MrsK Books: Fried and True by Lee Brian Schrager with Adeena Sussman

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Fried and True by Lee Brian Schrager with Adeena Sussman

Fried & True: More than 50 Recipes for America's Best Fried Chicken and Sides

Lee Brian Schrager with Adeena Sussman

ISBN: 9780770435226

Good Reads Synopsis:

Whether you prefer it cold out of the fridge or hot and crispy on a buttery biscuit, you will find your new favorite fried chicken recipe in Fried & True, serving up more than 50 recipes for America’s most decadently delicious food.

Lee Schrager has left no stone unturned in his quest to find America’s best fried chicken. From four-star restaurants to roadside fry shacks, you’ll learn how to brine your bird, give it a buttermilk bath, batter or even double batter it, season with loads of spices, and fry it up to golden perfection. Recipes to savor include:

--Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
--Yotam Ottolenghi’s Seeded Chicken Schnitzel with Parsley-Caper Mayonnaise
--Marcus Samuelsson’s Coconut Fried Chicken with Collards and Gravy
--Jacques-Imo’s Fried Chicken and Smothered Cabbage
--The Loveless Café’s Fried Chicken and Hash Brown Casserole
--Blackberry Farm’s Sweet Tea–Brined Fried Chicken
--Charles Phan’s Hard Water Fried Chicken
--Thomas Keller’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken
--Wylie Dufresne’s Popeyes-Style Chicken Tenders and Biscuits

Sink your teeth into Fried & True, the source of your next great fried chicken masterpiece and a tribute to America’s most beloved culinary treasure.

MrsK's Review:

My grandma made the best fried chicken... I know... we all have some one in our family that we could say this about... and yet, she really was the best "Fried Chicken Queen." Unfortunately, I was not able to learn from her the secrets of cooking her fried chicken. So when this book was available for review... well I just had to know the "how-to" of cooking fried chicken. I have Grandma's cast iron pan, and now... I have recipes to guide me.

So let's get started. The very first "Awww... Thank You," began with the Fried Chicken 101 section. "Stuffed" full of tips, necessary utensils, techniques, cooking points, and so much more... I shared this section with my kids as soon as I began reading it.

Next I began browsing my way "across" America enjoying each of the restaurants history, owners, and menus. Ok, I didn't really get through each of these sections... the chicken "side-dishes" kept me bouncing back and forth across America... more like a ricocheting bullet.

Then I began marking the recipes we would be trying out. Not only are the recipes "user" friendly but the photo's screamed... Wait... try me! So I began sharing and talking with my family, what should we be trying first? Which of these should I mention in my review? Which of the sides will be for dinner tomorrow? And here's our list:

Arnold's braised turnip and collard greens (page 42)
Hattie B's velvety mashed potatoes (page 49)
Loveless Cafe's hash brown casserole (page 61)
Vanessa's red beans and rice (page 109)
Mary Mac's Tea Room tomato pie (page 117)
Popeye's buttermilk biscuits (page 159)

Wait, the sides are important to every down home good, tasty, and satisfying chicken meal... but what about the fried chicken, after all it is the featured guest of honor...

Charles Gabriel's pan fried chicken (page 57)
Ray Boom Boom's hard fried chicken (page 97)
Martha Lou's fried chicken (page 135)
Fuller's Ma'Ono's Hawaiian fried chicken (page 200)

Next came the bonus section... the Master Frying Chart... fingertip layout for quick access cooking... loved it! Finally, the yum taste testing began. At the time of this posting we planned at least one fried chicken meal a week... what's on our "fry-off" for this week? Martha Lou's fried chicken with Hattie B's velvety mashed potatoes...

From our table to yours, Enjoy...

MrsK

These "finger-licking" recipes must be on your self, excellent gift for family gatherings and holidays!

Lee Brian Schrager, best known as the founder of the Food Network New York City and South Beach Wine & Food Festivals, would argue that any time is a good time for fried chicken. But there are few better places in Miami than Yardbird, the ardently Southern eatery off Lincoln Road. We sat down for a proper meal with Schrager to chat about his new book, Fried & True (available May 20), which chronicles more than 50 of America’s best fried chicken recipes—both back-road and big-city iterations—and explores the phenomenon of what Schrager calls America’s “number-one guilty pleasure.”

