Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

On holiday mornings, I love to wake up to a nice fresh batch of cinnamon rolls. But I seem to always run into the problem that if I make them at night before bed, they're good the next morning, but you don't get that "fresh from the oven" goodness. If you make them in the morning... you have to get up at about 4 am to have fresh rolls by the time normal people wake up. Am I the only one that has that issue? No? Maybe?

When I saw Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Roll recipe, I knew it would be the solution to all my fresh roll issues. The basic idea is that you make the rolls the night before, then in the morning, get them in a nice humid oven, let them rise for a half an hour, and then bake. Unfortunately, the rising didn't happen quite as quickly as Alton said it would. I had to let mine rise for over an hour before they had risen enough to bake. So, instead of having rolls around 10:30 or 11, we ended up eating them closer to noon. That counts for breakfast on a holiday, right?

They were worth the wait, though. They were everything I wanted in a cinnamon roll, and the frosting, while super sweet, complimented the rolls perfectly. As a bonus, they keep really well in the fridge, too - and with a quick zap in the microwave, they taste just about as good as they did when they were fresh!

Because I didn't change his recipe one bit, out of respect for Mr. Brown, you can find the recipe for these amazing rolls here:

Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

1/2/2012 Update: I've submitted these to the Sweets for a Saturday on Sweet as Sugar Cookies. 

Grilled Pizza Margherita

My favorite pizza, hands down, is a pizza margherita. A nice crispy crust, a fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil, and mozzarella is all I need. I've been on the hunt for the best pizza margherita since the first time I got back from Italy (12 years ago... *feels old*). I found it a few years ago at a restaurant in Minneapolis, but I don't have the time to drive up there every time I get a craving. By the way, if you're a twin cities resident and you read this blog, please don't recommend Punch. I've been there. Yes, I know they claim the owners are from Naples. Their pizza sucks donkey balls.

During this process, I also discovered that I get irrationally annoyed when people call something margherita but it's clearly not. I was at a pizza place not too long ago where their margherita was advertised as having olives on it. Another one had goat cheese and gorgonzola. I'm pretty sure I saw one once that had bacon on it. Maybe delicious... margherita, not so much.

I also discovered a few places that spell it like the Mexican-ish blended tequila cocktail. I half hoped the pizza had some form of liquor and lime incorporated. But no.

When we were watching an episode of Good Eats not too long ago, we decided we had to give making our own on the grill a go. And despite the fact that pizza should be delivered to my house in about an hour, I venture that this stuff is better than anything you can get at most pizzerias.

So get to it. Make this pizza. And if you do, bring me one, OK?

Grilled Pizza Margherita
Recipe from Alton Brown, Adapted
Makes 1 large pizza or 2 small

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pizza dough
4 medium tomatoes, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning (optional, but I recommend it)
4-6 basil leaves, torn
2-4 oz sliced fresh Mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
Make your dough and roll it out so it's pretty thin - use your judgment how thin, but I'd say we usually do somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch thick. Lay it on a greased pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet.

Oil your grill grates and preheat the grill to medium.

Once heated, brush your dough with about 1-2 tsp of oil and put your dough on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes. Take it off the grill, brush the raw side with oil, and flip it over.

Put the tomatoes on the grill and cook them until they're nice and soft and mashable. This should take somewhere between 5-10 minutes (it usually takes us about 8).

Put the tomatoes on top of the dough (cooked side) and mash up to make the sauce. Put the torn basil leaves on top of the sauce and top with sliced mozzarella. Return to the grill and cook until the crust is done and the cheese is melted, about another 2-3 minutes. Let cool a bit before cutting and eating.

Fried Chicken

What's not to love about fried chicken? I maintain there is nothing. I'm pretty much always willing to try a new recipe, and considering I had a bunch of buttermilk to use up one day, this Alton Brown recipe fit the bill perfectly. Most of my fall-back recipes don't marinade in buttermilk, so I was curious what the difference would be. 

This was a great chicken recipe, though a bit salty. I would probably cut down the salt if I make it again in the future. I couldn't tell much difference in the flavor of this chicken meat compared to other recipes I've made where the chicken was not soaked in buttermilk, but I'm sure in a side-by-side comparison it would've been more clear. I'm not sure this will be my go-to recipe for the future, but it's certainly something I'll consider the next time I make fried chicken.

Fried Chicken
Recipe by Alton Brown, adapted
Serves 3-4
Prep Time - 20 minutes (plus 12-24 hrs inactive)
Cook Time - 15 min

INGREDIENTS
1 chicken, cut up into 8 pieces
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 TBSP kosher salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 TBSP paprika
flour, for dredging
peanut oil, for frying (Alton uses shortening)

DIRECTIONS
Put chicken into a large plastic bowl and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hrs (the longer you let it sit in the buttermilk, the more tender the chicken will be).

Heat the oil to 325 degrees (we used our deep fryer, but if you're using a pan, let the oil come up to about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch up the side of the pan). Do not let the oil go over 325 degrees.

Drain the chicken in a colander.

