time to get a really soft, really fluffy, truley delicious tortilla: the perfect recipe, the rolling of the dough, the adding of the water, the waiting and sitting of the dough, the rolling out the dough with just the right amount of flour underneath it, the heat temperature of the pan. To cool of a pan, the tortilla will turn out like a cracker. Too hot, the tortilla will burn!

Dr. Pepper Cake

Some friends came over for dinner last night.

I made my special chicken and green chilies enchiladas, Mexican rice, and refried beans.

They brought over dessert. Which was Dr. Pepper cake and vanilla Blue Bell. A marriage made in food heaven. I thought....these people know about QUALITY eating!

It was the best cake I have ever had. I think it's the little bit of cinnamon that gave it that subtle kick. We loved it!


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DR. PEPPER CAKE
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1 c. butter
1 c. Dr. Pepper
4 tbsp. cocoa
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. soda
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Heat butter, cocoa and Dr. Pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Cream eggs, sugar and butter, milk and soda. Add flour and
cinnamon alternately with Dr. Pepper mixture, then vanilla.

Pour into greased and floured 9 x 12 inch pan and bake at
350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Ice with Dr. Pepper
Icing.


DR. PEPPER ICING:

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. Dr. Pepper
3 tbsp. cocoa
1 (16 oz.) box confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts

Heat butter, cocoa and Dr. Pepper and blend well. Stir in
other ingredients. Mix thoroughly and ice cake.