Jennifer wrote in recently and asked: …I just love all your recipe ideas. I was wondering what your very favorite is? I know you guys are from the south. Do you eat classic comfort food, and do you have any fun recipes like that to share? I’d love to try some…
Working together provides a lot of time for conversation. When I worked outside the home, conversations seemed a lot more past tense. How was your day? What did you do today? Anything interesting happen? Where’d you go for lunch?
Not anymore. Now we have present tense conversations which are a whole lot more fun… and one of my favorites is, what are we eating for lunch today? See, we’re big believers in eating your big meal at lunch… not supper.
I’m not sure if that is from our farming roots passed on to us from our grandparents, my time in Germany where the kids came home from school to eat lunch, or just because we simply can’t wait ’til night.
Either way we work up the other morning and had the revelation it was farmers market day. I mean, it’s the classic southern thing to do, right?
And if you’re a lover of fresh veggies,
fresh jellies,
home made cakes and yeast rolls and all things goodness, then it’s kinda like Christmas.
There are even fresh flowers… what’s not to love about a trip to the farmers market?
This is the kiddos favorite weekly trip, and lately we’ve been doing straight up all veggies in our meals… {Hello, we could eat fresh tomatoes only all summer long} because what’s not to love?
After buying way more than we intended what we needed, we headed home.
So we don’t have it often, but we decided to pair our fresh garden goodness with some old fashioned fried chicken. Because this… is our very favorite. And when you’re from the south, you kind of have to do it right. (Trust us, we know it’s not the healthy option – hello cheat day. But sometimes ya go with the stereotypes because fried chicken and all things comfort food.)
We thought it would be fun to pass along a super simple way to adorn your table with some melt in your mouth, classic summer awesomeness.
You’ll need: • 2 lbs organic chicken (we use chicken tenders) • 2 cups self rising flour • 2 cups buttermilk • black pepper • salt • vegetable oil
In a bowl, mix together: the flower, 1 Tablespoon black pepper • 1 Tablespoon salt.
Then fill a frying pan about 1 inch thick, full of oil and set to a medium heat.
While the oil heats, mix together: • 2 cups of butter milk 1 Tablespoon black pepper • 1 Tablespoon salt and place some of your chicken in it.
When the oil is ready (heated to around 350 degrees) take pieces of the chicken out of the buttermilk, roll them around in the flour and place into the frying pan. You’ll cook them on one side for about 6 minutes, then rotate and cook for another 6 minutes.
Then cook an additional 4 minutes on each side.
You may need to flip a couple more times to brown evenly on both sides.
The sides are just as simple and easy:
• Green Beans: boil them in water and add two cubes of beef bullion under they are tender.
• Corn: boil in water, with a touch of butter, salt and pepper for about 15 minutes.
• Squash: drizzle with fresh virgin olive oil and italian seasoning or salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
• Tomato: slice and sprinkle with a touch of salt and pepper.
• Sugar melon: is a type of cantaloupe that will melt in your mouth and is my personal favorite summer fruit. Although I recently learned not to use that phrase with Malone {our five year old} as after standing there for a few minutes with a piece in his mouth he asked me how long it takes to melt in your mouth.
He was waiting so patiently.
We hope you are enjoying the summer as much as we are and we’d love for you to share some of your favorite summer foods… we are always looking for something new!
Michael @ CraftyDad.com says
Yum. Just Yum. : )
I’m a HUGE tomato freak and would nave no problem eating them for every meal during the summer months. Good Lord!
The chicken looks great. I tried to fry chicken one New Year’s Eve night….and it was TOTAL FAIL. That was about 30 years ago.
I ‘spose I should man-up and try it again.
Thanks for the recipes. All that food looks really, really good as I sit here and eat my bagels and cream cheese. There’s no carbs in those, is there? ; )
Have a great weekend!
Jenny B. says
I want to put that squash in my mouth right now!! š Can’t wait to show this to my husband (the cook in our family). He has tried to do pan fried chicken a couple of times, and it just hasn’t turned out. Also, I don’t like eating chicken off the bone, so I love that you used tenders instead! š