Noah's Fries Chicken Fried Cheeseburgers

Here's Noah's out of control cheeseburger idea, and it was a hit around here, as well as a hit to any diet ;).  Noah wanted an over the top cheeseburger, and he partly got the idea from one of our favorite restaurants around here, Mama Burger.  They put fries on their burgers, and Noah wanted to do that too.  Anyway, Aaron wanted another one of these, the boys and Aaron gave this a perfect 10, and I gave it a 9, because it was too much for me :).  Each burger is about 700 calories with everything on them.  We chicken fried the seasoned hamburger, topped it with cheese and fries, then made our burgers with toppings to taste.  Here's what we did:

1 lb hamburger meat
soy sauce, onion, powder, garlic salt and salt to taste

1 c flour
salt
dash of cayenne
1/8 t baking soda

1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg
salt

Oil for frying

curly fries, baked
sliced cheese

Toppings such as tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, hamburger buns, and condiments as desired

Heat the oil in a deep pot or a deep fryer to 350.  In two separate bowls, mix together the flour, salt, cayenne, and baking soda, then the egg, buttermilk, and salt.  Make the hamburgers with seasonings to taste, then form them into patties.  We made six burgers.  Dip each patty into the flour, then the buttermilk mixture, then the flour again.  Fry for about 5 minutes, then flip to the other side.  Place each patty on a hamburger bun, then top with cheese, fries, and desired toppings.  Serve!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

So these were a hit in our family.  For science, the boys had to make a week's menu of meals, figure out the nutritional information, and make the shopping list with me.  They also had to help me make the food.  This was one of Noah's choices, and our family was nuts about them.  These are the best chicken nuggets we have ever had, and everyone gave these a perfect 10 except for Owen, he gave them a 9 because he said they were too crispy.  Anyway, it's hard to go wrong with deep fried chicken :).  I don't have calorie information about these, because I didn't really measure anything, but here's what I did:

2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into bite size cubes and seasoned

flour
salt
garlic salt
pepper
onion powder

3 eggs
buttermilk

Parmesan herb bread crumbs
plain bread crumbs
1/2 t baking soda

Heat a large pot of oil to about 350 degrees.  Mix together the flour, salt, garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder.  In another bowl, beat together the eggs and buttermilk.  In a third bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and baking soda.  Coat the chicken in flour, then in the buttermilk mixture, then in the bread crumbs.  Fry the chicken in batches, making sure the chicken is golden brown on all sides.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate, then serve.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy, and totally delicious!

Michael Symon's Arancini

So despite the deep-frying requirement, I knew I had to make this recipe.  Deep-fried sausage risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella?  Yeah, these were good :).  Michael Symon came up with this recipe, and we all loved it, Jonah included.  We gave this a 9, and every ball was 220 calories with the marinara dipping sauce on the side (I just used canned marinara sauce).

You start by making the risotto, cooling it, then forming the balls and frying them.  It's actually not that difficult, especially because you don't have to fully cook the risotto, just mostly cook it :).  Anyway, these are so good, they were a fun meal for us.

1 T olive oil

4 oz Italian sausage

1 onion, minced

salt

1 c Arborio rice

3 c chicken broth

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 c grated Parmesan cheese

5-6 oz mozzarella, cut into small cubes

deep-frying oil

3/4 c plain, dried bread crumbs

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Break the sausage into small pieces and brown on all sides.  Add the onion and 1/4 t salt, and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the rice, and toast, stirring for about 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken broth 1/2 c at a time, and stir constantly.  Continue to add the broth until the risotto is creamy and the rice is mostly tender.  When the rice is cooked, place the rice in a bowl in the fridge.

After the rice has cooled in the fridge for awhile.  Add the egg, egg yolk, Parmesan and 1/4 t salt.  Form the balls with damp hands, and place a cube of mozzarella in the middle.  Reform the ball, roll it in the bread crumbs, and fry for about 2 1/2 minutes.  Salt and serve immediately.  Yummy!