If you like liver you will love this Crispy Liver and Sweet Sour Spicy Onion recipe. If you don’t like liver, this might make you change your mind about liver.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals, but their micronutrient content doesn’t always hold up to what is found in meats and organ meats – especially liver.  It’s why liver is known as natures most potent super foods.
- An excellent source of high-quality protein
- Contains all of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
- Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A, which is rapidly depleted during periods of stress, as well as by consuming a low-fat diet
- All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
- One of our best sources of natural folate
- A highly usable form of iron
- Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
- CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
- A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA
Sweet Sour Spicy Onions:
ingredients
2-3 tblsp Olive oil
2 Onions, sliced
1 Jalepeno Pepper, sliced
1/2 tsp Cayenne (optional if you like it with a real spicy kick)
1/2 tsp Smoked or Sweet Paprika
6 tblsp Red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
juice of half lemon
Salt to taste
instructions
- Heat olive oil in pan till medium hot
- Add onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions begin to soften
- Add jalapeño pepper
- Sauté for 5-6 minutes until onions start to brown
- Add paprika, and cayenne pepper (if using), add 1/2 teaspoon salt, saut̩ for 2 Р3 minutes, till fragrant and start caramelizing
- Add vinegar, stir to deglaze pan. Deglazing is when you use liquid to get all the brown bits off the bottom of pan
- Add brown sugar and lemon juice. Stir through and let liquid cook off for 1-2 minutes
- Check seasoning, add salt.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat olive oil in pan till medium hot 
Add onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions begin to soften
Add jalapeño pepper 
Sauté for 5-6 minutes until onions start to brown
Add paprika, and cayenne pepper (if using), add 1/2 teaspoon salt, sauté for 2 – 3 minutes, till fragrant and start caramelizing 
Add vinegar, stir to deglaze pan. Deglazing is when you use liquid to get all the brown bits off the bottom of pan
Add brown sugar and lemon juice. Stir through and let liquid cook off for 1-2 minutes
Check seasoning, add salt.
Remove from heat and set aside. 
Crispy Liver
Calfs liver has a milder flavour. Always eat organic meat, especially organ meats.
I always soak liver in water to get rid of excess blood and the ‘liver’ taste. Remove skin, cut out any sinews. Rinse well.
ingredients
1 lb Calf Liver
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 dashes (about 1-2 tsp) worcestershire sauce
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup olive oil for frying
instructions
- Soak liver in water to get rid of excess blood. Remove any skin, cut out sinews. Rinse and drain well. Cut into desired size.
- Put liver in a bowl add soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and black pepper. Marinate for at least 30 minutes
- Heat olive oil in pan till medium hot
- Add flour to shallow dish, dredge liver pieces in flour
- Carefully add liver to hot oil. Always drop away from you to avoid splashes
- Fry liver for 2-3 minutes per side, until outside is browned and crispy, and liver is just cooked through
- Serve with onions, and mashed potatoes.
Prep and marinade liver: Soak liver in water to get rid of excess blood. Remove any skin, cut out sinews. Rinse and drain well. Cut into desired size. Put liver in a bowl add soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and black pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes 
In a pan, heat olive oil till medium hot
Add flour to shallow dish, dredge liver pieces in flour 
Carefully add liver to hot oil. Always drop away from you to avoid splashes 
Fry liver for 2-3 minutes per side, until outside is golden brown and liver is just cooked through 
Serve with onions, and mashed potatoes.
My favourite is liver and onion sandwiches. And I love it with extra onions!
It’s National Fried Chicken Day today and I’m excited to share my new improved Fried Chicken recipe, with a secret ingredient that will give you perfectly light, crispy, crunchy coating every time.
Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can’t have fried chicken. Â Believe it or not, you can eat the real thing, not oven ‘fried’ or almost as good as fried chicken, but real damn honest to goodness, slap your mama good, fried chicken. Because we all know there is NOTHING like the real proper fried chicken.
