Alsatian Schenkele or Lady's tights. Mardi Gras in Alsace.

Schenkele, the Alsatian almond and kirsch flavored fritters. Mardi Gras in Alsace.

New Delhi, February 2017

Mardi Gras in Strasbourg smells like Hanukkah in Jerusalem. 

The smell of frying food is everywhere. Especially sweet fried food.

Schenkele, also called Lady's tights, are a must in this period.

When I was pouring the clarified butter in the frying pan, my husband showed up in the Kitchen.

-Are you going to fry again?- the doctor asked

I looked at him, with my best big smile.

-You said frying is good for the liver (but not for memory, I'm afraid)

-No, I said it's not bad if you don't eat it often. You will end killing me.

(Don't tell him but it's exactly the goal I married him for)

-You're not forced to eat the Schenkele, my dear. I will make a fruit salad only for you.

(Big Deal. He won't eat my Schenkele. What a pitty. There will be more for us)

-Schenkele????

Now, guess who ate a lot and wanted more.

His Alsatian genes are stronger than his willpower. It's clear. 😃

You have to know that in Alsace we observe very closely every calendar's celebration. No matter if you're Jewish, Christian or Muslim, if you're Alsatian, any excuse is good to enjoy special foods.

Indeed, if the primary meaning of a religious celebration can sometimes be lost along the way, the greedy tradition remains, in turn, intact.

When Mardi Gras approaches, you can find thus fritters everywhere and in all the shapes in Alsace. In fact, "Boules de Berlin" (Sufganyoth, Kraphen, Donuts or Berliner Pfannkuchen), Roussettes de Strasbourg (kind of Angel wings), Apfelkiechle (apple fritters) and Schenkele are the best seller in all the region's pastry shops in this period.

Why this madness about donuts and fritters in February?

This tradition is typically the legacy from a Catholic religious practice that is non longer necessarily observed, but whose food rituals has endured.

Rituals, even if they loose their religious meaning, retain the power to gather people. No matter which is your faith, Mardi Gras is an excellent pretext for gorging on donuts and fritters without guilt!

So, I say, it would be so wrong to deprive yourself. Isn't it?

Anyway, if it's not your G-d who will hit you on your fingers for your excess of gluttony, then the scale, your cholesterol levels or your favorite skinny jeans will soon make you call to order.😇

Finally, the calendar festivals have the merit of putting a little order in what could be quickly become total anarchic. Just imagine if it was the period of cakes, candy apples, donuts, fritters, chocolate eggs, bredele and Christmas log all the year long!

No, it's better non to imagine all this considered. 

It must be admitted that seasonality makes all the charm of certain specialities. With no doubt, these Schenkele flavored with Kirsch, deliciously soft inside and so crispy outside, are more appreciated as their consumption is occasional but...

...as I use to say, after all there are many pants sizes but only one life.

Don't you think?

Enjoy!

Schenkele (Lady's tights)

I use to make this for Hanukkah Festival and eat it somewhere else in this period. But being in India, I missed the aroma of fried sweets flooding the streets so I decided to make and share it.

The particularity of these pastries is that, unlike other fritters, they keep crunchy for days. Some people use to roll the Schenkele in a mix of sugar and cinnamon just after frying when still hot. In my family we only use sugar for sprinkle. Modern variations include orange or lemon zest instead of kirsch, but honestly, I've never seen a citrus tree in Alsace.

Last, but not least, I've fried in clarified butter because I like most. You can use the grease you want.

For about 50-60 pieces

4 eggs
250 grams sugar
125 grams butter
2 tablespoons Kirsch
125 grams almond meal
pinch of salt
500 grams flour

grease for deep frying (I used clarified butter)
sugar, to sprinkle

Melt butter and stir in the kirsch. Let it cool slightly.
Whisk the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy. When eggs will be fluffy, add the melted butter and liquor, making sure it has cooled, or you will risk to "cook" the eggs. Add the almond meal and salt, as well. Combine.
Add the flour in several batches. You have to obtain a smooth but still sticky dough. Fold it in cling wrap and let in the fridge for 2 hours.
After this time, you will have an easy to work dough.
Flour your hands and take a small piece of dough (about 20 grams each), roll in your hands to make a cylinder shape (5 to 6 cm long and 2 to 3 wide) and press the ends in order to form points, as shown in the picture.

