The Cookstr 10: Ten Recipes to Fry, Fry Again

The Cookstr 10

Ten Recipes to Fry, Fry Again

Quick Links

Cookstr Recipes
Chefs and Authors

And access a complete archive of The Cookstr 10!

And get up-to-the-minute Cookstr news!

Have You Checked Out The Cookstr Blog?

Come behind the scenes and into the kitchen with Cookstr!

Greetings!

Welcome to The Cookstr 10, Cookstr.com's weekly newsletter. In each newsletter we highlight ten chefs and authors, recipes, books, tips and techniques, or other selections we think you'll enjoy.

Why is fried food just so irresistible? We are fully onboard with the concept of moderation; we understand the pitfalls of too much of anything. But moderation does not equal abstention or austerity, and therefore we'd like to take a moment to lean towards the indulgent side of the sliding scale that is moderation, and talk about fried food. Crunchy, crispy, possibly lightly greasy, sometimes salty, sometimes sweet, melt-in-your-mouth fried food. (Now we've worked ourselves up a bit.)

We promise that we aren't making all of these dishes in one day, or even in one month. We like and know the importance of our clean food and our salads and our whole grains. And we know that a little fried food goes a long way--there's no reason to throw moderation out the window. But every once in a while the call of the fried just can't be ignored, and we have to answer. Fry until golden. Sigh.

A few tips:
-Make sure your oil is the right temperature: too high, and food will burn; too low, and it won't get crispy, and the coating may fall off.
-Watch for splattering: few things are hotter than hot oil, so skip the tank top (and grab an apron; oil is hard to get out of clothes).
-Don't crowd the pan: giving the food room to fry will allow it to crisp up properly, and also help keep the temperature of the oil nice and high.
-Don't leave the stove: frying food can go from perfectly golden to burned pretty quickly.
-Drain it properly: let excess oil drip back into the cooking pan, and in most cases a few layers of paper towels on a plate soak up any extra grease.
-Serve immediately: most fried food does not improve with standing around (though hand us a cold leftover fried chicken drumstick and we'll happily acknowledge the exception that proves the rule).

All across the country, all around the world, people are frying up foods in oil, and we're in the mood to go globe-trotting.

1. Sweet Potato Fries

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger
French fries ("pomes frites" in France, "chips" in England) are hard to beat for a fried food longing, and sweet potato fries are in a craving class of their own. There's not much to making these; just nice slabs of sweet potatoes, some oil, and some salt, and then the dipping condiment of your choice (or not...these are pretty spectacular all by their lonesome).

Click here for Mary and Susan's Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

2. Mozzarella in Carrozza

John Mariani
Essentially a fried cheese sandwich, these are often found in the appetizer section of Italian-American menus. Fresh mozzarella is layered between two slices of bread, the sandwiches are dipped in flour, then an egg-and-milk mixture, and finally coated with breadcrumbs. And then the frying begins. Serve hot, with marinara sauce for dipping.

Click here for John's Mozzarella in Carrozza Recipe

3. Vegetable Tempura

Victoria Blashford-Snell and Brigitte Hafner
Tempura is the most well-know fried food hailing from Japan, and it's admired for the delicate puffy batter that encases the vegetables inside. Icy cold water mixed with flour and an egg yolk are the secrets to this recipe, and of course you can't have tempura without the salty-sweet dipping sauce.

Click here for Victoria and Brigitte's Vegetable Tempura Recipe

4. Batter-Fried Shrimp and Calamari
Michele Scicolone The Italians really know how to fry their seafood, and squid and shrimp are two of the most popular crustaceans. These are dipped in a light, airy batter made with yeast and eggs, which puffs up when it hits the oil. Click here for Michele's Batter-Fried Shrimp and Calamari Recipe

5. Spicy Fried Chicken

Pat Neely and Gina Neely
Fried chicken is enjoyed all over the world, but down South fried chicken is taken as seriously as...well, let's just say very seriously. This recipe calls for coating the chicken in dry spices first, which really seasons up the meat. Then a dunk in buttermilk and a dredge in seasoned flour make this the kind of fried chicken one dreams of encountering in the best kind of roadside restaurants. Another entry into the most-fun-foods-we-know category.