When my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, he’s main concern was not being able to eat fried chicken. He is fried chicken obsessed. I’m not even exaggerating, I think he is a fried chicken addict. You may think you like fried chicken or know someone who does, but not like this. I think he may actually love fried chicken just as much as sex. lol
But eating healthy doesn’t mean you can’t eat fried chicken. He has managed to maintain normal blood sugar and I lost over 60lbs, dropped 8 dress sizes, easily!
Yes, you read that right, I ate fried chicken and lost weight. And for the first time in my life weight loss was easy and actually a real pleasure! No gimmicks, no fancy diets, no weird foods and no spending extra money. In fact eating better and spending LESS money!
You just have to follow the 3 chicken rules.
First rule of chicken – ONLY EAT ORGANIC CHICKEN. No exceptions! EVER.
Not just to be a decent human being and not support the torture and abuse of animals, but because its what your body needs. Real food without chemicals.
Chickens have it the worst off of all the factory farmed animals. Did you know that cage free chickens don’t ever see sunlight? Â Cage free doesnt mean clean, chemical free or humanely treated. They are still pumped full of chemicals and hormones because of their unnatural living conditions.
Eating factory farmed chickens is like poisoning your body. You might as well just go eat KFC and fast food, give up on healthy eating and prepare for the diseases you and your loved ones will suffer at some point. Over 75% of diseases are caused by diet. We are eating ourselves sick. You’re eating your way to cancer every time you eat those cheap supermarket chickens!
Second rule of fried chicken – Fry in olive oil. No canola, corn or other harmful oils and oil blends. One of the biggest lies is that you can’t fry in olive oil.  We put olive oil on our salads because its good for you, so why not use it to fry your food. And its how people have been frying foods for centuries.
You wouldn’t pour canola or corn oil on your salad, so don’t put it in your food. EVER.  Most commercial vegetable oils are a mixture of unidentified oils that have been extracted with chemicals. Stop using these oils immediately!! If you have them in your cupboard, just throw them out or use them in the garage or for DIY projects or cleaning. They are not fit for human consumption. And if you’re thinking about the money you’re wasting, its cheaper than the damage you’re causing your body and cheaper than doctors bills!
Third rule of fried chicken – Moderation! Yep, its that bitch moderation again, you have to eat and drink with her at all times.
This applies to all fried foods. You can be healthy eating fried foods, but you can’t eat it everyday or every week. Once a month or less. Everything in MODERATION.
I make a lot of fried chicken. A. LOT.  I usually joke that I make more chicken than the average chicken restaurant. I’ve tried so many different recipes, from brining, buttermilk, over night marinating, the cold water extra crunchy method, the double crunchy method, Southern fried, Country fried, Korean fried chicken, broasted, panko coated, Japanese Katsu, to every version of KFC copy cat recipe you can find on the inter webs. I’ve sourced fancy and unusual ingredients and learned about different peppers and seasoning. I studied KFC history and the evolution of the recipe. Did I mention my husband is fried chicken obsessed?
You name it, I’ve tried it. But this is by far the easiest and my favourite recipe. It’s the one I get most compliments and recipe requests. And best of all, its quick and easy. With no special or expensive ingredients.  I can get complete fried chicken meal, including sides, to the table in under an hour.
ingredients
1 whole fryer chicken (3-4 pounds) cut into pieces.
2 Eggs, beaten
1/3 cup hot sauce (of your choice, I used Louisianna Hot Sauce and Chipotle Hot sauce)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Good quality olive oil for frying. About 1/2 – 3/4 inches of oil in pan.
SEASONONED FLOUR MIX:Â
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2Â teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme, dried
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
instructions
1. Â Â Beat eggs, add hot sauce, salt and pepper. Add chicken pieces to egg mixture, mix to coat each piece. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Â Â In a large bowl add flour, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, turmeric, salt and pepper
And the secret ingredient…
Baking powder! Its the secret to light, crispy coating every time. Remember to always buy aluminum free baking powder. 
