Skip to main content

Fried Chicken and the Secrets of Almond Meal Pancakes

I have almonds in everything. If I'm trying to avoid eggs, I'll throw some in fried vegetables for protein in the morning, I mix almond butter with carob powder and raspberries for a dessert or just eat it plain, and I recently discovered the many uses of almond meal.

I'd had the suspicion for a long while that I could make fried chicken with almond meal breading and, after looking up a few recipes to get a vague outline, I gave it a go with my lets-just-try-it-and-see cooking style. It was awesome, though perhaps a little flavorless.

I tried to make it again last night and it was AMAZING> amazing. So good. Next time I'll even measure myself so I can try and do it again.

Another food I've been missing is pancakes. I love pancakes. And it turns out you can make them with almond meal. I tried to make them for the second time this morning with questionable success.

Well, I wasn't going to to do it at all, but I ran into a problem with a cracker recipe. Knowing I didn't have enough time to dehydrate them last night, I decided to mix it and set it up so I could pop them in first thing in the morning. As soon as I had the flax seeds soaking, I realized I didn't have sesame seeds. So I went to get them and when I came back, I realized I had to food process my sunflower seeds, and my roommate who sleeps by the kitchen had already gone to bed.

Anyway this meant that the flax seeds soaked overnight, turning them into a gelatinous blob, more or less. Then, I realized I only had two cups of sunflower seeds when I needed 4, so I had to half my recipe. That meant I had half a gelatinous blob left over. What to do with half a gelatinous blob of flax seeds?

PANCAKES> MAKE SOME PANCAKES>
Of course, I did not consult a recipe. Morning is too early for reasonable decisions. This was my second attempt at almond meal pancakes and here are some secrets I've learned about the process.
1) Keep a greased pan
if you don't, your pancakes will burn. simple enough.
2) But not too greased
almond meal pancakes are thin, and when you pour them into too much oil, the oil will infiltrate making them more like lattice cookies, but floppy ones that won't flip. And they'll burn.
3) Do not try to make them thicker.
adding a bunch of almond meal so that it's extra thick just means that it will take forever for them to cook enough to be firm enough to flip, and they'll burn.
4) Keep your heat low
they burn easy.

Basically, almond pancakes, while delicious, leave a lot to be desired in the baking process. I'll figure this out at some point.

As per usual, I don't have measurements, but here's a vague guide to play with for these things

FRIED CHICKEN
Set up your station
  • Take skinless, boneless chicken breast. Cut into 1/2" strips - ish. Set aside.
  • Whisk up 1 or 2 eggs in a bowl (depending on how much chicken you're making). Set aside.
  • Pour out a lot of almond meal on a dish. Add seasoning. Set aside.
  • Heat up 1/4" of oil in your pan.
Do it
  • Take a chicken strip.
  • Dip it in eggs. Shake off excess.
  • Dip in almond meal mixture. Get it really heavily breaded if possible.
  • Put it in the pan.
  • Repeat.
  • Flip at some point.
Eat, and be really really pleased with yourself.
For seasoning, this time I used salt, pepper, thyme, chilli powder, cumin. It was awesome.

The pancakes included these things:
  • 1/2 c flax seeds (whole) and 1/2 c water - soaked overnight
  • almond meal
  • coconut milk
  • more water
  • xylitol
  • vanilla
  • pinch baking powder
When I make these work I'll include more direction
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taking Up With The House of Joy

Winter finally arrived in Cape Town, and with a vengeance. The weather today is blustery as all get out with heavy rains and winds and a few spots of light drizzling and cold gusts. At the moment it is positively pouring. A great day for nesting. Fortunately, I moved into my new abode today. Most likely, I will be staying here until the end of July. It should work out just fine, provided I can figure out the function of that weird red light that blinks in the corner of this room. The house is in Obs in a residential area near the main strip. It's a riverside walk away from work and not too far from the city center, either. It operates as a venue once a month for poets and musicians and has been dubbed The House of Joy. It has a nice kitchen and a large dining room. The couple from whom I'm letting are very kind. After getting settled, I went across the bridge to Lower Main Road for lunch at Hello Sailor . On the way home, I was able to stock up on spices and oils at the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Like a Muffin with Frosting

This is a metaphor about gender and my relationship to my chest without speaking directly about my chest. I'm like a muffin with frosting. I look like a cupcake, but I'm not. I'm a muffin. And listen, there's nothing wrong with frosting. I love frosting! Frosting is boss! Whether or not frosting is super incredible is not the issue! The issue is that I do not identify with the frosting, particularly because it does not reinforce my identity as a muffin and as it does contribute to other people thinking I'm a cupcake. Really, the only reason to keep the frosting is for other people who really like cupcakes and think that I might be one. Or people who really like muffins and frosting. But the point is keeping the frosting would be to reify the idea that the space I take is only for the pleasure of others--others who like frosting. And it hides my muffin-ness from the world and, most importantly, myself. You might say, fuck pastry rolls!! What is it about frost...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dave Eggers, we're in a fight.

I finally picked up one of your books. So many people I respect and adore think you're marvelous so I broke my once indefinite ban on male authors and picked up a book of short stories. Thus far, I'd enjoyed it. Interesting style and characters and all the other nice things people say about you. Today, I ran out to catch the last dregs of sunlight and read one. It was long and got cold while I was still pages from the end. Intrigued by the characters and wanting to get a sense of closure, I persisted. I may have lifted my ban too soon. I don't want to be too quick to anger, but is there anything at all enlightening in taking one of those cases of unacknowledged rape from the perspective of he who commits? Or perhaps, of course, it is not the responsibility of a writer to be enlightening. It is enough to just describe. Could more not have been done? You wrote it in a way that someone such as myself can see the underwritings of how women will often allow men to have se...
Post a Comment
Read more