What Shall I Deep Fry Next?

I've been frying the bird for many years now. Friends and family are unanimous in their refusal to contemplate a different preparation, and I happily oblige. It's not because deep frying works so damn well and takes the timing problems of big-bird cookery out of the picture. I'm in it for the 6 gallons of hot peanut oil.

Each year, before the pavo gets dunked, I fry up a mess of seafood in the tradition of the fritto misto, the tempura, or the shore lunch, depending on the batter, breading, or crumb. The core foods remain: oysters, shrimp, and scallops. This year I picked up some King Crab legs and Yellow Perch (with Walleye, a fantastic regional fish that is easy to find and very fresh in places such as WI and MI, yet absent from faux-local Whole Foods -- despite an otherwise very fine seafood counter). In years past other things dropped into the oil have included hot dogs (sliced in the South American style that yields a tasty asterisk), corn dogs, French fries, and onion rings.

I'm looking for a new wildcard. Maybe pickles, but I'm no so enamored of that gimmick as some others. Please no Snickers, Twinkies, or similar suggestions. I'm not looking to sully the dignity of the event or the quality of the oil in which the turkey ultimately will fry.

Thanks.


PS, I think I might relish the fact that for many people, T-Day is the one time of year they devote serious effort to cooking (a giant exotic bird with numerous side dishes, for God's sake). Failure is almost guaranteed as America collectively reminds itself that, like any sensuous art, the alchemy of cooking does not lend itself to rank dilettantism. Is that so wrong?

This may sound boring to some, but I am a fan of fried cauliflower without breading or batter. At Al Khaymeh, they slice the heads of the cauliflower into slabs rather than florets and fry them.

Best,
Michael

JeffB,

If you like the taste of turkey liver, it is delicious rolled in corn flour, deep-fried, and sprinkled with sea salt. Fortunately for me, I am only one in my family who likes this. Happy Thanksgiving.

Bill/SFNM

In the spirit of the season: lightly battered deep-fried sage leaves. This is a wonderful munchy snack, and I really miss Soul Kitchen, which used to do a great version. The hard part will be finding large sage leaves in quantity.

Fave fried stuff:
* Crab Rangoon. Never made it myself, on my short list
* Shrimp Toast. Same thing
* Aroncini: fried risotto! With molten cheese inside! A pain to make but worth it
* Stuffed olives: try sausage, crabmeat, etc., use flour/egg/crumbs for breading, allow to chill before frying to prevent breading blow-off

If you can lay a hold of squash blossoms (alternate: canned artichockes, drained, scooped out, and toweled as dry as possible), stuff them with ricotta and spices, batter, and let float.

Also: Pillsbury Honey Butter Biscuit Dough or Golden Layers do amazing things when deep-fried; they puff up beautifully and take on a totally different texture and flavor. Kids love 'em and they look cool cookin'. For that matter, you could do homemade fried dough, but that would be more pans to dirty. Just rip off the lid of a can and gently slide in.

See now, I was considering Korean-style mixed-vegetable tempura patties, or at least tempura sweet potato, but I don't really have the wherewithal to deep fry at the moment.

Also: the black peppercorn garlic beef tenderloin from Double Li (video on triple deep-fry preparation in the thread!)

I was at a hot dog stand the other day with an interesting off-menu item - dates wrapped in bacon, then deep-fried. salty, smoky, sweet ...

Santander wrote:
Also: Pillsbury Honey Butter Biscuit Dough or Golden Layers do amazing things when deep-fried; they puff up beautifully and take on a totally different texture and flavor. Kids love 'em and they look cool cookin'. For that matter, you could do homemade fried dough, but that would be more pans to dirty. Just rip off the lid of a can and gently slide in.

Stuff pillsbury dough with canned or frozen peaches, berries, apples, or all of the above for southern fried pies!!! Can't think of another savory dish for you since sage was mentioned. I might do a bunch of sage myself since I still have a ton of it (grew very hearty this year) and will be frying up a turkey as well.

How about a whole fish? Maybe snapper or some such.

Pickles. This thread inspired me to deep fry some pickles. I liked them a Violet Hour and feel they'd be an odd-ballish and amusing addition to the antipasto platter.

nr706 wrote:I was at a hot dog stand the other day with an interesting off-menu item

Hmmm...a hot dog stand with off-menu items, you say. Hmmm.

I like fried oysters with fried caper berries which have been cored and stuffed with cheese. And my second favorite is very thinly sliced onions soaked in Red Hot sauce for a minute, dredged in flour, and deep friend....yummm. (yes, Red Hot sauce is crucial)

Tonight, I did a few experimental batches of fried pickles (with horseradish-mayo sauce) and fried dill tomatoes; I'm ready for tomorrow.

As I prepare for bed, a vision comes to me: medjool dates, stuffed with Cashel blue cheese. Breaded and fried. Oh yes. It is to be.

u can't go wrong with hush puppies since you are doing seafood.

David Hammond wrote:As I prepare for bed, a vision comes to me: medjool dates, stuffed with Cashel blue cheese. Breaded and fried. Oh yes. It is to be.

Wrap 'em in bacon before breading. Trust me.

David Hammond wrote:As I prepare for bed, a vision comes to me: medjool dates, stuffed with Cashel blue cheese. Breaded and fried.

Perfect. It's almost impossible to not come out smelling like a rose when using medjool dates. One of my favorites.

JeffB wrote:I'm looking for a new wildcard.

Jeff,

Good suggestions all, I'm especially enamored with home made crab rangoon, but for a really wild wild card I recommend Fried Pork-Wrapped Garlic.

Fried Pork-Wrapped Garlic.


Happy T-Day,
Gary

recipe: deep fried Coca-Cola

-ramon

Hi,

From a Southern Foodways Alliance meeting a few years ago: pimento cheese rolled into golf ball size rolls, rolled in hush puppy mix and deep fat fried. They served them in paper cones because they needed to cool a bit.

Regards,

David Hammond wrote:As I prepare for bed, a vision comes to me: medjool dates, stuffed with Cashel blue cheese.

David, I was wondering if you have a local source for the medjools? I usually get them at Stanley's, but would like to find a closer venue.

Gary-

That sounds great, but what exactly is the pork? Doesn't look like bacon, and I hope it's not pork skin.

How about a little more detail? If it's not pork skin, that is.

Thanks.

MikeLM wrote:Gary-

That sounds great, but what exactly is the pork? Doesn't look like bacon, and I hope it's not pork skin.

How about a little more detail? If it's not pork skin, that is.

Thanks.

Thinly sliced pork belly. There are a few more details if you follow Gary's link.