THE CHEF FROM HELL

Perhaps the oddest thing I stocked behind the bar in my restaurants over the years was something called Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey.  I think one of our fast talking liquor salesman talked us into buying a couple of mason jars of this stuff.  "You own a cajun restaurant!  The customers will love it!"  As I recall, Georgia Moon corn whiskey is a clear liquid and comes in a mason jar that proudly states "This product is less than 30 days old!"; it's obviously designed to look like authentic moonshire--which it ain't--I know because I've had real moonshine--this stuff is (ahem) smooth compared to the real thing.  Anyhow, no matter how "authentic" this corn whiskey looked, nobody wanted to drink it (those damn yankees).  What's a restaurant owner to do when they're stuck with booze that just won't sell?

Well, here's a little restaurant secret I will share with you today---whenever a restaurant manager buys some exotic libation that fails to sell they inevitably end up at the door to the kitchen asking the chef, "Say, can you make something with this?"  Of course, that's exactly what my wife, Loretta did.  "Say John, can you make something with this?"  Well, when the gauntlet is thrown down before any chef, they must respond!  Here's my recipe for Georgia Moon Chicken (do not feed this to children or adults with emotional problems).  You know, it could have been worse.  Why there was one time we were stuck with a whole case of blackberry liquore and...

Ingredients:

4 large Chicken Cutlets, trimmed of fat

1 1/2 cups White Flour

2 TBS Yellow Cornmeal

4 TBS unsalted Butter

1/4 cup Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey

1 TBS Dark Molasses

1/4 cup Chicken Stock

Note: If you want to make your own stock, go to Homestyle Chicken Stock

4 slices Virginia Ham, sliced thin

4 slices Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thick

Dry Spice Mix:

1/4 tsp Cilantro

1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

1/4 tsp Ground White Pepper

1/4 tsp Coleman's Dry English Mustard

1 pinch Cayenne Red Pepper

Cooking Procedure:

Combine all of the ingredients for the dry spice mix in a small bowl

Mix well & set this aside

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal & dry spice mix

Mix well & then dredge the chicken cutlets in this seasoned flour

Set the chicken aside for a moment

Heat 2 TBS of the butter in a large skillet over high heat

Once the butter has melted, place the chicken in the skillet

Panfry the chicken for 3 minutes per side

Remove the chicken pieces from the skillet & place them on paper towels to absorb excess oil

Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium

Add the Georgia Moon Whiskey

(Stand back, there will probably be some flames as the pan deglazes)

Shake the pan vigorously & add the dark molasses

Stir well & let this cook down for 2 minutes

Add the stock & the remaining butter

Stir well & let this come to a high simmer

Simmer the liquid in the skillet until it has reduced a little & has thickened up a bit

Place the chicken in a pyrex baking dish & pour the sauce from the skillet over the chicken

Top each piece of chicken with a slice of ham & then a slice of cheese

Place the chicken in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes; the cheese should be bubbling & the chicken should be tender

Serve with some baked rice or some nice sweet potato salad on the side!

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