Carolyn's Lemon Chicken & Rice (Danny's Favorite)

Next to pizza, this is probably my husband's favorite food. This recipe comes from his mother, Carolyn, who is an amazing cook. When we got married, of course I had to find out how to make this dish. And while I could never make it exactly the way she does, I've gotten the thumbs up from my husband that my attempts are delicious as well. This is good news, because I don't think Danny could have survived without his favorite meal!

Carolyn's Lemon Chicken & Rice

Ingredients (for two or three people):

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup lemon juice 

1/2 T chicken bouillon or 2 cubes chicken bouillon dissolved in 1 1/2 cups water

1/2 t. dried basil

1 T. cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water

enough cooked rice for whoever is coming to dinner

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and lightly brown on the stove.

2. Take the chicken out of the pan.

3. Add about 1/2 cup lemon juice to the pan.

4. Add chicken bouillon mixture as well.

5. Then add dried basil and let the pan simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Sometimes I add other spices as well, if I am feeling creative, but basil is the one spice that goes perfectly. *Taste your sauce after simmering. If it has a weak lemon taste, you need to reduce it more (or add more lemon juice if you don't want to wait). It should have a strong lemon flavor.*

6. Stir while adding the cornstarch thickening mixture to the pan, and let the sauce thicken a bit.

7. Add your chicken back to the sauce, and it's ready to eat!

8.Serve over rice and enjoy! 

I've also made this dish in the crockpot by simply adding all the ingredients except the cornstarch and letting it cook until the chicken is done. Then I add the cornstarch in with the sauce and the chicken. It's not as good as the stovetop version, but it worked.

Husband's Reaction: Oh, he always licks his plate clean with this lemon chicken. The sauce is his favorite part. He could drink it plain, which is kinda gross, but that's how much he loves it. Thanks to his mom for sharing her recipe so I can make it for him whenever he wants!

We Cooked the Catfish.

So, the catfish was cooked and eaten the day after it was caught, but I just have not gotten around to posting about it...until today!!! Be excited. I know you are wanna know how to cook catfish. It's so popular and all.

Nobody does food better than the Food Network, so I copied one of their recipes. It was pretty good. This could probably be used with any fish. If you're only making one or two, make far less of the seasoning and dredging mixture. Even for the 4 catfish fillets this recipe calls for, I would cut it in half. There was a lot of seasoning.

I chose a recipe for fried fish because I wasn't sure if catfish tasted good or not. I figured as long as it was fried, it would taste great! It was. But the fish underneath the batter wasn't half bad either, so next time I think I'll skip the frying (remember how healthy I'm trying to be? Right).

And now I give you my second attempt at cooking fish ever.....CATFISH!

Pan Fried Catfish with Lemon and Garlic

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2005

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Deep Fried Southern

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/pan-fried-catfish-with-lemon-and-garlic-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 4 (6 to 6 1/2- ounce) catfish fillets
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Essence or other seasoning salt, recipe follows
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves, plus chopped parsley forgarnish
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup all- purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Place the catfish in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Season the fillets with 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the Essence. Add the lemon juice, parsley, and garlic. Turn the catfish several times to coat evenly. Allow mixture to stand at room temperature for up to 10 minutes.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, and the remaining Essence in a shallow bowl. Remove the catfish from the marinade and dredge in the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.

Heat the oil in a large, deep, cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the catfish, in batches, and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Remove catfish from the skillet with a slotted spatula and drain on paper-towels. Season with salt and serve immediately with additional parsley and lemon wedges.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

HUSBAND'S REACTION: He approved. His favorite part? No bones to worry about! I think we might be trying some more catfish in the future.

He's so cool, you can trust his opinion. :)

Catfish Catching

I told my husband I wanted to get a new hobby this year, and I guess that goal can be checked off. We bought fishing licenses with some of our hard earned money, and we have been fishing at least once a week since the beginning of May, I think. We are keeping a running tally of how many fish we each catch to see who can be the winner at the end of the summer. Right now, Danny is ahead 6 to 4. (So frustrating! I want to be the winner!) We've mainly caught trout, and that's fine with me. They taste pretty good. Last night though, Danny caught a catfish. We went fishing with his parents and grandparents, and many catfish and a few trout were caught. We decided to keep some of the catfish and figure out how to clean and cook them. Danny's grandma said she really likes how they taste, so we'll see if we do too. 

 Catfish are pretty creepy looking, and they are pretty hard to clean, we soon learned. You have to pull their skin off with pliers---it's like a home improvement project, but smellier.

So, tonight I think I'm cooking the catfish (only the fillets, don't worry; it now looks nothing like a cat and only like a fish you would see in the grocery store). I really don't know how, but we'll see how it goes. The nice thing about fishing is that I get to practice and learn how to cook fish without having to pay for any of the fish. . . the bad part is that I haven't caught any the past three times we've gone. Maybe next time!!!