"Chicken Fried."

Culinary Skills Day 13 (out of 14)!

Knife Skills Practical Test: 9 out of 10. I am happy with my 9, and I am even happier that I probably never have to cut brunoises or juliennes ever again.

Topic: Frying. All I wanted to do today was sing the Zac Brown Band's song, "Chicken Fried." We learned how to pan fry... chicken. Jon on my team was in charge of frying the chicken. He started, according to the chef's demo, by using the mallet to make the chicken even in thickness, for each to cook evenly. The standard breading technique for our six chicken cuts was flour, then egg wash, and finally breadcrumbs. Then, one cup of canola oil was added to the skillet and the chicken was fried to perfection. They were delicious. I also learned today that one tablespoon of oil has about 120ish calories. No wonder I love fried chicken fingers so much.

New: Hush puppies and tartar sauce. I guess it is expected for the Southern girl to know how to fry. Well, I must say that even though I have not grown up doing a lot of frying in da kitchen that it must be in my genes. I made, with Emily's help making the wet mix, the hush puppy batter, using two parts flour and cornmeal to one part milk and buttermilk. There was also a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco added to the recipe. I fried the puppies in one quart of oil until golden awesomeness. I apologize for the humbleness, but my hush puppies were spectacular. And dipped in the homemade tartar sauce, I almost felt like I was at the finest soul food restaurant in the middle of nowhere Alabama.

Additional starch and vegetable: Cauliflower and potatoes gratin. Our team attempted cauliflower, even though we learned how to make it a while back in the course, in case we are asked to make it tomorrow for our food practical. And, you cannot go wrong with potatoes with cheese baked in the oven, ya know?

Tonight, I watched the Mississippi State Bulldogs (my mom's team) almost pull out the upset against the Auburn Tigers (my mom's sister and family's team). I was routing for the underdog (no pun intended... okay, maybe it was). Miss. State has the biggest jumbotron ever at their stadium, just fyi.

Now, I need to study for my Culinary Skills final tomorrow, which is worth 30% of our grade, and prepare for the food practical. I also have my LAST Apple Pie prep. tomorrow at 7. Blah. I am not excited about waking up so early, but I am glad that I will not have to stay and clean after class on a Friday night. It means also that I can hit the road at a decent hour to head to BOSTON (for the first time) to see my bff, Katy.

YOU KNOW I LIKE MY CHICKEN FRIED

Hay Reh