The Pioneer Woman Cooks (51 page)

5. Working in batches, thoroughly coat each buttermilk-soaked chicken piece with the breading, pressing extra breading onto the chicken if necessary. Place the breaded pieces on a plate.

6. Add the chicken to the oil 3 or 4 pieces at a time. Make sure they aren’t sticking together, then cover the pan and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure the chicken isn’t getting too brown. Turn the pieces over, cover again, and cook 3 to 5 minutes more. All the while, monitor the temperature of the oil to make sure the chicken doesn’t burn. Keep in mind that we’ll finish cooking the chicken in the oven, and it will continue to brown.

7. Place the chicken on a baking sheet and continue frying the rest of the chicken. When all the chicken has been fried, bake the chicken for 15 minutes, to finish the cooking process. Sometimes I’ll cut into the thicker part of one of the larger pieces, just to make sure the chicken is cooked through. If any pink (juice or meat) is visible, the chicken needs to continue cooking in the oven.

8. Mmmm. Crispy, golden, and flavorful.

I like to serve fried chicken with Buttermilk Biscuits (In the Morning) and a spread of butter and honey:

1. Begin with ¼ cup honey.

2. Add an equal amount of softened butter.

3. Mix together with a fork.

4. Serve in a small bowl alongside the biscuits.

IDENTICAL TWINS: CHARLIE AND SUZIE

Charlie is droopy, floppy, lazy, and fat.

Suzie is tight, firm, energetic, and thin. Sometimes I can hardly tell them apart!

BRAISED BEEF BRISKET

Makes 12 servings

Beef brisket is a cut of meat from the chest of a bovine animal. There are different ways to cook brisket: the “Southern way” usually involves smoking the meat very slowly over several hours and serving with barbecue sauce. This is yummy, of course, in a barbecue sauce kind of way, but I much prefer the brisket my mom always made: instead of cooking in an enclosed smoker, it cooks slowly in a pan in the oven, braising in a delicious liquid consisting of beef consommé, soy sauce, and other ultra-savory ingredients.

Brisket must be cooked slowly over many, many hours. The scientific explanation is that it takes hours of low heat to dissolve the very tough connective tissues found throughout the meat; if it’s not cooked long enough, brisket will be unpleasantly tough and difficult to chew. On the other hand, if you go overboard and cook it too long, the connective tissue will disintegrate altogether and the resulting meat will be dry. In my experience, however, it’s much easier to salvage brisket that’s a little overcooked—the cooking juice can rescue it nicely—than it is to eat brisket that hasn’t been cooked long enough. So allow for plenty of cooking time. And be patient. The fall-apart goodness of this delicious meat is worth every hour.

This brisket is delicious served with mashed potatoes, with the juice spooned over both. It’s also fabulous on toasted sandwich rolls with cheese melted on top. And it’s great for a crowd. So…let’s dissolve those connective tissues, shall we?

Two 10.5-ounce cans beef consommé (not beef broth)1½ cups low-sodium soy sauceJuice of 2 lemons5 garlic cloves, chopped1 tablespoon liquid smoke (optional!)One 7- to 10-pound beef brisket, untrimmed

1. I like to marinate and cook my brisket in a large reusable aluminum foil pan. Makes life easy.