Look at this plate. Beans, potatoes, broccoli and carrots, corn and fried chicken. This is just one of many, many examples of how a great meal can look. You´ve got your veggie choices, some chicken, oven-baked potatoes, yep, one great meal.
My not-a-chef buddy in arms Andreas Viestad has been under fire lately for suggesting that all this insanity around dieting may actually do more harm than good. Anyone who has ever pushed a Paleo or an Atkins, a Grete Roede or a Weight Watchers, will cry “Madness” when one of the unbelievers questions their validity.
I know a bit about dieting. I know a lot about the pros (few) and cons (bunches of them) of being “plus-size”: overweight kids being bullied, overweight adults perceived as being lesser human beings than others. Anybody who doesn´t fit the ideal model knows what it´s like. It was never a huge (pun not intended) problem for me, but for others the consequences can be enormous (again, not intended).
Any diet pusher will proclaim that theirs as the best (and maybe only) way to turn your resident ugliness into a thing of beauty. They are critical of the other diet options around, but the cure they are promoting will certainly do the trick.
Therefore I have two questions:
- How in the world is it possible for anyone wanting to lose weight to pick the “correct” method for doing so? Eeny meeny miny moe? Wish Upon a Star?
- In the end, isn´t it really all about eating well, not eating too much and being as active as you can manage? That is Viestad´s conclusion, and I am totally convinced that if the problems of overweight, especially in children, are to be solved, we must focus on eating proper meals, eating a variety of foods, caring about our food and being critical about what we are going to eat.
It is exciting that more and more farmers are dedicating their lives to producing better food, food produced with a clear conscience. Farm to table, ecologically-produced food, natural and organic, sustainable and happy animals, are all part of the revolution. The rest is up to us.
Have a happy, well-balanced day. Be happy and eat well!
Fried Chicken
It may seem a bit politically incorrect to run a recipe for fried chicken in a blog about dieting, but my point is that swearing off chocolate or one fried component in a well-balanced dinner, is not the way to a happier, healthier life. Even my old favorite fried chicken is perfectly fine served as one part of tonight´s dinner. Tomorrow it might be baked halibut and the day after pork chops. Remember this:
B-A-L-A-N-C-E
You Americans have your fried chicken favorites: mom´s or grandma´s, the Colonel´s or your own. Here is a very good fried chicken recipe for my Norwegian friends.
This recipe is for a whole chicken (I swear by the fabulous chicken from Stange Gård), but you can also use boneless chicken breasts or thighs, deep-fried, for an even simpler, but still tasty fried chicken.
1 stor fersk kylling, delt i 8 stykker (2 X bryst, 2 X lår, 2 X vinge, 2 X ben)
1 l kulturmelk
olje til steking
4 dl hvetemel
1 ss salt
godt med nykvernet sort pepper
litt kajennepepper
- Legg kyllingstykkene i en ildfast form eller stor bolle.
- Dryss litt salt og pepper på kyllingstykkene og hell kulturmelken over.
- La kyllingstykkene marineres i minst 4 timer, helst over natten, i kjøleskapet.
- Ta bollen ut av kjøleskapet og la innholdet bli romtemperert.
- Hell oljen i en stor, halvdyp jernpanne (eller to mindre panner hvis ikke det er nok plass). Oljen skal være ca 1 cm dyp i pannen. Sett kokeplaten på middels høy varme.
- Bland sammen melet, resten av salt og pepper, og kajennepepper i en annen bolle.
- Ta ut kyllingstykkene, ett om gangen, og la litt av kulturmelken renne av dem. Dypp dem i melblandingen til de er godt dekket.
- Legg kyllingstykkene i pannen (med skinnsiden ned).
- Skru varmen ned til middels varme, og ha på lokk.
- Stek kyllingstykkene til de er gylne under.
- Snu kyllingstykkene, reduser varmen enda litt til, og stek dem på den andre siden, uten lokk, til de er ferdige.
- Legg kyllingstykkene på kjøkkenpapir. Dryss over litt mer salt og server.
Spis fried chicken med for eksempel potetstappe, maiskolber, grønne bønner, tomatskiver, stekte okra, salat, grillede grønnsaker og så videre.