Lay your raw Schenkele on a floured surface.
When done, heat your frying grease at 160°C. Temperature is very important here, because if your oil is too hot, you will have a colored surface, but a raw inner. So, try to maintain a constant temperature while frying. What I did, was put my frying pan at high heat until it reached the ideal temperature, then I lowed the fire always keeping an eye on the thermometer.
Fry non more than 10 to 12 pieces at batch. They first tend to sink and stick on the bottom of the pan, then they will float; that's why you must turn very often to cook evenly.
If the temperature is the right one, it will take up to 10-20 minutes to cook your Schenkele until golden brown and perfectly cooked in the center.
They will crack during the cooking time. Don't worry, it's absolutely normal. They have to.
When done, transfer each batch to a plate lined with paper towel and sprinkle with sugar immediately, before they get warm.
Eat warm or cold with any moderation!
It's just for one day. 😊

Almond Baklava. Grocery shopping in New Delhi: a real adventure.

Almond Baklava: grocery shopping in India is a real adventure. Or a Mission, I dare to say.

New Delhi, Febraury 2017

India: it's not a bed of roses, but what a bouquet of experiences... (read a sigh here)

New Delhi is not an easy place to be. 

It's a tentacular, complicated city. Dirty and polluted. Poor to make you cry.

I have not the same romantic idea of India as my niece and husband. I just can't.

According to them, India is amazing, colorful, beautiful, magic, meaningful, incredible, peaceful and safe. That is, the perfect place to be.

Yes, if you are a cow.

I'm not saying that I'm unhappy here, on the contrary. It's just that I can't see only all the good as they do. This city can be a nightmare, just only for that simple thing as grocery shopping is.

The thing I like the most here is spending time with mi niece. Only the both of us. I'm eager to make up for lost time, trying to spend as hours as possible with her, cooking, chatting, going out or simply in silence, looking into each other eyes, trying to find things in common. We already found a lot, beyond DNA matters and physical features.

One is that we both are passionate about markets. Food markets, firstly.

The first two times I've been here, she was severely ill, so she couldn't show me the city as she would want to do. Now she's recovering, always like a roller coaster, but there are days when she feels fully in shape and loaded with powerful, infecting energy. It's when I understand why my husband can't live without her and is totally fine only when she's around, since the day he met her.

-Let's go to INA Market- she suggested, one of those good days. -But you have to get yourself psychologically ready-she added.

I admit that I was afraid and worried in front of her proposition and the snigger in her face.

Before I continue my story, you have to know that there is not a supermarket in Delhi. Not even one. Every neighborhood has its own market and there are several specialized markets in the city. One for clothes, one for jewels, one for organic vegetables, and so on. If you need something specific, you have to move from one to another, otherwise you can find basic products just nearby. Things like season vegetables and fruits, milk and some other staples.

When I say market, don't immagine the European open air kind. Those markets are squares with little, dark shops all around. You can find jewelers, fashion boutiques, hairdressers, coffee bars and little basic groceries full of Indian stuff with unpronounceable names.

If you need to buy fish, meat or simple European food, like pasta for example, you have to take your car and have a nice time in Delhi's traffic jams.

It takes more than half an hour to cover 5 kilometers and reach this INA Market, but it seems to be worth it, judging by Michael and Ele's tales. I have to admit that I thought it was a bad jape, knowing them.

I was wrong. Kind of.

