Frying tonight...

Keith and I had to go shopping this morning as Sophie went mad when I confessed to not getting the ingredients to make two sauces. They were going to accompany the Korean Fried Chicken for dinner this evening, and she couldn't believe that I had left them off the list! I didn't want to faff about with making the sauces, but Sophie said it wouldn't be the same without them, so off we went.

Never, ever will I go shopping again on a Sunday! Both Aldi and Tesco were packed, and such a difference to when we go on Thursday! We bought what we could in Aldi, and then popped next door to Tesco to buy rice wine vinegar, mirin, hot sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Whilst in Tesco, Keith spotted a gift pack of four miniatures with tonic and, as I needed four more mini bottles to make up my boozy Advent calendar, I bought it! Now I'm complete and looking forward to the 1st December! I have a range of Gins and Vodkas to try, and I have Keith to thank for inspiring me with the idea last Christmas!

Back home we unpacked the shopping and Sophie made the sauces - a soy sauce and a sweet chilli one. I have to admit that they smelt delicious! She had already brined the chicken thighs, and I helped her make the vodka batter. It was great to get as much as we could done, as then we could relax a bit tonight. I made lunch of pan-fried leftover new potatoes, accompanied by bread and ham, and then we tackled some of Sophie's paperwork that she needed to look at. 

The afternoon was spent relaxing and I had a long hot bath, spending far too much time in there! When I eventually emerged it was 6.30pm so too late to play Scrabble and make dinner. We opened a bottle of French Chardonnay and I coated the chicken in flour followed by the batter. Sophie made Jasmine rice and we put some long stem broccoli, baby sweetcorn and asparagus in the oven to roast.

The fried chicken turned out to be delicious, and Keith was mightily impressed! We fried the thighs for about eight minutes and then again, at a higher temperature, for two minutes. They came out brown and crispy. Success! I do always worry about deep-frying, but I never take my eyes off the oil, and we never overfill the pan. Keith liked the batter so much he suggested using it for frying fish next time. Praise indeed!