Tasty Tuesday: Fryophobia

Yes folks.  Today we're gonna talk about my fear of frying.  No, not flying, FRYING.

Hot Oil + Delicate Skin = Disaster.

I am terrified of being severely burned and having parts of my skin melt off like Freddy Krueger.  Dramatic?  Yes.  But I blame my fryophobia on TV and the media.

But despite my fryophobia I do LOVE to eat fried foods.  Chicken, potatoes, fish, pickles, ice cream...just batter it up and drop it in a pot of grease, please!  And because I'm cheap I do end up frying my own food once in a while.  With glasses and a longsleeve, standing 3 feet away from the stove, holding the longest pair of tongs we have, trying to flip a piece of chicken.

Ingredients:

- Chicken
- Oil
- Seasoning
- Flour

Directions:

1.  Season and mix your chicken in a bowl.

2.  Once your chicken is seasoned, you have two options.  You could (a) fry it as is or (b) coat it with flour and then fry.  *Flour makes it crunchier but also greasier.  If you opt for flour, you could also mix a little extra seasonings with your flour for added flavor.

3.  Pour oil in pan.  Make sure you put enough to cover at least half the chicken and turn your stove to medium-high. *Be sure to keep an eye on the oil!  If it is too hot, the outside of your chicken will burn while the inside will still be raw.

4.  Dip your fingertips in a little water and flick it into the pan (and stand far away).  If the water droplets pop right away, your oil is ready.

5.  Slowly and carefully add your chicken to the pan and reduce the heat a little to medium/medium-low and cook for about 25 minutes, turning about every 5 minutes or so.

6.  Make sure your chicken is cooked thoroughly (poke it and make sure it drains clear - no blood) and place over paper bags or paper towels to cool.  *Paper bags/towels will absorb any excess oil


This recipe can be kind of a doozy.  The key to it is to keep an eye on the temperature of your oil.  Because not every stove distributes the same amount of heat, it is best to test it out on one piece of chicken first to make sure your heat is at the right temperature.

Also, and most importantly, be careful with the oil!  I've had quite a few incidents where I accidentally dropped the chicken and oil splattered all over the stove top {and once caused a small fire}.

Don't judge me.

Anyway, the reason I posted this recipe is because that's what I made for dinner last night.  Late last night.  Like after 10pm.  And I also whipped up a batch of mashed potatoes from scratch because I was too lazy to wash the rice pot and cook rice.  You know, because making rice is SO hard.  That was sarcasm if you didn't know.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of dinner last night because (1) Joey kept stealing food while I was still cooking the rest and (2) like I'm really going to get close enough to that pan full of oil to take pictures of it.

Happy frying!

♥ Duckie.