INA Market is a real Ali Baba's cave for foodies. You can find whatever you want from almost any country and if don't see it in your sight, they will find it for you. However, if you are a prissy person, this may not be the right place for you. It's always Delhi, it's always India: dirt, hawkers, homeless people and beggars jump immediately to the eye while you are concentrated doing the giant slalom through the stray dogs in the aisles.

A truly Indian experience.

This colorful, crowded indoor market is really exciting, with small shops full of packaged imported foods and local dry goods merchants. When you arrive at the parking, an army of coolies (porters) move close to you with a big smile, ready to carry your choices in a basket while you shop for few rupees. You have to choose among about fifteen guys: I chose the less intimidating one.

In a huge and multi-colored fruits and veg stall I saw some packages of Indian Buffalo Mozzarella in a fogged fridge and I asked for it.

-Don't- Ele said- Don't buy cheese here because you can't know how long it has been under the sun, before reaching that fridge.

-Right. So where do you buy cheese?

-In Meher Chand Market, just 4 kilometers from here

Great, another mission only to buy cheese. Ok, I can live with it.

After we got our fill of fruits and vegetables, always with the guy following us with his plastic basket, we had a random walk until reach the fishmongers side. Amazing. Less choice compared to the Tel Aviv fish markets, but much better and fresher compared to Strasbourg. Plus, fish are sold whole, so you can recognize what is kosher and what is not before they ask you if you want it in fillets. Since I have a retired surgeon at home, who wants fillets? He will make a better job than nobody else.

In a muddy lane in the back, you have the butchers. Mutton, goat, chicken and pork meats are available here. All the meat are halal and sellers are muslims, except for the pork, of course. The floor is wet, the odor is disgusting and a huge community of flies lives there, despite the fans and the electric fly zappers. Hygiene? Not available. 

At least, you know that meat is fresh. You have the option of choosing your live animal and they are so kind to kill and cut it just in front your eyes.

Now I understand why the majority of Indians are vegetarian.

-Tell me you never buy meat here.

She laughed.

-No. I buy kosher chicken from the Chabad Community and other Halal meats from a Japanese store which are...

-Let me guess...far and away?

Her laugh answered my question.

I can make it, I feel it. I will need to join her daily yoga class, but I will make it. Breath long and deep...

That day I bought a lot of almonds from Kashmir. They have a very pleasing aroma and a great texture. 

Yesterday, we all had a very bad day. Especially Ele. Then I wanted to try to cuddle her in some way.

I know for sure that her favorite sweet treat is Baklava.

The only problem is that I didn't know if phyllo pastry is available here. The homemade one is good, but sincerely, not the same.

I was afraid to ask

-Where can I find phyllo pastry?

-In the Modern Bazaar. 

Modern. Sounds so comfortable.

-And...where is it? 

-Just a few minutes from home

Yeah!

Long post, I hope you enjoyed my distress. But you maybe came here for the recipe...
Here it goes:

My Almond Baklava

There is not only one baklava recipe, there are thousands. The only thing they have in common is the dry fruits filling in a crunchy phyllo pastry shell, with a sticky flavorful syrup. This is my favorite one, with almonds only, orange blossom flavored.

for a 27x35 cm pan:

500 g almonds
4 tablespoons sugar
150 g butter
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
500 grams phyllo pastry

for the syrup:

500 g sugar
250 ml water
juice of 1 big lemon
about 2 tablespoons orange blossom water

If using frozen pastry, let it thaw completely before.

Preheat the oven at 180°.

In the meanwhile, chop the almonds. You can do it carefully in a food processor, but I like do it by hand, with a large knife, especially when I'm upset or angry, like I was. Those thinks work better than yoga for me.

Transfer the chopped almond in a bowl and mix with 4 tablespoons sugar.

Melt the butter along with the oil. Pour about 4 tablespoons of this mix on the almonds and mix well. Grease a the pan with oil or butter. Carefully, open and unfold the pastry sheets, place a dump cloth on them to prevent it from drying out.

Gently handle the phyllo dough sheets one by one, taking care to not to tear or damage it.

