yummy.

It’s not very often that I whip out the cast iron and fry chicken. It’s tedious work - hot, greasy, and messy. Occasionally, however, I like to treat my friends to something they may not have ever had outside the bounds of fast food. Last night was one of those occasions.

The menu consisted of:

• fried chicken
• homemade mashed potatoes
• sweet milk gravy
• a mess of greens (collard and mustard)
• buttermilk biscuits
• pralines

It was a lofty goal, I admit. I was surprised I even found the greens at Mollie Stone’s, but find them I did. A little cleaning and a pound of fried bacon later and I had a taste of home I can’t find anywhere in Marin County. It’s been well over a year since I last had greens, something I have to have when I go back to visit my family in Memphis. It’s been longer than that since I fried chicken.

So yesterday, I made the greens. I boiled and mashed the potatoes (and used some nifty tricks Padma taught me - such as adding an egg to them). I fried. And fried. And fried. I baked. I eyeballed the sugar mixture (since I don’t own a candy thermometer and couldn’t find one at Mollies). The end result was well worth the effort. And the best thing? I have tons of leftovers for lunch.

Well, except the pralines. There aren’t any of those left, though that is probably for the better. I remember almost making myself sick off of them as a kid. I’d like to never do that again.