SatGourmet: Cornflakes and Tender Chicken

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We have been blessed with many outstanding contributions around here from several readers.  Especially “Looking Outside of the Box” (LOOB),  He’s not only demonstrated cooking sharpness, but in past shop episodes, has generated some first-class cardboard furniture including a college frat-house bound bar set up.

It would be a hard choice to narrow down to one reader to do a cooking show on TV with (having no studio-kitchen or television gear to speak of) but one thing is for sure:  We would be “going large” given time and a good source of raw materials.

A few weeks back, I mentioned eating cornflakes (a lot!) in order to never-miss a child support payment (late 1980’s was it?).  Well from here?

LOOB Takes Over

““which included eating cornflakes…”

“Oh well since I shared how to make Rice Puffs… (AKA rice crispies LOL)
I might as well share home made corn flakes and how to make them.. I will eventually share the Wheaties recipe to…..

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal, divided ( or a mix of cornmeal and corn flour…the cornmeal gives it that crunchy texture but corn flour gives a more durable flake)
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar ( now depending on how you like your corn flakes you can boost up the sugar content.. this is for a small batch just multiply to how much you want to make..)
1 Tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and grease lightly with oil or baking spray.

Whisk together 1 cup cornmeal, sugar, honey and salt. Add vanilla extract and water, a little at a time, stirring until batter is smooth and thin as pancake batter. If it’s too dry, add additional water.

Pour batter onto prepared pan and spread out evenly. (It won’t reach the edges, but that’s OK. You want a nice thin layer, about 1/4 – 1/3? thick.) Or thinner.. for crunchier..

Secret stuff:  ( now as a side note.. I have blended up freeze dried fruit.. and added them to the mix to give a little different flavor…)

Combine remaining cornmeal (or corn flour) with 1 teaspoon of water and mix until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs (add an additional teaspoon or 2 of water if too dry).

Sprinkle the top of the batter in the pan with the cornmeal crumbs (this will help give it a little extra crunchy texture).
Bake on the center rack for 10-15 minutes, keeping a close eye on it, until the dough has dried out and cracked. (You’re looking for a cracked arid-desert landscape look to it).

Remove from oven and lower heat to 250. Let pan cool, then use your hands to tear and crack the dough into small flakes. Return to oven and let bake on the center rack for about 45 minutes or until pieces are toasted, crisp, and golden.

Let cool completely before serving with milk or as you would any cereal. Store leftovers in an air-tight container in a cool dry place.

If you like sugar frosted flakes.. then you make a simple sugar water glaze spray it on the corn flakes before the final drying…”

Yum – what a recipe, huh?

Now About Salt as a Tenderizer

I mentioned (several times, I think) about soaking chicken for at least several hours in strongly salted water to tenderize.

LOOB has some advice there, as well:

“Heavy salt..
The theory is heavy salt water draws moisture into the meat.”

Now, here’s how he “works it” in a recipe:

For Sunday Dinner Country-Fried Chicken

“We will soak chicken in heavy salt water for two hours.
Then soak it overnight in buttermilk.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package Seven Seas Italian seasoning
2/3 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1/3 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried mustard
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons ground white

Put all the dry ingredients in a blender and blend for twenty seconds.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees take each piece of chicken out of buttermilk shake in bag or put the dried ingredients in a bowl coated with dried flour mix. Dip in egg and coat with flour mix place floured chicken in deep fat fryer until done.

Notes:
2 large eggs maybe more depending on how much chicken (scrambled )for dipping the chicken in.

Soybean oil for frying ( or vegetable oil . I prefer soybean oil)”

Now, before we get into his next one:  George’s Danish side of the never-cholesterol-deprived family used whipping cream, lol.  And since we were “efficient” all we used was crushed store bought cornflakes (mashed nearly to a powder with a rolling pin).  Then in the cornflake (fine) crumbs, dose heavily with either Johnny’s Dock seasoning salt, or if on the culinary-deprived coast, Lawry’s Seasoning Salt is a good substitute. Amerzoid has ’em both.

And for Dessert?

Sure a little early, but, here’s one more!

“BAD BOYS – Jalapeno peppers”

Chicken chopped small thin slices
onion chopped
Bacon
Cream cheese or cheese of your choosing.

Cut the end off of your jalapeno peppers. Clean all the seeds out.

Take a small thin slice of chicken salt and pepper it a small piece of onion cheese fill the jalapeno pepper place the cut off end back on the pepper then wrap with bacon attaching it with a toothpick.

Now you can bake it or grill it..

I prefer grilling.

They are done when the bacon is finished.
You can use game birds instead of chicken.”

Call for Recipes!

Rock Cornish Hens recipes wanted!

Next weekend Mr. X and I will be presenting a Potato Salad Seminar.

Don’t let LOOB get all the credit – send in your own recipes (with pictures you own the copyright to – like you took ’em yourself is good).  Send them to George@Ure.net.

This week, we are expecting the Major to call us wanting a check for sending down a ton of Chinese Egg Noodles.  The Red Rose Brand noodles that used to be on eBay are a fortune, so the Major set up an account and will be shipping us a load via UPS.