Place a sheet in the pan and brush it with the butter and oil mix. Place another sheet on the top of the first one and brush it, too. Do the same with the half of the package. You must to have a bottom of at least 10 phyllo sheets. Be careful to press the pastry on the edges and corners of the pan to make it adhering. Cut the pastry that pass over the edges of the pan. Scissors are the best tool for this task.

When you finish placing the half of the dough, place the almonds on it in an even layer. Make sure the almonds cover the entire pan.

Cover with the others phyllo sheets, greasing again one by one with the greasy mix. Brush the last one, too. Don't forget.

Normally and traditionally, at this point you have to cut the baklava in diamonds shapes. With a sharp knife, cut 6 rows across the long side. Then cut diagonal rows, first from a corner to the opposite one, then parallel to that row across the rest of the baclava.

Or you can do like me, I just cut in squares.

Bake for 1 hour or until golden and crisp. If after one hour it's not golden rise the temperature to 200° for some minutes, it will take the right tan.

During the baking time, make the syrup. Mix water, sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the orange blossom water. Let cool.

Take the baklava off the oven and let cool. When syrup and baklava are both cooled, drizzle the syrup all over the baklava. 

Refrigerate at least for 1 hour before serving.

Notes: I use to make baklava only with almonds because I like it more than other variations. You can also mix pistachio, walnuts and almonds or make it only with pistachio. Rose water water can be used instead of orange blossom one. Pistachio baklava with rose water is very common in Iran.

You can replace the sugar syrup with an honey or silan syrup and add spices like cinnamon or cardamom. For a Parve baklava, just substitute butter with more extra virgin olive oil. 

Bulgur, orange and pomegranate salad with honey. Did you say honey?

New Delhi, February 2017

Anedoctes about a doctor, superfoods, and a salad for dinner. With Honey, of course.

Have you ever heard about the story of the nurse who got married with the handsome doctor?

What a commonplace, isn't it?

Simply put, it's our story.

In the autumn of our lives, we got finally married three weeks ago. The doctor and me. I still survive. 

😅

The doctor knows a lot about food, more than anybody else I know. And is hard, very hard to please, as he has a very demanding palate. His favorite word is moderation: he can eat fried chicken thrice in a week to make cooking experiments, then keep vegetarian for an entire month and skip sugar for weeks.

He doesn't believe in superfoods. Superfoods are marketing gimmicks- he use to say,- it's just a buzzword created to make you think that certain foods have "magic" powers as curing cancer or dementia. A dangerous and life-threatening strategy.

The good approach is a balanced and varied diet, because even a "superfood" can cause harmful effects if eaten in large amounts. 

That's what he says, and i believe he's right. 

So, there’s no such thing as a superfood... but Honey!

Honey is the only real superfood on Earth.

He can skip sugar for weeks but not honey for a single day.

He can talk for hours about honey types, plants, bees breeds and the benefits of every and each sort of honey. I mean, really, for hours. Never ask him about honey if you don't have time to listen, I recommend you.

But believe me, with his "Leonard Cohen-like" voice, it's a real delight listening to him.

The privilege of an elite 😄

The doctor has an inestimable collection of honeys from all over the world that he allows me to use sometimes under his strict control. His Jaffa Orange blossom honey was perfect for this nomad recipe. A bit of Israel's sun and taste in the gray, polluted New Delhi.

Speaking of superfoods, my starting idea was making the salad with quinoa or millet. Then his crabby jewish side emerged: "Too expensive and flavorless. Besides, it's birds food" he claimed.

Right then, so be it.

It seems that pomegranate is one of those new superfoods. Here in India they are beautiful, bright red and taste wonderful; in addition, they are in peak season, as oranges, as well.

