Important ABK News: Goodbye, from Annie

Posted by: Annie

Over two years ago when Maggie asked me if I wanted to start a cooking blog with her, I knew very little of the food blogging world. At that point I was only a reader of a handful of food blogs, but was ecstatic to collaborate with my sister and create one of our own. Sharing a food blog with Maggie has been a terrific experience. I have tried cooking foods that I never would have attempted if it weren't for this website pushing me out of my comfort zone. I also have learned about the benefits of natural light when photographing food, and the importance of a very, very steady hand when focusing a camera.

I started working on this blog when I was still in college, and it was with me as I moved to Philly to work my first teaching job, and back to the Jersey Shore, as I started my second teaching job. Unfortunately for me, this is where my blogging journey will end. As I come to the end of my second year of teaching, I plan to return to the classroom this summer, not as a teacher but as a student. As of May 21, I will be pursuing my Masters Degree in History, and while I will not be completely overwhelmed with teaching and graduate school until September, I have decided to step away from A Bitchin' Kitchen because I will not be able to give much attention to the blog.

I have already told Maggie, that in typical little sister fashion I will make sure to find a way into her posts, and who knows - maybe will guest blog a recipe or two. Thanks for a great experience, and stay tuned for continued greatness from Maggie!!!

Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

Posted by: Maggie

Surely some of you are thinking, "Chicken fingers? Has Maggie regressed to childhood?" I assure you that I have not, and I'm here to tell you how to turn a traditional kid's meal into a fancy grown-lady meal in 4 easy steps:

1) Make it from scratch. Who needs dinosaur-shaped mystery chicken? Not you! I made these last night after only eating a granola bar all day, and was really tempted to just buy frozen chicken fingers. I'm so glad I didn't. These take about 20 minutes worth of effort, and the results are a million times tastier than the frozen kind.

2) Serve with a snazzy dipping sauce - not ketchup. I like ketchup as much as the next gal, but my favorite honey mustard or some homemade BBQ sauce will elevate chicken fingers from kid food, to fancy grown-lady cuisine.

3) Enjoy your chicken fingers while watching something wildly inappropriate, and meant for grown-ladies on TV. 20 years ago, I would've eaten chicken fingers while watching Full House or Clarissa Explains it all. Last night, I enjoyed them while finally watching the first two episodes of Girls. You think Clarissa Darling had problems? Girlfriend had nothing on Hannah Horvath.

4) Last but not least, wash your chicken fingers down with a beer. Duh.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Cooking spray
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch wide strips (I trimmed the excess fat off mine, sliced off about an inch from the flat, narrow end of the breast, and cut into 4 even strips.)

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. In a large skillet, combine the panko and canola oil. Turn the heat on to medium-high, and toast breadcrumbs for 8-10 minutes, until golden-brown. Stir frequently to ensure that they don't burn! Transfer the crumbs to a shallow dish and set aside.

In a separate shallow dish, mix together flour, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne, and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites, water, Dijon mustard, and thyme.

Place a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet, and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Dredge one chicken strip in flour, then egg mixture, and lastly in the breadcrumbs, shaking off excess in between steps. Place coated chicken on prepared rack, and repeat with remaining strips.

If you're like me and find breading food to be a colossal pain in the tookus, here are some tips:

- Leave the water slowly running while you bread the chicken. Yes, it's wasteful, but it really helps if you rinse the egg and panko clumps from your fingers in between breading each piece. The reason I suggest leaving the sink on is to avoid cross contamination between the chicken and the faucet.

- Use 2 dishes for the breadcrumbs. Keep the majority of the breadcrumbs in a larger dish, and before breading each strip, transfer a small handful to a saucer, and bread the strip there. That way, you can avoid getting big clumps of egg mixed in with all the breadcrumbs.

After all the chicken is breaded, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven to 12-16 minutes, and serve immediately.

(Update on 5/1: These are excellent leftover! Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Flip over halfway through.)

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Source: Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, via Annie's Eats

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Posted by: Maggie

As promised yesterday, I'm not leaving you with a BBQ sauce recipe and no meat to slather it on! 

My birthday was last week, and my mom got me a beautiful, green, 8-quart, Le Creuset pot. I knew I needed to make something extra delicious to christen it, and after much internal debate between short ribs and pulled pork, I settled on the pulled pork.

Don't be intimidated by the fact that this recipe takes 6 hours - most of that is inactive time, and this recipe is actually extremely simple. Just pop this in the oven early on a Saturday afternoon, and it will be ready in time for dinner; plus you'll have lots of delicious leftovers!

Here's what you'll need:

For the dry rub:

2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 tablespoon cayenne

For the pork:

4 pound shoulder pork roast
2 cups apple juice
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

For serving:

Hamburger buns
Homemade Kansas City-Style BBQ Sauce

Rinse the pork under cool running water, and pat dry. Combine all the dry rub ingredients in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the dry rub all over the roast, pressing into the pork to throughly coat. Place pork on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine liquid ingredients and garlic powder in a large bowl, and pour into a large dutch oven. Place pork in the dutch oven, cover tightly with foil, and place lid on top. Roast for 4 hours in preheated oven, or until the pork is fork tender and shreds easily. Every hour, brush the roast with cooking liquid.

Remove from oven and shred with two forks when the roast is cool enough to handle. Serve on hamburger buns with BBQ sauce.

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Source: Adapted from Paula Deen