Because he’s local, we’re getting the 75% noodle version.  The “supermarket” versions are 25% egg.  The roll of the noodles was to provide an ancient (and yummy!) way to carry protein around.

My favorite prep is:

Boil 12-16 ounces of dry noodles in 8-10 quarts of rolling-boil water.

Drain and quickly return to pan.

Pour over ’em about 1/2 a stick of melted butter.

Toss quickly/lightly.

Next dump in 1/2 to one can of Campbells chicken broth (which has been kinda scarce here lately.

On top of this, two or three tablespoons of a good oyster-flavored sauce. Not the cheap stuff.

Low sodium Kikkoman to taste.

Toss aggressively for a minute, or so.  If you have your noodle timing right, there will be a kind of eggy-oyster-butter-soy sauce gravy on the noodles when “right” and they will be firm, but not al dente.

For breakfast, save the  milk for dessert.  But lunch (if not using power tools later) a flask of hot sake with it is brilliant.

Keep your cardiologist on speed-dial.

When we you wake up,  (carbie loading will do that!)

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

15 thoughts on “SatGourmet: Cornflakes and Tender Chicken”

  1. My mom’s baked beans…

    two large can’s of pork and beans..
    1.5 cups of brown sugar
    onions chopped and diced..
    about one cup of ketchup
    about a half a cup of mustard
    (I add one half cup of sweet baby rays bar b que)
    and a half tsp of smoke flavoring..
    bacon.
    mix up all the ingredients except the bacon and put in a bean pot.. ( adjust ingredients for personal taste)
    line the bacon on top put lid on
    bake at 250 degrees.. till done..
    the secret.. TILL DONE… the bacon should be crispy.. no one ever could figure out her beans but they were the church social favorite.. the thing was with eight of us monsters running around the house she was a busy woman.. with so many things and trying to keep us busy in doing beneficial projects.. I was one of the younger kids.. ( middle child) so in her haste with the bigger kids all being close in age.. she learned that if she let it cook.. the flavors would all blend together and turn out absolutely wonderful.. she would put a pot of beans on in the morning before church.. everyone would drive to church and come home and the beans were done.. so about three hours plus.. I tried to figure out her recipe and never could get it.. the brothers and sisters all tried.. then one day I was daddy day care and was so busy that I forgot the beans in the oven.. thought oh dam.. lost that batch went back and they were perfect…

  2. My mother taught all of us how to cook.. When she taught us.. she had a rule she called it the 1,2,3 recipe rule.. all recipe’s are simple and similar and in a lot of ways the same recipe.. with one secret ingredient added to make it your own.. Like the corn flakes.. the recipe is a simple pancake recipe and you could make corn flakes using an old johnny cake recipe…. the secret ingredient that makes them the best.. HONEY…. and how much honey you add depends on your taste buds for myself it is 1 tablsp.. but for my grandkids.. they like a half cup of honey in the batter if I make it for them.. one likes a spray sugar frosting on it to.. which is 1/2 cup of sugar to one cup of water.. then after making the syrup.. let it cool put in a spray bottle.. before the flakes are totally dried.. spritz them for the last drying time.. you now have some pretty tasty frosted corn flakes…
    a diy home made wheat cereal recipe is almost exactly the same.. recipe.. so is the bran flakes.. the only difference is the flour used want to make it interesting.. put some puffed rice or the rice crispies in it.. give it a tad of a crunch…. do you put half and half.. I use half whole wheat half white.. the same with the corn flakes.. half corn flour half corn meal.. The old KIS.. keep it simple.. method.. I teach the grand kids it is the same with doing math.. or any complex equations. break down the components..

  3. Cornish hens..one of my favorite…
    2 medium onion, chopped
    1 package of fresh mushrooms chopped or one can of mushrooms put in blender and pulsed once
    1cup chicken broth ( 2 cubes chicken bullion)
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    1 cup of heavy cream
    1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    1 tsp kicken chicken or a rotisserie spice
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 clove garlic, finely chopped
    1 can (10.75 ounce size) cream of chicken soup
    paprika

    Mix the flour in the cream all the ingredients except paprika..you can either leave the hens whole ( the way I like it and stuff the bird or birds.. multiply recipe w more birds enough to coat)
    Place in roaster sprinkle paprika over top..
    Put in traeger smoker and let smoke low and slow.. oven the same thing low and slow..
    Crockpot same thing.. I prefer the smoker use apple pellets. Or traegers fruit wood blend

    • I have real to life dreams.. full color your there .. I have so many dejavu situations its scary.. walk into a building and know where everything is at type.
      Well I have apocalyptic dreams to..
      Usually I am woke up by a small blonde that has me follow her.. where she shows me something significant.. such as darkening skys and a storm approaching. Then different sc ed marios of people in hardship.. then on to a scene where I’m a teacher of sorts.
      Anyway I’ve had these since I was a young man and always felt the compulsion to learn how to do things.. collecting plans etc and learning how to.. then with my own personal dramas I discovered what was important and what wasn’t.