Superfoods or not, the doctor loved this salad. It's for the honey hint, maybe? ;)


Cut to the chase, without further ado, here is the recipe:

Bulgur, orange and pomegranate salad with honey

Serves 4 as side dish

100 g bulgur
500 ml vegetable stock
8 pitted Medjool dates, coarsely chopped
20-30 g parsley, finely chopped
20 g green onions, finely sliced
2 navel oranges peeled with wedges cut into chunks
the juice of 1 orange
the juice of 1 lime
1 handful pomegranate seeds
about 2 teaspoons cinamon
3 tablespoon orange blossom honey
extra virgin olive oil
salt, to taste

In a pan, bring the stock to a boil and add the bulgur and cook for 20 minutes. Here the bulgur is sold loose and not precooked. If you have a precooked one, then follow the package instructions.
When ready, fluff it with a fork or simply by hands. I know it's an inherited vice, I like to touch the food, but I always have clean hands, short nails and I use no polish on them.
In a large bowl, combine the dates, pomegranate, orange, parsley and green onion. Stir the cinnamon in. Add the cooked bulgur and stir again.
In a little bowl, mix the orange and lime juice, oil and honey. Whisk strongly until dressing is smooth. pour the dressing on the salad and combine.
Add more cinnamon if you desire and a dash of sea salt. Stir and serve.

Raspberries brown butter cake

New Delhi, February 2017.

"Do not use your blog only for the Challenge. Share your recipes, spread them over the world."

These were my niece words. Followed by a lot of "but" from me.

It's not because I don't want to share, not at all. It's because I think that the net is already saturated of cooking stuffs. I have nothing to teach, a lot to learn.

And I admit, I'm a very shy person. Not the in the window "see me, see me" kind.

But she insisted.

In the end, she convinced me. I think I'm becoming like Michael, my husband, who can't say no to her. Maybe.

She is also teaching me to take food pictures with the camera. I'm not a good student, but I promise I will improve.😊

The other day, we went to a local farm market and we found a lot of organic, nice red berried. Blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and so on. The surprise was that they were relatively cheap  and good, compared to the imported ones that you can find everywhere here in Delhi.

I bought a bunch of them and on the way home I've been ruminating on what to do with, besides eating them just plain. Which we did, of course.

Lost in my thoughts, I remembered a fragrant and nutty flavored raspberry cake I ate once in my friend Esther's house in Tel Aviv.

So I asked her the recipe, it was just mouth watering, as I remembered.

Here it goes

Esther's Raspberry Brown Butter Cake

for a 20 cm cake:

170 grams butter

4 eggs, at room temperature

300 grams sugar
300 grams flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
200 grams raspberries

Icing sugar for dusting and an handful of raspberries to decorate (optional)

First of all, you have to brown the butter. If it's the first time you do it, I advice you to use a stainless steel pan, so you will see the color of the butter change. If you're not new in doing this, use the pan you want. Heat the butter in a large pan until melted. Medium heat is best for this. Rotate the pan to allow an even cooking. After several minutes, you will see the foam, then you will watch it to change color from yellow to darker. When the butter turns golden or light brown just smell it. If you smell nutty, similar to hazelnuts or toffee, it is done. 

Do not overcook, otherwise it will taste bitter and will be harmful for your health. 

Once is done, remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Preheat the oven at 180°C. 

Grease and light flour a 20 cm cake tin

In a bowl, with an electric mixer, mix the brown butter, eggs and sugar. Blend them. Add the vanilla extract and the milk and mix.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add this mixture to the butter batter, mixing at low speed to avoid a big mess.😅  Mix until incorporated.

Add the raspberries stirring by hand...or with a spatula, I prefer using my hands, it's the funniest part.

Pour the batter in the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.

It has to be golden in the edges. The toothpick test is useful, too.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Put it on a wire rack to allow cool completely.

Dust with icing sugar and decorate with fresh raspberries, if you desire.

Enjoy and let me know.

Fried chicken, with an Alsatian twist

This is my recipe to take part for my first time to the MTChallenge, which I follow monthly since years ago.

This month's challenge is Silvia's fried chicken.

First of all, I want to say a big Thank You to Elisa Baker, for all her support. She knows what I mean.