3. Â Mix or whisk flour and seasonings together to combine thoroughly.
4. Â Â In large pan, heat olive oil till medium hot. (350-375 is ideal temperature for frying. )
4. Â Â Dredge chicken in seasoned flour. Only dredge the pieces you are about to fry. Adding any moisture to the seasoned flour mixture will activate the baking powder.
5.  Shake off any excess flour, and carefully drop chicken pieces in hot oil. Always drop facing away from you to avoid splashes.
6. Â Â Once you’ve filled the pan, turn the chicken over, starting with the first piece you added. This seals in the crunch and ensures crispy coating on both sides without deep frying.
7. Â Fry chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Remember dark meat takes longer, about 12-15 minutes. White meat cooks quicker, about 8 -10 minutes.
And now its chicken time… KrFC time! As my hubbys says, the best time of all.
Instead of heavy, rich side dishes, try lightening things up by having guilt free Cauliflower Mash instead of mashed potatoes, or mac and cheese. And spicy garlic green beans instead of greens cooked with ham or animal fat.
Enjoy!
Add some  exotic flavour to your chicken with this is a fuss-free one dish recipe.
Just sprinkle spices on the chicken, squeeze over some fresh orange juice then bake or grill.
Orange juice is such a wonderful natural way to sweeten your marinade. Â As with any marinade the longer you marinate the more intense the flavour will get.
But who’s got that kind of time.. I marinated this for as long as it took me to heat the oven. And it was so tasty I wouldn’t want to change anything about the flavour.
I served this Orange Cumin Chicken with lentils and rice, my vegetarian meal of the week. Â I always have a meat back up when I serve vegetarian meals. My carnivore doesn’t consider it a meal unless there’s meat in it.
ingredients
3 lbs Chicken pieces (I cut up a whole chicken, about 3.5 lbs)
Salt
1 tablespoon Garlic powder
3 tablespoons Cumin
1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
2 teaspoons Curry Powder
2 Oranges
instructions
- Prep chicken – clean and wash. Spread out in baking dish. Â I used a foil lined pan for easy clean up.
- Sprinkle salt, garlic powder, cumin and paprika over chicken, toss to coat
- Squeeze juice of 1 1/2 oranges over chicken. Cut the remaining  half orange in slices, and add to chicken
- Toss together to coat. Marinate for a few hours or overnight, or cook right away (which is what I did)
- Bake or Grill. (bake 350 for 60-75 mins or until the chicken is cooked through and juices run clear)
When heard the words Crawfish Cornbread and I knew I had to try it. I don’t really like regular cornbread but I just love cornbread with exciting stuff in it and I love seafood.
I used Langoustine Tails instead of crawfish. Langoustines look like big shrimp, but they are actually small thin lobbers and they are simply delicious.
You could also use shrimp. Next time I’d like to try crab. I imagine smoked salmon would be good too. So many seafood options if you can’t find or don’t like crawfish.
This is a really easy, versatile and forgiving recipe. The dry ingredients used is my Jiffy Corn Muffin recipe.
This cornbread is hearty and could be served as a main meal. I made Crawfish Eggs Benedict for breakfast with leftovers. The savoury sweet seafoody cornbread was so good with creamy hollandaise sauce that next time I plan to serve it with hollandaise sauce and a salad.
I wrote the recipe a little differently this time. I wrote the  instructions with ingredient quantities, and listed them step by step the way I’d execute the recipe. I hate when I’m working from a recipe and I have to go back and forth between the ingredients and instructions to double check quantities. I hope this makes sense and is easier to follow. Please let me know.
