Bucket O' Chicken with Buttermilk Dip

So, I love, Love, love this one too - but I have some notes - first don't think you have to have 4 c of buttermilk - wow thats a lot - I half it, which also means half the herbs if your buying fresh, but I also didn't love the dip you make with the other half - honestly I'd rather have the premade ranch out of my fridge sad I know - but even though this is just for fried chicken and veggies, it makes THE BEST onion rings ever! It was so good we had it again 2 nights later with the leftover herbs / buttermilk we made another batch. So I would go with that - I also didn't fry them in a pan as it would take me forever, but I have a beautiful little fryer that helped out a lot. I also cut my chicken breasts down because I'm too cheap to pay for chicken tenders. I'm typing in the whole recipe so if you want to try the dip for yourself then you can. Oh and this little beauty came from Rachel Rays Big Orange Book in her words Yum-O.

4 c. buttermilk
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 tbsp hot sauce, plus more to taste
1/4 c fresh parsley, a generous handful, chopped
1/2 c. fresh dill, a handful, finely chopped
2 to 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
2 p. chicken tenders
canola oil, for shallow frying
2 c. all purpose flour, plus more as needed
8 scallions, roots trimmed
3/4 c. sour cream
assorted raw vegetable sticks,seedless cucumber, celery, carrots, red bell pepper

In a large bowl, mix together the buttermilk, garlic, hot sauce, parsley, dill, chives, and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside about one-third of the mixture; reserve for the dipping sauce. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in a shallow dish or large resealable plastic bag. Pour about half of the remaining seasoned buttermilk over the chicken pieces, then cover the dish with plastic wrap or seal the bag and marinate for 10 minutes. Place a medium, high sided skillet over medium to high heat. Add one inch of caola oil to your pan and get it hot - or use your fryer here. Place two high-sided dishes on the counter and fill one with flour and the other with the remaining buttermilk mixture. Dip the trimmed scallions into the buttermilk, then into the flour, then back into the buttermilk and back into the flour. Once there double coated, fry them in batches in the oil until they are golden brown all over, don't drowd the pan. Transfer them to a paper towel lined plate to drain. When the scallions are fried, remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Dip and coat the chicken strips and fry until golden brown and cooked through, 5-6 minutes. You can change the oil if it gets too gritty. Mix the sour cream into the reserved buttermilk mixture to thicken it up and add salt and pepper and hot sauce to taste. Serve the chicken with the dip and veggies.

Karley

My Favorite Burger

So I love this burger I bought taste of homes healthy cooking - may edition mag and wouldn't you know I can find the most unhealthy of all the recipes to love because I used the full fat versions instead of the lighter ones listed, of course. The first time I made it I loved it, so went to make it again and wouldn't you know couldn't find where I put the magazine, then I went online to find the recipe and you have to have a subscription to look at it online - didn't have a subscription....just bought the one mag - can't explain that to a website.....so after much hunting here it is I found it - hope you love it too - and no joke the name of the recipe is my fav burger - I didn't make that up.

1/4 c. grated onion - mine didn't want to grate so after turning part of an onion to mush - I would just finely chop this
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. sliced sweet onion
4 kaiser rolls, split
4 oz. fat fat -free cream cheese
2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

In a large bowl, combine the onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties. If grilling the burgers, coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Grill covered, over medium heat or broil 4-6 in from the heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degress and jucies run clear. Meanwhile , in a small skillet coated with cooking spray, cook and stir mushrooms and onion over medium heat until onion is golden brown. Grill rolls for 1-2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Spread rolls with cream cheese; top burgers with mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with bacon.


yum, yum, yum!!
Karley