Ronnie’s Breaded Chicken and Cheese.
Cook's Corner

Everybody Loves Fried Chicken

Everybody loves chicken, especially crispy crunchy fried chicken!

Why is chicken so tasty? Well, in addition to the poultry flavor, it’s the perfect combination of flour and spices for fried chicken, to a mixture of sweet and spicy sauce for General Tso’s chicken.

Also, let’s not forget to mention chicken with Alfredo sauce, baked chicken with gravy, chicken and cheese and Italian chicken.

If you have a great recipe of any kind, send it our way! We will make it and put the recipe in this column. Type up the created recipe, along with your name and a bit of information about yourself. If you know anyone who is a terrific cook on your boat or even your spouse and friends, send your recipes to: kupermaryann@mail.com The best recipes are the ones that have been tried and requested often.

Pilot Brandon Lehr enjoys Sunday’s fried chicken.
Pilot Brandon Lehr enjoys Sunday’s fried chicken.

Crispy Crunchy Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

Deep fryer with vegetable oil filled to correct level as stated on deep fryer

Note: Peanut oil gives a fresher flavor

1 large family pack cut up chicken (about 3–4 lbs.)

2 cups milk

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons seasoning salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Rinse chicken and place in a large bowl or two if necessary. Pour milk over chicken. Get a large cookie sheet and a wire rack. Place wire rack on top of cookie sheet. Mix flour, baking powder and the rest of the dry ingredients in a resealable bag. Seal bag and shake so all spices are evenly mixed together.

Working with one piece of chicken at a time, take your wet chicken and place in the resealable bag. Close bag and shake chicken to evenly coat with flour mixture. Place chicken on cookie sheet on top of wire rack. Continue to coat all chicken. Dip your coated chicken pieces one at a time in the bowl of milk and re-shake in your flour mixture. Sometimes, depending on how large your chicken pieces are, you may have to add more flour and seasonings to the resealable bag.

Cook chicken in oil until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Line a 10 x 13 pan with paper towels. Place chicken in the pan. With a meat thermometer, check the temperature of the chicken. Chicken should be done at 165 degrees. If it is slightly below 165 degrees, you may put chicken in the oven to finish cooking. Do not cover. Ensure that the paper towel is completely on the bottom of pan and not hanging loose over the sides. Before serving, check that chicken is at the desired temperature.

General Tso's Chicken.
General Tso’s Chicken.

General Tso’s Chicken

Ingredients for frying the chicken:

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup milk

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup corn starch

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable or peanut oil for frying

Ingredients for the sauce:

½ cup chicken broth

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ cup of your favorite hot sauce 

Optional: crushed red peppers

Toppings:

Sesame seeds

1-2 chopped green onions

Directions:

Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and place in a bowl. Pour milk over chicken. Get a large cookie sheet and a wire rack. Place wire rack on top of cookie sheet. Mix flour, baking powder, corn starch and seasonings for frying chicken in a resealable bag. Seal bag and shake so all spices are evenly mixed together. Take a few pieces of the wet chicken and place in the resealable bag. Close bag and shake to evenly coat. Place chicken on top of wire rack. Continue to coat all chicken. Again dip your coated chicken one at a time in the bowl of milk and re-shake in your flour mixture. Fry chicken in a deep fryer for five minutes or until golden brown. Continue to coat rest of the chicken with flour.

For the sauce:

In a saucepan, whisk all sauce ingredients together, including the cornstarch. Mix well and set aside. Bring the liquid ingredients in the sauce pan to a boil. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens a bit. Remove pan from stove. Add crushed red pepper flakes or more cayenne if you want more heat. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Place coated chicken in serving pan. 

Topping:

Gently sprinkle green onions and sesame seeds.

Ronnie’s Breaded Chicken and Cheese

(Recipe from Ronnie Kuper)

(Ronnie’s Fried Chicken and Cheese recipe comes from Ronnie Kuper, a cook who works for ARTCO. He has been working for ARTCO for almost two years. Prior to that he was a chef for a St. Louis restaurant on the Hill. Ronnie also co-owned his own restaurant. Ronnie is a 

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Cook’s Corner

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single Italian man!! So watch out ladies, he is a good one. Notice his recipe. Easy to read and step by step.)

Ingredients:

8 chicken breasts

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups Italian bread crumbs

½ cup Parmesan cheese

Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Toppings:

2 chicken gravy packets

1 can mushrooms, drained

8 slices cooked bacon

Mozzarella cheese and Provolone cheese

Salt, pepper and garlic to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pound chicken to tenderize. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and garlic.

Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together. Dredge chicken through bread crumb mixture.

Add oil to pan and pan fry breaded chicken until done.

Place chicken on a cookie sheet.

Prepare chicken gravy packets as directed, and add drained mushrooms to mixture.

Add bacon on top of chicken and top with provolone and mozzarella cheese.

Pour chicken gravy with mushrooms over chicken.

Top photo: Ronnie’s Breaded Chicken and Cheese.