So this Sunday we finally remembered that we have an infared fryer. We have had this thing for years now but rarely break it out for some reason. Not sure why. We love how it cooks chicken, turkey breast, and whatever else we can think to throw in it.
We initially considered doing a turkey breast but they were crazy expensive and we knew that chicken was just as good. Whole chickens were on sale at Publix so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. We just had beer can chicken last week and we smoke chicken frequently so the fryer was a great option for something a little different. It is fairly quick and the chicken is always good.
We decided to use a rub we already had made this time. We pulled out our Memphis Style Rib Rub that we use typically on ribs that we smoke. We used this one because we know it isn't super spicy which works better for the kids and we had a lot of it so we weren't worried about running out. We put the rub on the chicken first and then applied peanut oil and used that to moisten the rub and spread it around the chicken. Peanut oil is our preferred oil for the fryer because it "fries" better than any other oil option.This is an infared fryer which means it runs on propane and doesn't actually use oil. Way safer, cleaner, and easier. Hence the reason we use peanut oil. Typically if you fry a turkey or something, you use a crazy amount of peanut oil so we just use it as part of a rub and it sort of helps to mimic the true frying process. The other bonus to an infared fryer is that food is actually somewhat better for you since it isn't actually frying in a huge vat of oil.
Steven handled the frying part. I think he said it takes about 10 minutes per pound but we think that is a bit of an underestimate. We took the bird's temp before we removed it but I think I should have tested it again because parts of it were a little underdone. No big deal. I threw a few of the pink pieces in the oven to finish cooking while we ate everything else. It's not the first time we have had to do that and I'm sure it won't be the last. We had a bit of a re-learning curve since we haven't done this in so long. We never have to do it for anything we grill or smoke any more but this was almost like a new process to us since we haven't used it for years.
The rest of dinner was my domain. We have really been trying to watch what we eat lately. We have been trying to cut down on prepackaged type foods that typically contain a lot of sodium. We are also increasing some of our veggie intake. We have always eaten a veggie with every meal but we are adding in a lot more green salads. We are also trying to watch the types and amounts of carbs we eat. We have gone entirely whole grain or whole wheat. We are feeling pretty good about those changes too and both of us have been losing some extra weight and doing good. Plus, we like to try to keep the kids on a fairly consistent and healthy diet so we are all doing pretty good. Anyway, we decided to eat some leftover wild rice because it saved me from having to make something else (and we really like wild rice). Will loves rice (most of the time) but Kenzie isn't as into it usually so we also had some leftover whole grain egg noodles with parmesan cheese on them for the kids. Easy enough. The kids had leftover peas. We have been trying really hard lately to not waste any food we have as leftovers so we have some food items make a reappearance later in the week sometimes.
The one thing I did decide to make in addition to the leftover rice was this awesome roasted zucchini that Steven and I really love. It is super simple and super yummy. I sliced some zucchini fairly thin and lay it out on a cookie sheet. Then use cooking spray to put a light coat of spray on it (in lieu of olive oil as that can make it mushier and isn't as "healthy"). Sprinkle with pepper and roast on 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. I always watch it because it can burn fast and cooking time varies based on how thin it is sliced. Sometimes I use my mandolin but I didn't want to bust it out today. We have also sprinkled parmesan on it in the past but I didn't have any extra hanging out so I omitted it. It didn't need it really so it was still good. I overdid it with the pepper a bit on some of the pieces. Usually I grind pepper to put on it but I used already ground pepper tonight so it came out faster than I anticipated it would. I bet it could also be good with some garlic powder on it. I might try that next time.
The best part about tonight's dinner though was probably that our weather has been amazing lately and we were able to take advantage of the perfect temps to eat outside. I'm sure I have mentioned before that we love to eat outside. I know I have talked about our family's love of picnics but eating on the back porch comes in as a close second in favorite places to eat. Eating outside would probably even trump a restaurant for our kids. They were excited to be able to eat outside today. Side note: In the next month or so we are hoping to get a wooden picnic bench to put outside in our backyard so we can have true "picnics" more often. Bonus: Eating all the way outside means less clean up for me. =) We are super excited to get the picnic bench soon. We are doing some outside upgrades (DIY ones) this spring and this is just one of them. Should make for an even better spring this year.
If anyone has any really great grilling, smoking, or frying recipes... please send them our way. With us going out to eat far less than we used to and trying to make more foods that aren't packaged, we are definitely interested in anything that is tried and true and might be good to add into our rotation. =)
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