Combine the salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Season the chicken with this mixture. Dredge in the flour and then put in the oil. Cook the chicken for about 10 minutes per side. We used chicken legs only, so I think our total cook time was about 15 minutes.


Remove from the oil and drain on a cooling rack before serving.

Fried Chicken II

I would love to be able to tell you an amusing little story about how I came up with this fried chicken, or how I came to love fried chicken, or even something funny that happened while making this fried chicken. However, there are no stories. My husband I wanted fried chicken, and decided to try a different recipe from the usual, so this fried chicken was born out of an Alton Brown recipe and an Aaron McCargo, Jr. recipe, with a little twist of my own.

It was a great dish to accompany a night of watching Ballykissangel on our Netflix Roku box before series 2 becomes unavailable for instant watch tomorrow.



Fried Chicken
Inspired by Alton Brown & Aaron McCargo, Jr.
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
4-6 pieces chicken (we like legs)
oil, for frying
1/2 TBSP kosher salt
1 TBSP black pepper
1 TBSP paprika (any variety)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
flour, for dredging

DIRECTIONS
Mix together spices. Use about 1/3 to rub on the chicken. Let sit in the fridge for about 2-3 hours.

After chicken is out of the refrigerator, set up a breading station: place the beaten egg in a shallow bowl and mix it with about 1 tsp of the spice mixture. Place the flour in another shallow bowl and mix about 2 TBSP of the spice mixture with that.

Coat the chicken pieces in egg and then dredge in flour till fully coated.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep fryer, dutch oven, or heavy skillet to 350 degrees. Cook the chicken for about 13 minutes. Drain on a wire rack for a few minutes before serving.

Chicken Fried Steak

I've wanted to make Chicken Fried Steak since I watched the Bobby Flay vs. Paul Deen Chicken Fried Steak Throwdown on Food Network. I'm not positive I've ever had it before, but I really like the Chicken Fried Chicken at Rock Bottom Brewery, and I figured steak would be even better. So, after browsing a bunch of recipes, and taking a lot of suggestions from Alton Brown and Bobby Flay, I came up with this creation.


Chicken Fried Steak
Serves 2
Prep Time - 30 minutes
Cook Time - 30 mn

INGREDIENTS
2 cube steaks, tenderized
salt
lots of black pepper
seasoning salt
2/3 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup whole milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Pound meat with a meat mallet until each is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Season meat liberally on both sides with seasoning salt & pepper. Place flour into a shallow dish or pie plate. Place eggs into another shallow dish. Dredge the meat on both sides in the flour, followed by the egg and finally in the flour again. Place the meat onto a plate and allow it to sit about 10 minutes before cooking.

Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with oil and set to medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the meat. Cook each piece on both sides until golden brown, or approximately 4 minutes per side. Place the steaks on a wire rack on a cookie sheet and place in the oven.

Using the same skillet, add at least 1 TBSP oil to the bottom. Whisk in 3 TBSP of the flour to make a roux. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Whisk until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the milk and whisk until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste, with more black pepper, and salt if necessary. Serve the gravy over the steaks.

Chicken Kiev

Ah, Chicken Kiev. Chicken stuffed with butter. My little heart flutters (and then stops) when thinking about it. Back with my husband and I first moved in together, we ate a lot of those frozen Chicken Kiev things. I know most people reading this will probably scoff at that, but we loved them. To be honest, if we were to buy them and make them now, we probably still would. One day, I decided to try my hand at them. I was intimidated, but with Alton Brown's help, I felt confident. And you know what? It's actually pretty easy. And when you make it, you get to control the amount of salt & butter you put in and whether you bake it or fry it. So it's a win-win. Enjoy!



Chicken Kiev
Recipe by Alton Brown, adapted
Serves 2
Prep Time - about an hour (mostly inactive)
Cook Time - 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning chicken
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large whole egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
1 cup bread crumbs, plus 1/8 cup for filling
Vegetable oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS
Combine butter, parsley, chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place mixture on plastic wrap or waxed paper and roll into small log; place in freezer.

Place chicken breasts, 1 at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Squirt chicken lightly with water and squirt the top of the plastic wrap as well. Pound to no less than 1/8-inch thickness. Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper.

Lay 1 chicken breast on a new piece of plastic wrap and place 1/2 of the compound butter and 1 tablespoon bread crumbs in the center of each breast. Using the plastic wrap to assist, fold in ends of breast and roll breast into a log, completely enclosing the butter; roll very tightly. Repeat with each breast. Place chicken in refrigerator for 2 hours, or up to overnight.

Place egg and water mixture in 1 pie pan and 2 cups bread crumbs in a different pie pan.

Heat 1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat until oil reaches 375 degrees F.

Dip each breast in the egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Gently place each breast in oil, sealed-side down, and cook until golden brown, approximately 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Remove to a cooling rack set in sheet pan and allow to drain for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. (Even though Alton recommends frying only, I recommend pan frying in only a small amount of oil to brown the outside of the chicken, and then finishing off the cooking process in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes to ensure the chicken is cooked through but doesn't get too brown on the outside).