A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen

My style is to tell a story eventually weaving it into a recipe or two. But today, I am breaking tradition and getting to the point right away. The featured chicken leg swimming in sweet butter in today’s post is gone. No it did not drown, even though it appears to be drowning in butter. Nor did it fly away. I ate it for today’s lunch cold out of the ice box along with some of the leftover Carolina coconut rice.

A proper Southern lunch was well deserved as I have been up since the crack of dawn running around, trying to assist the husband in completing our renovation. At least I think I was assisting, he on the other hand thinks I could actually drive him nuts if I change the color of the kitchen once more.

Back to the chicken. As soon as I took the chicken out of the oven, I knew I had to have that leg and I called it. I am not a leg person either. I would rather have a chicken breast, that is till last evening. Of course the husband didn’t mind as he was dining on what was suppose to be Chinese food. Something leftover from lunch that day. I couldn’t tempt him and I am still dumbfounded.

The house was filled with the smell of the savory herb buttered bread crumbs combined with the alluring tropical coconut rice . I could have sworn that I saw one of those aroma clouds reaching out to the other room, trying to pull him into the kitchen. But he would not budge. I had not competition for the chicken leg, but I called it anyway.

And yes, it is clear from this weeks posts, that I have no shame. This high fat meal represents everything that is good and bad. Good food at its finest. Bad food because it is most likely hazardous to your health or rather my health, because I ate the chicken soaking in butter. But we aren’t going to talk about that. Not now or ever for that matter.

The husband was off playing golf on this beautiful spring day in Charleston. Did I mind? No, I did not mind. Why? Because, I got to pick out what I like and make the decisions pronto which means the house gets done quicker. Moving in the house quicker means I get to cook in my new kitchen sooner than later. Which means we get to eat better. We get to eat better because I expect to have an enormous amount of fun cooking in the kitchen with a gas cook-top, double oven, granite counter tops and a butcher block island overlooking the soon to be gardens. I am so excited I can hardly wait. My mind is churning as to how I am going to set up the kitchen. Clearly my nesting instincts are in overdrive right now.

The photo above is one stick of melted sweet butter with the chopped fresh parsley, chives and tarragon, finely minced garlic, salt and pepper. Once the chicken is washed and patted dry I coated the chicken in the butter and herbs, set the pieces on a pan at room temperature for about an hour to marinate.

While the chicken was resting, I made my bread crumb mixture. I toasted some french bread and then put the cubes in the food processor to make bread crumbs, the recipe called for soft bread crumbs, but I was out of soft bread. Mixing the breadcrumbs together with the herbs along with some salt and pepper gave me a wonderful coating. I gave the chicken a good roll or two in the crumb mixture and poured the remainder of the herb butter around the edges of the chicken once it placed on parchment and set in a baking sheet. Then I popped it into the oven for a good bake.

Now time for the rice. “Carolina Gold Rice is America’s first rice. It is an authentic heirloom grain that drove America’s rice culture in South Carolina.” It was and is the heart of the Southern kitchen. So of course I had to buy it some for this recipe and to have on hand, even though it was $6 for a 1 lb bag. I think it came to about 10cents a grain, but hey who’s counting.

While the chicken was baking in the oven I prepared my Coconut Carolina Rice. I chopped an onion and tomato and set this aside while I heated the coconut milk in a casserole. Once the liquid was simmering, I added the onion and tomato along with some salt and the rice. I put a lid on it and popped it in the oven to cook along side the chicken.

Thirty minutes later both the chicken and rice were done. Oh how wonderful the kitchen smelled. I gently fluffed the rice and served myself a late dinner at 8pm. It was so good, and I am so loving this Southern thing. I am not a fan of rice, but am coming around on this one too.

Both recipes came from Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis’s cookbook, The Gift of Southern Cooking. The chicken recipe is apparently an old hearth recipe from Virginia. The chicken is good hot or cold, which makes it great for a picnic.

Chicken Baked with Delicate Herbs and Bread Crumbs

One 3-3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces

8 tablespoons unsalted sweet butter melted

3 tablespoons each finely chopped herbs such as parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives. If you don’t have all four then add more of the the other three to make 12 tablespoons total.

2 small cloves garlic

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper plus 1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 1/2 soft fresh breadcrumbs

For the butter mixture; mix two tablespoons of each herb, the garlic and one tablespoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. The remaining herbs, salt and pepper use for the breadcrumb mixture.

Follow the remainder of the directions above and bake in a 325degree oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the crumbs get golden brown and the chicken juices run clear. I had to turn my heat up for the last 10 minutes or so to get my chicken toasty.

Carolina Coconut Rice

About 14 ounces of canned or fresh coconut milk, unsweetened

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

1 small onion finely chopped

1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped about 2/3 cup

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour coconut milk into a casserole or heavy bottom pot and bring to a simmer, and then add the rice, onion, tomato, and salt. Cover tightly with a lid or double thickness of foil, and put into an oven for about 30 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Taste carefully for seasoning, and gently fluff rice with a two forks and serve.

I didn’t sit down to eat till late, but a light salad to go with the meal would have been perfect.