So here I am.

Still can't believe it.

I opened a blog. A cooking blog. Me.

Yes, Me.

When I entered in the Blogger platform, my first thought went to my mom. She's the one who simply doesn't tollerate when somebody takes pictures of food. Take notes, -she use to say- taste it, touch it, feel it, remember it, but don't take pictures. 

Don't ask, I don't know why.

This only means that she will never have the link of this blog.

Don't tell her.😉

Then, I thought about my husband and my niece. They do have a cooking blog, an amazing one. It's supposed that I had to publish my recipes in their blog. They are going to get mad. 

They will know about it at my first publication.😊

Which is today....

Surprise!

Why The Nomade Kitchen?

Because I used to live in France, in Strasbourg. I had a very quiet life until I decided to get engaged (once again) with my very first love who's such a great man, brilliant, clever, handsome, gifted in many ways...but a bit crazy and nomade, indeed. Now that we got married, I don't even know where do I live. Still in France? In Israel? In India, where I'm writing from?

A question that is impossible to answer. I don't even try. And, honestly speaking, I don't care.

I only enjoy the view from the planes, beginning to enjoy my new nomade life and nomade kitchen. With a nomade husband. Who can't live without my nomade niece, and so on.

I'm not going to bore you more. Let's talk about this fried chicken.  

I've carefully read the rules for this challenge but it happens that I'm a quite observant jew and we use to not mix milk and meat. Never. I know, we're very complicated people in food issues.

So, no buttermilk for me in the marinate. I thought that I should maybe skip this month, but they reassured me that for me the buttermilk was not an obligation.  Thank you!!

To not betray my "Strasbourgeoises" origins what did I do? Take a guess.

I used beer, of course!

Then, I meditated on giving an Alsatian twist to the whole dish. That's why I choose potato crumbs to breading. And Onion and beer sauce and braised cabbage for complements.

WARNING: I don't feel to be worthy of others MTChallengers level. When I cook, I just follow my feelings. I have not any geniality in cooking. Just simple things, with simple ingredients.

Actually, I don't cook. I fix lunches or dinners to feed my loved ones.

Just to say that I'm here only to play, enjoy, learning from others and...because my niece pushed me!

Now it's time for the recipe. It goes like this:

The breaded fried chicken with an Alsatian twist:

I made just one chicken, half my way, the other half in Silvia's way

Myriam's Braised red cabbage with apples.

This is a very traditional Alsatian recipe. The original one also asks for chestnut but only in season. Some add "lardons" (small bacon dice), bay leaves, juniper berries and cloves.

This is my mother's version, from a poorer and simpler jewish kitchen.

1 red cabbage

100 g schmaltz

1 big minced onion

4 "reinette" apples (I used Gala)

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

500 ml red wine (I used Sula, a local Indian Cabernet)

250 g chestnuts (didn't use them)

salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar

Cut the cabbage in four and take the tough parts off. Cut it in thin stripes.

Mix the cabbage with the salt, sugar and vinegar and let it marinate overnight. The vinegar has the task to fix the cabbage color.

The day after, melt the schmaltz in a oven proof pan and sauté the onion. When it's soft, add the cabbage and pour the wine. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover the the pan with its lid and put it simmer in the oven at 180° for one hour.

If using, make a deep cut on the chestnut skin and deep fry them for 3 or four minutes. Peel them when still hot paying special attention to eliminate the thin black skin. You can also use frozen or canned chestnut but believe me, the taste will neve be the same.

Incorporate the chestnuts to the cabbage in the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Peel and cut the apples. You can choose as you like cut them in cubes or in 8 wedges. I prefer the cubes, but it's your choice. Add the apples to the pan 10 minutes before the end of cooking time.

The dish is done when no cooking juice is left. It has to be moist but with no extra liquid.

