Crazy in Alabama meal

I'm afraid I have no pictures as my camera is terrible at nighttime when I cooked this. To be honest I also changed so many ingredients that the meal probably wasn't very American either, but it sure was good!
I went about doing this recipe to the book with great intentions, but when it came down to it there were A) too many steps and B) the universe conspired against me.
The first drawback was not being able to get 4 chicken legs, my butcher had 3 in stock which he kindly divided into thighs and drumsticks for me. Then I ran out of ordinary breadcrumbs, so I used panko breadcrumbs instead. I've been addicted to these since Nigella Lawson recommended these for coating things as they don't get too greasy and they brown up wonderfully when cooked. I know they're Japanese in origin but hey, they taste damn good.
Due to this and my general gung ho nature in the kitchen I can't give you quantity's for what I cooked, but I can give you a kind of run through of what happened so that you can recreate a kinda Oven fried chicken dish at home. I will also point out that as this dish wasn't fried at all that it's a hell lot better for you than the original, the skins crispy and the chicken is kept juicy inside the crust.
cheaper, healthier and better tasting than a KFC any day and if this fool can wing it then so can you.

Oven fried chicken thing

• marinade 3 chicken legs that have been divided into thighs and drumsticks overnight in..
• 1 pot of buttermilk to which you have added, 1tblsp sweet paprika, 4 cloves of garlic and 1tblsp salt.
• pre heat oven to about 200'c
• put panko breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl
• let excess buttermilk mixture fall off chicken and then bung in the bowl 1 at a time with the breadcrumbs
• coat the chicken with as many breadcrumbs as is sanely possible and then remove to a oven friendly container (I used my lasagna dish)
• bung in oven and leave till golden on the outside, I think it was about 45min.

It really was that easy, and to serve make mashed potatoes. I added garlic and herb cream cheese to mine along with butter as I had some in the fridge that needed using up, which went really well with the sweetness of the chicken dish. I also made a tomato salad scattered with feta cheese and basil, which also needed using up, and I boiled some runner beans to go alongside.

This meal was a roaring success, and it got me thinking about how often you go to make one thing then have to make substitutions or just plain can't be arsed to do things in a certain way and it turns out great anyway.

I'd love to hear about everyone Else's dinners that just happened, so let me know if you have any story's to share.

slow fried pork chops and boston baked beans

First things first, I'm going to apologise for the lack of pictures, I'm having trouble uploading anything right now. So here as promised is the first recipe I cooked, which was ever so easy to make If time consuming.
I've adapted this recipe from Richard Whittington's book Home Food, a book that sadly seems to be out of print. If you ever see it i highly recommend it, being full of interesting recipes.
The main changes I made was to Quantity's as there was only two of us and I couldn't get any salt pork so I used bacon instead. I started this recipe the night before.

slow fried pork with Boston baked beans

Ingredients

1. 
   
   200g dried haricot beans soaked overnight
2. 
   
   half tblsp paprika
3. 
   
   2 pork chump chops
4. 
   
   1 onion, chopped
5. 
   
   1 tin of tomatoes
6. 
   
   2 tblsp muscovado sugar
7. 
   
   2 tblsp black treacle
8. 
   
   1 tsp mustard powder
9. 
   
   3 rashes streaky bacon chopped into small pieces
10. 
    
    1 bay leaf

method

1. 
   
   the day before cooking make a paste with the paprika and olive oil. Rub this all over the pork chops and leave to marinade overnight in the fridge.
2. 
   
   the next day preheat the oven to a low temperature 150'c, 300'f or gas2.
3. 
   
   Bring the beans to a boil and then change the water. Then bring to the boil again turn off the heat and leave. Keep the water in the pan.
4. 
   
   Blend the onion, tomatoes and all the other seasonings except the bacon and bay leaf in a blender.
5. 
   
   Add this to the beans and bring to the boil on top of the stove, then transfer it all to an ovenproof dish.
6. 
   
   Add the bacon and bay leaf, and pop it all in the oven. If your a real cook you could have heated it on the stove in a casserole dish and then put it in the oven. Thus saving yourself some mess and some energy. Oh how i envy you cast iron casserole pan owners.
7. The recipe then says to bake for 4 hours, mine was done in about 2. Keep a eye on it though. Add water if it seems to be a bit dry and whatnot. This makes a really nice spicy dish of baked beans.
8. when the beans are done, turn the oven off and leave them in there whilst you cook the chops. I used my cast iron griddle pan as I love the lines you get along the food. But grill or fry however you normally do your chops.
9. Whilst the beans were cooking I had plenty of time to make the sauce and salads. Now eat with gusto and pretend that your an southern homemaker.

I hope you enjoyed, and I,ll give the recipe for the barbeque sauce next.