Click here for Pat and Gina's Spicy Fried Chicken Recipe

6. Crispy Maryland Soft-Shell Crabs with Chili-Garlic Dressing

Laurent Tourondel

Soft-shell crab season is but weeks away, and the bounty of young crabs coming to market may be one of the most keenly awaited spring delicacies out there. Here, the crabs are dipped in a mixture of egg and coconut milk, then encrusted in rice flour before being fried up. Then they get coated with a crazy-delicious dressing popping with hoisin sauce, chili-garlic paste, and a bit of fish sauce and citrus.

Click here for Laurent's Crispy Maryland Soft-Shell Crabs with Chili-Garlic Dressing

7. Fried Eggplant with Lemon Wedges
Sharon Crayton To be dunked in egg, then flour, and fried up until encased in a crackling crust is one of the nicest things that can happen to a slice of eggplant. The contrast of the crisp exterior and meltingly soft interior is a real treat. Click here for Sharon's Fried Eggplant with Lemon Wedges Recipe

8. Vegetable Fritters with Chile Mayonnaise
Marcus Samuelsson This is a great blueprint recipe because you can work with whatever vegetables are in season to customize your fritters. The creamy, spicy mayonnaise is a textural counterpoint to the fritters, though the batter also has quite a bit of flavor and punch from a zesty, fusion-ey mixture of herbs and spices. Click here for Marcus's Vegetable Fritters with Chile Mayonnaise Recipe

9. Hush Puppies
Christopher Idone The name alone makes us happy and hungry. Again, with origins in the Southern parts of the U.S., where fried food is part of the culinary fabric, these are pretty much just fried dollops of cornbread batter. These little cuties are spiked with chopped jalapeno, scallions, and cayenne, so there's a bit of heat in every bite. Click here for Christopher's Hush Puppies Recipe

10. Buttermilk Nutmeg Drop Doughnuts

Regan Daley
Every culture has some kind of sweet fritter or doughnut or beignet or zeppole or...well, a sweet fritter of sorts. Nutmeg is the spice that says "doughnut" to most Americans, and buttermilk is another classic doughnut ingredient that imparts tenderness and flavor. These don't rely on yeast to make them rise; baking powder and baking soda are the leavening here, so the batter comes together in just about the same amount of time as it takes the oil to heat up. They get finished with a quick roll in cinnamon sugar for crunch.

Click here for Regan's Buttermilk Nutmeg Drop Doughnuts Recipe

What's New on Cookstr

Notice anything different about our site? We got a make-over!

Our homepage now makes it easier for you to navigate the site. We've introduced a ton of new features, including:
- A rotating selection of Quick & Easy recipes to help you figure out what to make for dinner every night of the week.
- Some of your favorite searches--including Vegetarian Recipes, Kid-Friendly Dinners, Make-Ahead Meals, and more--are all in one place, so you can easily search for the kinds of dishes you love.
- Cookstr's most popular recipes are listed on the bottom of our homepage and on every recipe page, so you can see which recipes are the top favorites.
- Seasonal Highlights are now their own feature, making it easy to cook with the season.
- Ever wonder about the great cookbooks our recipes come from? On every recipe page you can now see a selection of the cookbooks of Cookstr and try their recipes. And every day we'll be featuring a different cookbook on the homepage, too.

And Just a Few More Things...

We hope you find tons of great recipes on Cookstr.com. As you know, Cookstr.com shares great recipes from cookbooks, written by trusted and acclaimed chefs and authors.

This weekly newsletter, The Cookstr 10, features tips and recipes from the chefs and authors you love, sneak peeks at new recipes BEFORE they go live on the site, and announcements of new Cookstr.com features as we develop them.

If you have friends who are always eager for great new recipes, we hope you will forward The Cookstr 10 to them. And thank you once again for being one of our earliest visitors and subscribers! We're working on new features, and adding new recipes every day--and are always appreciative of your feedback!

All best,
Katie Workman, Editor-in-Chief, and all of us at Cookstr.com

You are receiving this newsletter because you registered with Cookstr.com. If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like to begin receiving a copy of your own, please visit our site at www.cookstr.com and sign up for free membership.