Jan D'Atri

Jan D'Atri > white pepper

white pepper

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!

Chinese BBQ Pork

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It’s called Char Siu. (Pronounced “Char Sue”) But we know it as Chinese BBQ Pork, and it’s of the most popular items on a Chinese Restaurant menu. I never thought of making it at home—it seemed complicated and intimidating. But when I finally decided to give it a try, I quickly found it is neither. It’s a fun, simple dish that ends up tasting exactly like the restaurant version! While it seems as though there are a lot of ingredients, it’s mostly inexpensive bottles of things like soy sauce, molasses, honey, rice wine vinegar—all things you can keep in your refrigerator so you can make this dish many times, which, I think you will! As far as the steps, it’s basically whisking the marinade ingredients, pouring it over the pork, refrigerating it overnight and then cooking it up! It’s that simple. The most important step is making sure you buy pork shoulder, as tenderloin is too lean. Char Siu may be your new favorite!

Watch my How To Video for Chinese BBQ Pork here!

Pot Stickers

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The Story

It’s not very often that I am gifted a sensational recipe from an exquisitely talented master chef. In this case, it’s a chef who is an inductee into the American Academy of Chef’s Culinary Hall of Fame, and the man who started the culinary programs at both The Art Institute of Phoenix and The Art Institute of Tucson. Now retired, Chef Bill Sy still guest teaches Asian Cuisine at the Art Institute of Phoenix, and if you want to learn the art of making a perfect pot sticker, he’s the man. Fortunately for all of us, Chef Sy believes in passing along ancient Chinese secrets. I was lucky enough to watch him in action years ago, and I’ll never forget the authentic flavor of the pot stickers and his simple technique for mastering those billowy pockets of goodness. So here is the recipe, from the chef who has won the respect and reverence of his peers, and who believes that cultivating talent and passing on traditions is his lifelong duty. Make him proud!