      • *Very similar to my experience – its all about learning how to learn everything so when time comes knowledge is preserved on the other side for recycling back over here

  5. Mom’s Recipe Hall of fame: Pasta Salad

    1 lb. corkscrew spinach pasta
    1 container pesto sauce (mezzetta brand highly recommended, anything else must contain olive oil only! soybean, canola or any other sketchy oils don’t cut it!). make your own if necessary:
    https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/best-pesto
    1 package small frozen peas thawed
    2 small carrots grated
    4 oz jar diced pimentos drained
    2 tomatoes seeded and chopped
    2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
    4 green onions, chopped
    1 small can sliced black olives
    1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
    1/2 cup italian dressing. most grocery brands are not
    made with olive oil only. canola (rapeseed) is an industrial lubricant unfit for human consumption! i just make my own:
    https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/italian-dressing/
    4 tbsp mayonnaise. kensington’s is about the only halfway decent
    brand out there, d.i.y is superior, cheaper, and relatively easy:
    https://www.oliveyouwhole.com/recipes/homemade-olive-oil-mayonnaise-whole30-mayonnaise/

    cook pasta until tender then drain. combine mayo and dressing, mix well.
    add all ingredients to pasta, toss well and chill. this is a recipe to experiment with. if something doesn’t sound good then leave it out.
    chopped marinated mushrooms are a good option as is some grated real parmesan (NOT the pseudocheese in the green can). this recipe requires a large bowl, there will be leftovers but they ALWAYS get eaten! 8)

    • for oil pressing.. I have two.. one automatic and one hand..
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruyZa6XHh6Y
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBls_WHvpdE

      Heating the grain is probably the best tip on the second video.. and mine didn’t come with the strainer.. you have to buy your own strainer.. a coffee filter works good to clear it up to..
      corn you get very little out of corn.. I am planning on doing some flax seed this summer.. then make pellets out of the flax refuse for the rabbits.. soybeans are one of the best.. great oil out of it..
      the reason two.. just in case there is an emp..I would still be able to get cooking oil..

      • What kind of oil press do you use? I’ve thought about buying one but didn’t know what to look for.

      • “It just isn’t practical since the vast majority of us don’t live close to coconut trees…”

        Speak for yourself! You know the dang things are hazards in the wild. Falling coconut can split your skull and kill you. On private (and public) property the tree trimmers make their pay keeping the coconuts trimmed so nothing falls. Hard to find good, edible coconuts. Gotta know a tree trimmer!

  6. I grow sage, rosemary and other herbs, the trimmings can be used for smoking, same as wood. Pork, chicken and fish is best with this. Sometimes it can leave a bitter taste on the skin, especially if not dried, but the meat is absolutely incredible. There is usually a bag of 8″ sections of dried sage flower stalks near my grill.
    Herb Smoked Cornish Game Hens
    Brine:
    1/4 C sugar
    1/4 C salt
    1/3 C soy sauce
    1 Tb rosemary crushed
    1 lime juiced and cut into pieces
    1 pinch hot pepper powder(at least cayenne. habanero, ghost or scorpion better) this amount should be below notice by pepper averse but still bring out the flavor. I make it hot enough for the chicken to cook itself.
    1gal water
    Stir to dissolve while bringing to a boil in large mixing bowl then set aside to cool.

    2 hens: shove a finger under the skin along the back bone to loosen it, cut the skin down the middle. Using kitchen shears, cut the backbone out (2 cuts about 3/8″ off the center) while holding the skin over to create flaps over the ends. This keeps all the flesh covered in skin. Look up a video on how to spatchcock a bird if this isn’t clear. Cut off any excess fat or excess skin. Scrub brush the body cavity under running water. Place a hen breast side up splayed on a flat surface and press down to flatten with the heel of your hand until the breastbone snaps and repeat on the other. Poke a few holes through the skin with a meat fork into the fatty, slow cooking areas under the wings and drumsticks. Submerge the hens in the brine, agitate a little and cover with a small plate to hold them under the liquid. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

    Set up a kettle type covered grill for indirect cooking with charcoal on one side and a drip pan folded out of aluminum foil with about 1/4″ or less of water on the other. Remove the hens, pat dry with towels and season both sides with fresh ground black pepper and more rosemary if needed. Add a few sprigs of sage on the coals and arrange the birds, legs and wings neatly folded, bone side down, with space all around, close to the edge, away from coals with breast end toward the heat. Put the lid on the kettle with the vent over the hens and tend the fire by adding more herb sprigs as needed to keep steady smoke for about 10 minutes. Then rotate the hens drumstick end to the heat and finish cooking covered without adding more herb sprigs. They cook in about 40 minutes total but check with a meat thermometer to avoid under/over cooking. If you want the skin browner, flip skin side down directly over the coals for a few minutes at the end. Take off the heat a little early and let rest under foil for 5-10 minutes.
    Golf ball or slightly bigger sized Yukon golds cook in about the same time. Lightly wipe them with butter and put them about above the line between coals and foil. Turn them as the outside browns and they’re done when when they start to look softer, a skewer or meat fork should go through easily. I like them better cooled, but that gets me into arguments so some get wrapped in foil until serving.
    For rock Cornish hens, serve with Guns & Roses background music. Btw, burning sage smells just like pot. Welcome to the jungle

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