Jan D'Atri

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Best Fried Chicken

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Today, on the 4th of July, I want you to experience freedom! Freedom from the fear of cooking fried chicken at home, and this is just the recipe to do it!  It’s absolutely perfect, not only for your Independence Day picnic or celebration, but next Tuesday is National Fried Chicken Day, so you have a legitimate excuse to make a double (or triple!) batch and enjoy it all week!  I came across this fried chicken recipe in Cook’s Country Magazine. I was looking for a method that would yield an extra crispy on the outside, super moist on the inside version, and I found it in this recipe! First let’s talk about what makes this chicken moist. It gets soaked in buttermilk and salt brine which helps the chicken retain moisture and also gives it a wonderful flavor. What makes the outside crispy is the combination of flour and spices that the chicken is dredged in, and then refrigerated for several hours or overnight. When you get ready to fry the chicken, that coating has pretty much glued itself to the chicken making it the perfect crispy crust I was hoping for! If your turns out the way I think it will, it’s going to be winner, winner chicken dinner!

Watch my How To Video for Best Fried Chicken here!

Momma’s Chicken Cacciatore

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It’s a One Pot Italian Wonder! That’s what my Momma’s comfort food Chicken Cacciatore recipe should be named. As a little Italian girl growing up, I just thought that it was one of those dishes that everyone ate at least once a week– just like we did–with polenta or pasta. I also assumed that all Chicken Cacciatore pretty much tasted the same. But many years later, having tasted Chicken Cacciatore in numerous restaurants, I’m going to finally go on the record and say that Momma’s is the best. You’re going to get to try it for yourself and see if you agree. Momma’s Cacciatore is simple, inexpensive, uses only one pan and the flavors are absolutely divine. It’s about as close to a fool-proof dish as you can get with the recipe I’m sharing with you today. Momma’s Chicken Cacciatore was one of the first recipes we included in our first cookbook, Momma & Me & You, and through the years we’ve tweaked it just a bit to make it even better! Here’s what Momma wrote in our cookbook:

“Almost every Italian restaurant has chicken cacciatore on the menu, and there are as many versions of the dish as there are places that serve it. Although it’s a Southern Italian specialty, it has been adopted as a treasure throughout Italy. When I introduced cacciatore on my restaurant menu back in 1957, our customer’s fell in love with the very first delicate bite! It became one of our most popular signature dishes for the celebrity crowd and locals alike.”

I find that good quality, fresh chicken enhances the taste—and that chicken thighs seem to be the most flavorful. (Flavor-filled bones make all the difference!) Pick up a nice bottle of wine, some good sour dough bread and enjoy one of my Momma’s mainstay Italian meals!

Watch my how to video here!

Chicken Pot Pie

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It’s the comfort food of comfort foods; the recipe that your grandma knew by heart and the dish that you get excited about when you find it on restaurant menus. Chicken Pot Pie is just one of those out-of-this-world meals that is so easy to make, or make ahead or freeze! Serve it up for a nice family meal, and I’ll bet it’ll be on your menu rotation often! If you have a delicious homemade pie crust recipe, use that for your pie toppers. This recipe will serve 4 individual (on the large side) servings so you’ll need enough dough for four bowls. When I want to make Chicken Pot Pie quickly, I’ll grab two packages of refrigerated or frozen pie crust. (There are two pie crusts per package.) I’ll roll it out, place my serving bowl on top of the dough, then cut around the bowl. When I fill the serving dish with pot pie filling, I’ll just add the dough round to the top. Chicken Pot Pie is a tried and true treasure!

Watch my How To Video for Chicken Pot Pie here!