Guest Blogger

Last week my brain was mush!  So I have a write-in blog about something deliciously southern from my friend Amanda! Enjoy!

Hello everyone. Kelli has graciously allowed me to intervene and share a favorite recipe from my family: Fried Chicken. So this really all started at work when co-workers were discussing the best way to fry foods. So I know that there are thousands of ways to fry chicken, but I love the way my daddy does it. A couple weeks ago we had a Chicken Fry Party, and here are the pics and instructions for our masterpiece.

First of all, the ingredients: chicken, Crisco shortening, flour, and a large cast-iron skillet ... yep that's it.

Heat your cast-iron skillet with heaping amounts of Crisco until it's melted
 

  Then in a separate pan or plate, pour flour and coat both sides of your chicken
 

 Pop 'em into the frying pan and let them start frying up! The trick is to make sure that they have LOTS of flour on them to stay coated. Add a little salt and pepper and make sure the temp on the stovetop is still about medium to medium-high. There will be quite a bit of sizzle. Have a fork ready and about 5 minutes into it, you'll probably turn the chicken for the first time. This is what it looked like when I did:
 

Let the other side sizzle up as well for a bit (3-5 minutes) and then you’ll keep flipping every few minutes. Don’t stick a fork in the chicken to flip it (like in the pic above) but scrape underneath the chicken to loosen up it up and then flip it as if you were using a spatula. If you stick a fork in to turn it, it’s more likely that the coating will fall off. This is a bonus of using a cast-iron skillet because you don’t have to worry about scratching up your nice pans.

The next few pictures show the progression of what the chicken will look like as you continue to fry and flip:
 

Then ta-da! You’re done!

No fried chicken is complete without scrumptious sides to go with it. Dad and I used the scrapings from the chicken to make gravy. Then we also cooked up some mashed potatoes, green beans, and dinner rolls.
 

Oh, and I can’t forget … I washed it all down with iced tea !

 So while I have the floor, I’m also going to share a super easy, 4 ingredient dessert that my mom has been making me ever since I was little. I like to call it Cherry Crunch. I whipped this up in less than an hour before I went to my parents’ house, and we ate it for dessert.

Ingredients:

1 can of cherry pie filling ( I use Wilderness brand, you can use light or sugar free to make it less sweet)

1 box Jiffy white cake mix (it’s kind of hard to find, but worth it … honestly, though, I’ve never tried it with another brand)

½ stick of butter (or 4 Tablespoons)

½ cup slivered almonds

 Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray Pam into an 8x8 pan. Are you ready for the ridiculously easy directions?!

Pour the can of cherries in first along the bottom. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly on top. Melt the butter and then pour it on top of the cake mix. Top with the slivered almonds.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the almonds are slightly browned. When you take it out it’ll look like this:

It’ll be gooey and delicious when you cut into it. For leftovers you can refrigerate it or keep it covered on the counter. It’s good hot or cold.

Well it’s been fun, and I hope you’ve enjoyed these recipes from the Wilkes’ family!