Fried Chicken, Quick Potatoes and Zucchini Chips

 When was the last time you made fried chicken? I know it's been years for me-probably at least thirty years to tell the truth. With the concern over fried foods I quit frying anything but eggs, and those in spray olive oil.

I got the cooking urge today. After so many days of eat-and-run I was in the mood a home-cooked dinner. We almost always eat breakfast here, but after that it depends on what the day brings, and dinner can be as simple as a salad or a fried egg sandwich! But today I wanted to cook and I had this big package of chicken drumsticks bought when we had company.We ended up going out to eat then, and the chicken has been taking up space in the freezer ever since.  I got to thinking about fried chicken and decided to give it a try. Surprisingly I remembered how to make it.

I mixed a cup of plain flour, a teaspoon of paprika, some salt and pepper (not a lot, just a few shakes of the shaker). I heated one cup of canola oil in my cast iron chicken fryer to medium hot. Then I dipped the chicken pieces in milk (I think my mother taught me that), rolled it in the flour mixture and put them into the pan. I cooked them for about 10 minutes on the first side, then turned them over and cooked for another 5-10 minutes. The drumsticks cook more quickly than bigger pieces like breast and thigh. Took them out, drained them on a paper bag, and I was done. I could have made gravy with the drippings and had smothered chicken, I suppose, but I think the fried chicken as enough sinnin' for one day!

While the chicken was cooking, I put the potatoes in the oven. I used my mother's method for fast baked potatoes. I cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then scored the cut surface into roughly 1/2" squares. Then I sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil and laid the potatoes cut side down on the sheet. I baked them at 375 for about 30 minutes. The result is a nicely gold-to-brown surface--and no butter needed on these bakers.

I also made something I saw on Facebook this morning. It's called Zucchini Parmesan Crisps. We are getting a lot of squash suddenly and I needed a fresh idea for it. Here's the recipe:

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps
(Source: Foodnetwork.com)
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Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound total)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (3/4-ounce)
1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/8 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch thick rounds. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the oil. In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs, salt, and a few turns of pepper. Dip each round into the Parmesan mixture, coating it evenly on both sides, pressing the coating on to stick, and place in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the zucchini rounds until browned and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove with spatula. Serve immediately.

I didn't have fresh parmesan so I used the kind in the shaker, and it worked just fine. I thought the recommended temperature was pretty high so I baked them with the potatoes at the same temperature (375) and they were fine. They're delicious! Crispy, crunchy and yet the taste of the vegetable wasn't covered up the way so many recipes seem to do.

So that was our mid-day dinner today, along with some fresh broccoli from the garden. It was fairly quick and I used up some things that really needed to be cooked. 

Linking today to Try a New Recipe Tuesday.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.