Adeena Sussman: I'm a food writer, cook, recipe developer, cooking instructor and restaurant critic who's been published in
Food & Wine, Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living, Cooking Light, Health, Self, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Sunset, The San Jose Mercury News and Hadassah. I develop recipes with Food Network host Ellie Krieger. For the past 2 1/2 years, I've been a contributing editor and the lead restaurant critic for Manhattan Magazine, the latest city edition from Modern Luxury publications. For every issue I eat at one of the City's most sought-after hotspots and share my views on the scene, crowd, and—most importantly—the food.

I'm a graduate of the Institute for Culinary Education and, more importantly, of my late mother Stephanie Sussman's kitchen, where she imparted a passion for cooking and entertaining that has helped inform both my career path and many appetites. Having grown up in a traditional Jewish home and lived in Israel for several years, I'm well-versed in kosher dietary laws. Some of my work reflects my background, but I'm not limited to that arena.

"I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."

Random House Publishers

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MrsK's Reading Bio

Reading is important! No questions asked, not even a blink of the eye from any student I grew up with. On the first day of the First grade, we were given our first books. Day two we all read aloud, round robin of course. Day three we were place in our first basal, now known as a lit circle group. Books were so important, publishers designed new curriculum so that every student was reading by the end of the first week. These early readers had images that looked like what we could see in the classroom, beyond the classroom, even on the big screen. Reading is important, throughout history every generation has believed that “Reading” opens up the world for endless possibilities.

I adore the 1950’s Dick and Jane books. Actually, most reading specialists and experienced (45+) educators believe that every student learned to read with Dick and Jane. Since these books are being re-issued, I have heard many parents, grandparents, and students claim that Dick and Jane stories of repetition does teach students to read.

Early influences from my mother influenced my desire to read. I would watch her read and we would go on “secret” excursions to the library. The library became my playground. I owned every book I could carry home, of course they needed to be taken back to their home after visiting with me for a week or two. My first book that I could pull off of the library shelf and read was, Father Bear Comes Home. I only saw my dad on Sundays for a few hours. I would pull this beginning reader off of the library shelf every week. Every week I would try to read the first chapter. Every week I got further in the story. My mom would let me check it out, only if I could read it myself (She didn’t like the illustrations therefore she didn’t want to take time to read it to me). One day, I pulled the book from the shelf and when mom came to get me from the children’s corner, I realized that I had read the whole story. I ran to the check out desk and the Librarian KERCHUNKED the checkout card. My mother, brother and neighbors read. My teachers read. We all read aloud all day long in school. The Priest read aloud every day at mass, even in Latin. Everybody in the Doctor’s office read. People on the bus read. Dad’s waiting in their cars as the Mom’s and children grocery shopped, read. In fact, once you could read and write, Sunset Magazine considered you a reader and sent you mail every day.

Reading is important; I’ve spent my life reading. I’ve traveled around the world and into space through books. My favorite genre is whichever book I have open at the time. Children’s Literature is my passion. Book clubbing is one of the best past times, especially if food is involved. In fact my friends of old are in a book club and we are about to embark on a beach trip to “read” and discuss our newest selection.

My “home-run” book story has helped every student find his or her own “home-run” reads. Every year, I have shared my, Father Bear Comes Home, and every year my students have brought in their “home-run” books. That’s the “diving board” into our Lit. Studies.

In “Growing Up Digital,” Tapscott’s insights into the new generations enthusiasm for the Net reminded me of my generation’s enthusiasm for reading, movies, TV, parties and our driving permits. The Net-Generation, as Tapscott describes, “are learning, playing, communicating, working, creating communities, and enforcing a social transformation.”
N-Geners are interactive “techies” who are always looking for a way to “work it” verses the TV Generation of “Baby Boomers” who started out looking for “how it works.” Reading development is tougher today, society moves too fast to invest their “non-working” free time into a book or even “home work.” Since I stepped into my own classroom, I have seen students being told to read, being forced to read, and threatened into reading. Homework is not any longer the vehicle for students to gain their future lifestyles or careers with. Yet, the Internet does create an enthusiasm for learning. Since I have been enrolled in these courses, I have used the computers in every subject. My students are using the newest technology in the classroom because I am giving them investigative sites to use as they learn from each other and books. I agree with Tapscott, in order to bridge the gap with this up and coming generation we must “live and learn with them.”

FTC Required Disclaimer: I receive these books from the publishers. I did not receive monetary compensation for these reviews. These reviews have been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)