Celebrity Chefs

Food Predictions for the Year of the Water Snake

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It’s a brand new year and by now, many of you are for sure engrossed in a weight loss regimen to take off the extra pounds gained during the holiday season. So for the health buffs who want to be in tip-top shape as well as for those who want to start a healthy lifestyle, read up because we have some great news on what foods including veggies will be in for this year.
baby_carrots
Carrots is predicted to hog the limelight this 2013. According to Good Housekeeping, it’s the star now of menus in some of New York City’s most expensive restaurants. It’s being served as tartare and roasted mixed with yogurt. Kids’ menus will also be including more veggies and fruits this time to help them veer away from the usual pizza, nuggets and pasta.

The juice is expected to be as popular focusing more on fruits and vegetables that are rich in fiber. To take advantage of this healthy drink, though, forget about those ready to drink juices at the grocery stores. Best to do your own at home using the juicers. Any type of juicer will do as long as it helps you extract the liquid from your fruits and veggies.
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Ways to Prepare Crispy Fried Chicken

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Crispy. Crunchy. Tasty. Best eaten with hands. What else could this be but the all-time favorite fried chicken.

The month of July is significant in the U.S. It’s during this month when the country marks the National Fried Chicken Day specifically every 6th of July.

The first fried chicken in the U.S. was created in the countryside in the south. It was prepared in a straightforward manner — soaked in buttermilk then seasoned with flour by shaking the chicken in a brown paper bag and then fried in a cast-iron skillet. History has it that the oldest recipe for this popular food written by Mary Randolph dates back to 1928 and published in The Virginia House-Wife.

Today, there are numerous variations of the fried chicken. The difference is in the way they are prepared from seasoning to marinating.

Marinating the chicken in your preferred spices and seasoning is a must if you want to make it tasty. Letting it stay in the marinade overnight is strongly recommended. This way, the flavors can really get into the chicken.

If you want it well-done and juicy on the inside, you can also boil the chicken first then marinate it afterwards.

To achieve that crisp, there are various steps that you can take. One way is to dredge it directly in flour or cornstarch. You can do it once but to create a thick crust, you need to double dredge. By doing the double dredge, you can be sure that your fried chicken stays crunchy even if it won’t be eaten right away.

Another way is to dip it first in beaten egg before dredging it in flour. The goal here is to make the flour stick well to the chicken and the egg does this job well.

Photo by easychickenrecipee

Art Smith’s Roast Chicken

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Art Smith is most known for being Oprah’s personal chef and his concoctions can grace our own tables during this season – thanks to Oprah’s web site. I found this roast chicken recipe by Art Smith which might prove to be a good alternative to turkey. Though Christmas is over, I am sure you still have a lot of meals to prepare. Why not try this out?

Ingredients:
Makes 8 servings
• 2 (4-pound) chickens
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 lemon , halved
• 2 medium onions , chopped
• 2 medium carrots , chopped
• 2 ribs celery , chopped
• 2 cups homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth

Position a rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 400°. Clean chickens inside and out with cold water and pat dry. Arrange on racks in a large roasting pan.

Chop garlic, then mash with salt to make a paste. Transfer to small bowl. Add oil, tarragon, basil, thyme, marjoram, oregano and pepper, and mix. Slip your fingers under the skin of each breast to loosen; rub as much herb paste as you can under skins. Rub remaining paste in body cavities, then place a lemon half in each cavity. If desired, tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine.

Place chickens, breast side up, on rack in large roasting pan. Roast 30 minutes, basting twice. Scatter onions, carrots and celery in pan. Roast about 20 to 30 minutes longer, basting once or twice, or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh, without touching a bone, reads 180°.

Transfer chickens to a platter. Pour pan juices into a small glass measuring cup. (Discard vegetables in roasting pan.) Let juices stand 5 minutes, then skim off any fat from surface. Place pan over high heat on stove. When pan is sizzling, pour in degreased juices and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring up browned bits on bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Strain into a sauceboat. Carve chicken and serve with pan juices.

All those herbs are making my mouth water!