Weekend Cooking: Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook

When it comes to discovering new and exciting cookbooks, I haven't a mind of my own. I just basically follow Julie (Booking Mama) and Kathy (Bermudaonion) around like a hungry puppy, and whatever they review, I order from my library to try. As was this case with the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook. Julie reviewed the granola and the cheesy grits, and Kathy reviewed the pumpkin cheesecake. Needless to say, that was all I needed to hear.

Apparently, the Clinton St. Baking Company is THE PLACE to eat breakfast and brunch in NYC. The story of the owners, DeDe Lahman & Neil Kleinberg, who met over fish and chips, fell in love and started a restaurant with the mission to offer the best baked goods in the city, is worth the price of the cookbook by itself. Never mind that neither of them had no pastry experience. Their love of butter and using the freshest ingredients would conquer all! I loved them instantly. They had me at "biscuits".

The recipes cover the gamut of all things that will soothe your soul, but might take you up a jean size. Muffins, scones, pastries, egg dishes, soups, sides, sandwiches and fried chicken, desserts. Ah! Even homemade raspberry jam! Admit it. You want to get your hands on this cookbook. Lahman and Kleinberg are also helpful with their tips and pitfalls in the kitchen, to help you produce the most yummy concoctions. You are guaranteed to learn something you never knew...for example, if you use the heel of a knife to break the bone in a piece of chicken, it will cook faster. Also, don't press down on a burger when grilling it - it will squeeze all the juice out and cook it at the wrong temp.

I tried three recipes. The first was kind of a no-brainer, a Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwich. Except that my brain had never thought of making this sandwich with goat cheese. I made it with my Cuisinart Griddler (one of my favorite gifts this Christmas!), had it with a cup of tomato soup on a cold day, and it hit the spot!

I also tried the Mixed Berry Scones. The kids swore it sounded good, and I am always looking for something to give them for breakfast that will lure them away from Pop-Tarts. But something bad happened. Maybe I stirred the batter too much, maybe I didn't cook them long enough. But my entire family laughed at them, and refused to eat them. Bah!

My third recipe was the Fried Chicken. Now THIS worked! Unfortunately I didn't take pictures, because as soon as the chicken was done, my family pounced like ravenous hyenas and wiped it out.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Marinade:

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried thyme

Coating:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 TBL salt

2 tsp black pepper

Whisk the marinade and add one whole chicken cut into 10 pieces. Store in an airtight container for 3 to 4 hours in the fridge.

Whisk the coating ingredients in a bowl. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade - do not drain off the marinade. Dredge in the coating, piece by piece. Coat well, covering all the nooks and crannies. Set aside on a plate. Reserve any extra coating mix.

Fill a saute pan or Dutch oven with canola oil. Heat the oil to 350 degrees over medium heat, using a candy thermometer to make sure the temp is accurate. Heating may take 8 to 10 minutes.

With tongs, gently place the chicken skin-side down in the oil and fry the chicken in batches of 5 to 6 pieces so that they don't crowd the pan. Fry each piece 7 to 8 minutes per side (wings may take less time). After you remove each batch of chicken, the temp of the oil will drop. Make sure you bring the oil back up to 350 degrees before adding the next batch.

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