Raising Hands

Here at the beach you can find lots of the usual sea side fair. Fish, and seafood, pizza and boardwalk fries. But when it comes to ethnic cuisine choices are limited. So I am forced to take matters into my own hands. As a child every so often we made a trek from Lansing, to Greek Town in Detroit, and ate at this dive of a place called, The Golden Fleece. Even though it boasted the same decor my mother remembers from her trips there as a girl, and probably hadn't changed for twenty years before that this place, hands down, had the best food in Greek town. For dinner last night I was really craving a good gyro. I hate when I order one now and find those processed prepackaged strips of beef unceremoniously tossed on top of some pita and called a gyro. Sometimes I'm so desperate for those flavors I order it anyway. In the absence of owning a vertical spit these gyros will be grilled and made from chicken instead of the traditional lamb and beef. I've experimented with mari...

I'm a sucker for a good copycat recipe. I've been suckered by so-called copycat recipes in the past too. This is not the later. This one is for real! I pinned it ages ago but after an unfortunate incident involving what were supposed to be Texas Roadhouse Rolls I've been hesitant of late. The recipe  is simple but the secret ingredient is both surprising and brilliant. Dill Pickle Juice! I followed the recipe closely with only a couple exceptions and doubled it as it's only written for two. The true test was when our five year old completely unprompted asked if they were Chick-fil-a nuggets. I say they were even better because it didn't cost us $40! What you need: 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces then seasoned with salt & pepper 3/4 cup milk (I used buttermilk) 1/4 cup dill pickle juice 1 egg 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour  2 Tablespoons powdered sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup peanut oil, divided (or canola or ve...