We devoured most of this cornbread before I got around to taking ‘after’ pics. To me that sounds like a reason to make it again real soon!
ingredients
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 Â medium yellow or white onion, chopped
2 Â bay leaves
1/4 Â cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
1/4 cup Green onion. chopped
2-3 Jalepeno peppers, chopped (or to taste)
1 cup Corn, fresh (or frozen)
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup milk
1lb crawfish tails
instructions
Pre heat oven to 375. Grease 9X13 baking dish
Whisk together:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Set Aside dry ingredients
Heat skillet to medium hot and add:Â
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 Â medium yellow or white onion, chopped
2 Â bay leaves
Sauté until translucent, set aside to cool. Â
In a large bowl add the following veg and seasonings:
1/4 Â cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
1/4 Green onion. chopped
2-3 Jalepeno peppers, chopped (or to taste)
1 cup Corn, fresh (or frozen)
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Add sautéed onions,be sure to remove bay leaves.
Mix together until combined
Add:
Dry ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup milk (add more if mixture is too dry)
Gently Fold in:
1lb crawfish tails.
Pour into prepared baking dish.Â
Bake until lightly golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean. About 50-60 minutes. Â
It was unanimous, this is the best orange chicken we’ve ever eaten. No mystery ingredients or heaps of sugar and salt. And it all came together in less time than it takes to get take out.
Orange chicken is one of hubby’s favourite Chinese menu items, but it’s not usually diabetic friendly and it’s loaded with salt, sugar and chemicals. And all that covering fried Frankenchicken – chemical laden supermarket tortured chickens. A recipe for disaster and early death, not to mention animal cruelty.
I made a healthier version using fresh organic ingredients. I simply cooked down freshly squeezed orange juice (and seasoning) till thickened. I used agave instead of sugar. Agave isn’t as sticky as sugar, but the end results were just as delicious.
ingredients
- 1 1/2 Pounds chicken, cut into chunks
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup olive (or peanut) oil
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced (optional)
FOR THE MARINADE
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 cup sugar (I used about 1/3 cup agave)
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
instructions
- To make the marinade, In a saucepan whisk together all marinade ingredients: chicken stock, orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, orange zest, Sriracha, ginger, white pepper, soy sauce.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and 1/2 cup of the marinade; marinate for about 30 minutes.
- Bring remaining marinade to a boil, turn down heat and simmer to reduce liquid by about a third.
- Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water, stir into marinade. Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened about 1-2 minutes, add chili flakes, keep warm.
- Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade. Dredge the chicken in 1 cup cornstarch, pressing to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Working in batches,add chicken and fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towel
- Serve chicken immediately, tossed or drizzled with the marinade, garnish with green onion
Buffalo wing dip is everything you love about buffalo wings without the bones.
And because you’re using breasts and not frying, its lower in fat than chicken wings. Kinda.
So why not use crispy chicken skin for dipping, right?
Everyone always goes crazy for this dip. I don’t know about milkshake, but crispy chicken skin brings all the boys to the yard. And by yard I mean the couch in front of my telly.
I must confess the first few times I made this recipe, I wasn’t a big fan, but everyone else loved it, so I Kitchen Rebel’d it up and now I think I might like this even more than wings!
I roast chicken breasts, always bone in, skin on. Remove skin and bones and reserve for stock. Or if you’re feeling decadent, like I was on game day, remove skin and bake for a few minutes longer to crisp it up, making for the best ever dipping chips.
ingredients
- 1 (8oz) Package cream cheese, softened
- 2/3 cup buffalo wing sauce (I used Franks)
- 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
- 1/2 cup blue cheese
- 3/4 cup Mozzarella
instructions
- Preheat oven to 400
- Mix cream cheese, buffalo wing sauce until smooth
- Fold in chicken, mozzarella and blue cheese, reserve some for sprinkling on top if desired
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until heated through
- Serve with chips, crackers or vegetables
These Bacon Chicken Bites were ridiculously easy and ridiculously delicious. Chicken wrapped in bacon tossed in chili brown sugar. These were so good and addictive it made me angry.
