soul food

friday was a cook at home day and chill. i tried out making fried chicken and cheese and macaroni. here's what i did.

fried chicken:
i first marinated the chicken in salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper. then, just before frying, i covered the chicken with flour which was seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. i then fried the chicken in light olive oil until brown and then stuck the chicken in the oven which was already preheated at 400 degrees - baked chicken for 35 min.

for the macaroni and cheese:
i used sharp white cheddar instead of regular cheddar
boiled the macaroni elbows until al dente
melted butter in a pot and then mixed in a little flour until slightly thick
add in salt, pepper and dijon mustard
mix in the boiled macaroni and cheese
mix until all the cheese is melted
place the melty mixture in a pyrex pan, sprinkle the top with a little extra cheese, (mozzarella and sharp white cheddar)
bake in a pan for 20min, broil on high for 3-4 minutes to get that nice brown crust on top.

everything turned out pretty well, the chicken was tasty and juicy. although i wish i had added less salt to the macaroni since the cheese was pretty tasty already.

we ate everything with a whole bunch of spinach salad. i liked the macaroni a lot since i don't like the american kraft style where it's all mushy. i like it better with a crust of good cheese and not super creamy.

we also watched knocked up finally - really funny movie but not as funny as 40 year old virgin. still though it was funny and i found it interesting that i was so disgusted by the "dad" in the first part of the movie but i grew to like him in the second part of the movie. his man boobs were still gross though...