Roasted Onion and beer sauce

When you use beer, food may tend to be bitter. You can balance this with a pinch of sugar or in other sweet ways, as using roasted or caramelized onions. Don't use the beer from the marinade, open a new one, same kind.

I only find red onions here, but yellow or white ones suit better.

Extra virgin Olive oil

2 large onion, unpeeled , quartered

250 ml blonde beer (Leffe, for me)

salt

freshly ground white pepper

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat your oven at 200°C.

In a baking tray, lay down the onions quarters, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. I don't peel them because of the smoky flavour of the roasted peels, which is irresistible to me.

Bake the onions until tender and surface is golden brown. It will be about half an hour.

Transfer the onion to a blender and puree until smooth.

In a saucepan, pour the beer and bring to a boil over high heat until reduced to the half. Add the onion puree. Correct the seasoning if needed. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice.

Heat the sauce just before serving, being careful to not to boil.

His Majesty the fried chicken itself

1 Whole chicken, cut in pieces (I didn't weigh it)

Marinade:

1 blonde beer (Leffe for me)

1 celery stalk, whole, with leaves on

1 carrot, peeled, cut in chunks

1 leek, cut in chunks

some juniper berries

some good black peppercorns

Combine all ingredients and put your chicken pieces to take a relaxing bath for 3 hours. Beer is very powerful for marinades, You can also leave it overnight but you will find your meat with an ugly grey color and a mushy texture.

Turn the chicken often lo let penetrate the marinade everywhere.

Potato chips crumbs

1kg potatoes

4 tablespoons schmaltz, melted

2 teaspoons powdered onion

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Plus:

3 eggs

100 g flour

lot of schmalz for frying

salt

First, make your crumbs. You can make this ahead and store them in airtight container for weeks.

Preheat you oven at 190°C. Slice potatoes into 3mm slices and toss them with the melted schmaltz, onion powder and a little salt. In a baking sheet, arrange them in a single layer. Bake about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Now, season again with salt and pepper to taste. For the maximum crispiness, transfer them immediately to a wire rack to let them cool.

When cool, do not succumb to the temptation to eat them all. Forget it. 

Grind them in a food processor until obtaining a coarse powder, like sand. Set aside, or store it.

Now, Remove chicken from the marinade, shake it to eliminate the excess and let it drain on a rack for about half an hour. Discard marinade.

Prepare everything you need: a plate with the flour, a bowl with the beaten eggs, another plate with the crumbs. You will also need a plate to lay down the breaded chicken and another one lined with kitchen paper towels, to put the just fried pieces.

Only then, you can proceed.

Be sure your chicken has dripped off any excess of marinade. You also can throughly wipe it with paper towel to make sure the coating adhere.

Breaded chicken before frying

Roll the chicken trough the flour.

Dip each piece in the beaten eggs. Hold the piece over the bowl and shake it to eliminate the excess.

Roll each piece in the crumbs, pressing on to make them adhere properly. 

Put them on a plate while you finish coating all your pieces.

Now, let's have fun.

Take your frying pan. A cast iron one, for me.

Melt the schmaltz and heat it until reach 180°C.

Fry your chicken few pieces at time, until beautiful golden brown.

Let drain on a plate lined with paper towel.

Season with salt after frying.

Keep the chicken warm in the oven at 120° while you finish frying.

Enjoy it dipped in the onion sauce, accompanied by the braised cabbage.

Breaded fried chicken. Internal view .

For Silvia's floured fried chicken:

same beer marinade as the previous recipe

1/2 chicken cut in pieces

100 g flour

salt 

pepper

schmaltz for frying

Floured chicken before frying

Proceed as above to remove the chicken from the marinade and let it drain.

Mix flour, salt and pepper in a large food storage bag.

Insert the chicken pieces and shake it until perfectly coated.

Floured fried chicken. Internal view

Deep fry in schmaltz heated at 180°C, three pieces at time.

Let it drain on a plate, lined with paper towel to eliminate the excess of fat.

Keep it warm in the oven at 120°, while you finish frying.