This will be that appetizer your guests will rave about and want the recipe for.  And best of all you can make them in advance. And it tastes great at room temperature. Always a great thing when entertaining.
ingredients
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breastsÂ
1 package sliced bacon
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
toothpicksÂ
instructions
- Preheat oven to 400
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces
- Wrap each piece of chicken with bacon (I cut each bacon strip into 3) secure with toothpick
- Mix brown sugar and chili powder
- Toss bacon wrapped chicken in chili sugar mixture, spread out on baking sheet
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown
The hardest part of this recipe is not eating a dozen of these bites o’ bliss at a time. And resisting the urge to rush out and get double the amount of bacon and make twice as many. Â And oh the heady aroma of chickeny bacon wafting through the house.. just thinking about it makes me want more of this happiness in my mouth.
There were several other great appetizers on offer that day, but these are always first to go.
Secret to juicy breasts EVERY TIME is to cook the bird breast side down. That way all the juices run into the breasts, so it can even handle some over cooking and still be juicy. Face down ass up is a great position for just about anything with breasts you want to keep moist.
For quite some time I’ve wanted to try the popular Silver Palate Chicken Marbella recipe. Olives, prunes, vinegar, wine and bay leaves sounded like it had some ooey gooey sweet sour potential.
This weekend I finally tried the recipe. I made some slight changes for convenience, mostly because I didn’t feel like going back to the store to get dried oregano, so I used fresh from the garden.
ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup pitted prunes
- 1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
- 1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and finely chopped or pureed
- 1/4 cup dried oregano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
I did things a little differently to the original recipe (at end of post)
instructions
- Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
- In large bowl or ziploc bag, mix all the ingredients together to make marinade.
- Toss chicken in marinade.
- I marinaded for 2 hours (I was pressed for time)
- Bake at 350 for 1hr 15mins, or till chicken is tender and juices are running clear.
- With slotted spoon transfer chicken pieces to serving dish.
- Pour sauce/pan juices into sauce pan, simmer for a few mins. I did this to break down the prunes further, and mostly to remove any excess oil.
- I poured off all excess oil, then poured sauce over chicken.
- I forgot to add the chopped parsley before serving.
I took the pic while the chicken was cooling, before I removed the bay leaves. I had every intention of taking pics once I plated, but we started tasting and tasting.. and tasting some more.. before I knew it there was only 3 pieces left and we were in a chicken coma headed for the couch.
We really enjoyed this dish. Slightly sweet and tangy. Very similar taste profile to an old fashioned South African sweet and sour meat dish, called Denningvleis, where tamarind is used to for the fruity tangy sour flavour, instead of prunes and wine. Denningvleis is one of the oldest recorded recipes in South African history. The combination of sweet, sour and aromatic spices very evocative of Indonesian cuisine.
An interesting little fact about Denningvleis – every time I’ve made it, its wowed people, I can’t tell you how many catering jobs I’ve landed based on that dish alone.
This was a great flavour profile, clearly one thats been around for a long long time. I found chicken marbella to be a tame, toned down version of this old fashioned dish.
I can’t wait to explore this flavour profile again, next time using a “Denning-chicken” recipe.
Original recipe:
1. Combine all ingredients, except white wine and brown sugar, and marinate overnight.
2. Then arrange chicken in single layer in baking pan, spoon over marinade, sprinkle with sugar and white wine.
3. Bake for 50 mins to 1 hour, basting frequently.
4. Add chopped parsley before serving.
Good ole fashioned English fish and chips batter. Just like mum used to make.
Well not really my mum, but my uncle who had a fish and chips shop. They actually used egg in the batter instead of beer, but thats another story and recipe for another day.. Today I made more traditional beer batter. Crispy crunchy light and delicious.
ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 bottle/can (12oz) beer
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
instructions
- Mix flour, baking powder and garlic powder if using.
- Mix in beer
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Some people let batter stand for 1 -3 hours. I’ve noticed little difference using it right away. So use when is most convenient for you.