Soul Food (Black-eyed Peas, Cornbread, Tarte Tatin, Fried Chicken)

Okay-..so today I killed on my Spanish midterm, the weekend is here, and  feel altogether good today.  So for some reason I was listening to awesome music and decided out of the blue to make soul food...idk...I was raised in the south and love me some soul food.

I decided to make black-eyed peas, corn bread, and fried chicken and on the side for dessert apple pie.  But since I watched Julia Child make a Tarte Tatin the night before...I decided on that instead, especially since I had already made apple pie many times before. 

I'm going to start by showing you how to make Black-eyed Peas.

Kyle's Southern Black-Eyed Peas

½ lb Black-Eyed Peas

3 strips bacon cubed and fried in:

1½ tsp brown sugar

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of all-spice

First get some black-eyed peas (about half of a 1 pound bag) and soak them in water anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.  Now chop up 3 pieces of bacon into chunks.

Add the bacon into a heavy-bottomed  pot and add in the spices and sugar.  

Sautee the bacon in the pan until it cooks through and browns.

Now add in the beans and water...or drain the water with and add new water just to cover the beans before pouring it in. Keep all the fat in the recipe.

Basically just boil the beans for about 1 hour covered, replacing water as they cook.  Once they are cooked through and are soft, remove the lid (or if it has holes on the side, turn it) to continue cooking them until almost all the water has been cooked out.  Take it off the heat and recover them until they are eaten.

Okay now I'm going to show you how to make some fried chicken. 

Kyle's Fried Chicken

Egg wash:

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp salt

Dash ancho

Dash all-spice

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of ginger (small)

2 - 4 tsp pickle juice

1 egg

1 - 2 Tbsp corn starch

1 tsp water

Breading:

¾ cup of bread crumbs

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black powder

Dash of allspice

Dash of nutmeg

1/8 cup flour

1 tsp season-all

1 Tbsp melted butter cut in

First mix up the egg wash really well.

Now mix up the breading in a bag really well and defrost the chicken.  

Next you need to dry the chicken with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.  It helps the chicken have more egg-wash coating on it.  Now take the chicken tenderloins, wings, or legs that you dried off and place them in the egg-wash.  Coat them well and them immediately transfer them to the bag with the crumbs and shake them to coat. 

After they are coated, you need to fry them.  I tend to have one oil for frying savory things like chicken, one for fishy things like fish and chips, and one for frying sweets like doughnuts.  Also it helps to have oil that is pre-used or seasoned.  When you use oil it makes natural 'soaps' (according to alton brown) that help make the fried foods fried in them taste better.  My favorite oils to use are peanut and corn, but any flavorless oil that can take heat well (soy bean, high purity olive oil, rapeseed/canola oil, and vegetable oil) are excellent fofr frying.  

First heat up the oil on medium to medium high until it is hot enough to where when you drop in a piece on an onion or potato it fries a little under the oil and then floats.  Once it gets there turn it from Medium to Medium-low and put the chicken in.  Cook them until golden brown and cooked all the way through.  

It's a pretty okay fried chicken recipe by southern standards...fried chicken is just hard apparently...

Another way I find that works out well  is to make a batter by adding in little bits of the crumb mixture to the egg wash until it's a thick batter and them coating the dried-off raw chicken in that before frying them.  It makes a much thicker fried chicken crust and is what I prefer to do. (use chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts....truuuuuuust me on this one...it makes a difference).

Now onto the cornbread. Cornbread is a quick bread (using baking soda or baking powder instead of yeast) made in the South and Southwest using corn meal, oil, wheat flour, and milk.  It's super easy to make but can dry out easily if not cooked well.

Kyle's Cornbread

1 cup Corn flour

¾ cup of all purpose flour

¼ cup (4 Tbsp) of butter (melted)or fat drippings from bacon or sausage (etc.)

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking soda/powder

1¼ cup milk or buttermilk

1 egg

(all the following are optional)

2 Tbsp cheddar cheese

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of ground all-spice

Dash of ancho chili powder

Dash of black pepper

Dash of garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Basically mix up the butter, flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda/powder in a bowl and mix it well, cutting in the butter if necessary.  Next add in the egg and beat it.  And last add in the spices, cheese, and milk if you'd like.  Move it into a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet.

Now simply cook the bread in the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Immediately after taking it out cover it with foil so it does not dry out.  Serve it with soul food! Omnomnomnom...(fun fact...not a big fan of corn bread for some reason...never have been... >_>;)

And now lastly but not leastly...TARTE TATIN!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! (amazing and simple dish)  It's actually a French dish and most southern homes would serve peach pie, pecan pie, apple pie, or sweet fried sweet potatoes (commonly called sweet potato souffle..it's sweet, buttery sweet potatoes mashed and cooked with cinnamon and a wonderful pecan and pie crust on top. suffice it to say....it's gooooood).

Tarte Tatin

6 apples peeled sliced (preferably golden delicious)

6 Tbsp butter

½ cup sugar

2 tsp starch

Pie crust or puff pastry

Pie crust:

1 cup flour

4 Tbsp butter

1-2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

enough water to make the crust mix and be pliable

Now first you need to peel, core, and section the apple.  Place them in a nice design arranged around the bottom of a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet.

Next you sprinkle on starch softly, sugar, and lumps of the butter.

Next you have to be very careful because cast-iron conducts heat very well.  Place the skillet over heat and cook the apples well on the heat WITHOUT stirring them at all.  In the mean time roll out a pastry to place over it.  When the apples have seeped juice and it starts to thicken the tiniest bit (about 3-5 minutes) place the crust on top of the tarte and place it in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. 

After it has cooked a while, keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn.  You may not want to cook it the full 10 minutes.  If the juice caramelized and is turning brown, I would take it out.  After it has cooked a while, then turn on the broiler and place the tarte close to the broiler until it barely crisps on top.  Let it sit for about 10-20 minutes to cool before you try the next part.  Take it and place a plate or something that is heat-proof and place it over and flip it so it comes out on the plate or dish.

Once it's out scrape off any pieces of apple that stuck and put them on top of the tart.  Cut and serve! It's the best simple dessert I've ever made!! >:D  If the tarte isn't brown on the bottom, you can broil it for a short while.

And that's all she wrote....I'm spent for the night.  I spent a whole 2 hours writing this that I should have spent on my latino gender paper that's 6 pages long...oh well. I'm drinking a glass of red wine to help atone for my fat-based sins tonight. :'(

On a last note,in addition to these foods, soul foods can also be brisket, chitlins (chitterlings), collard greens, mac and cheese (which I have a recipe for earlier), barbecued pork and chicken, biscuits and gravy, sausage patties, gravy, mashed potatoes, and more.

Love,
Kyle