I'm Just Here For The Food Part 7

1. Start with high-starch potatoes (like russets) for fries that are crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Start with high-starch potatoes (like russets) for fries that are crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. 2. 2. Cut potatoes in uniform pieces with a V-slicer for even cooking. Cut potatoes in uniform pieces with a V-slicer for even cooking. 3. 3. Soak cut potatoes in water to get rid of the excess starch on their surface. This will prevent the fries from turning dark and enable the moisture to escape via steam so that the fries aren't gummy. Soak cut potatoes in water to get rid of the excess starch on their surface. This will prevent the fries from turning dark and enable the moisture to escape via steam so that the fries aren't gummy. 4. 4. Fry twice. This is essential for great fries. During the first fry (at a lower temperature of 300 F), fries will go floppy and turn pale gold. During the second fry (at a higher temperature of 350 F), they'll crisp and darken a little. Result: crispy golden outside and tender inside. Fry twice. This is essential for great fries. During the first fry (at a lower temperature of 300 F), fries will go floppy and turn pale gold. During the second fry (at a higher temperature of 350 F), they'll crisp and darken a little. Result: crispy golden outside and tender inside. 5. 5. Now you've got great fries, but you're not done yet. Fried foods have to drain properly or they'll become greasy. Don't use paper towels or brown paper bags; they'll just hold the grease right up against the food. Use a draining rig instead (see Now you've got great fries, but you're not done yet. Fried foods have to drain properly or they'll become greasy. Don't use paper towels or brown paper bags; they'll just hold the grease right up against the food. Use a draining rig instead (see ill.u.s.tration ill.u.s.tration). 6. 6. Last but not least, season fries while they're hot. Why? Because salt and pepper will stick to the thin film of hot oil that remains on the surface. If you wait too long, this oil will either drip off or soak in and your seasoning will have nothing to hold on to. Last but not least, season fries while they're hot. Why? Because salt and pepper will stick to the thin film of hot oil that remains on the surface. If you wait too long, this oil will either drip off or soak in and your seasoning will have nothing to hold on to.

Why New Fat Doesn't Brown Well

Making Oil Last

A lot of respected cooking authorities will tell you that you should use oil once, then toss it. Fine, but where? You can't pour it in that ditch behind the house, and pouring it down the drain would do a lot of damage to your pipes. The EPA suggests saving it, along with bacon drippings and the like, in a resealable can, which you can tape up and throw away when it gets full. Great: so every time I deep fry I've got to find a quart can, and seal it, and store it like so much toxic waste. If I followed this line I would never fry again. Luckily, most great fry cooks agree that oil can be reused several times, as long as it's cleaned and stored properly and cut with new oil each time it's used.After I deep-fry, I let the oil cool down to a manageable temperature then filter it through the oil rig pictured here. A strainer catches the big pieces, while the cheesecloth between the strainer and the funnel works as a fine filter (If the oil is still warm, a cone-shaped coffee filter can be used.) I use a clean green wine bottle because, like red wine, oil doesn't like light. The tall, narrow shape of the wine bottle helps keep most of the oil away from the other thing it doesn't like: air. After the filtering, I add new oil up to a line, marked by a heavy rubber band, which tells me I've got enough to reach the "fill" line on the fryer. I cork the bottle tightly and store it away from the light. This doesn't mean I never get rid of the oil-it won't last forever-but if I start out with peanut or safflower oil, I find I get five or six sessions out of it, depending of course on the target food.When it is time to ditch, I've still got a challenge because I don't generally have many coffee cans around. I do have some pretty stout freezer bags, though, which I hold on to after they seem to have picked up a few too many fragrances for my liking. So I put the bag inside an empty paint can, fill it up, seal it (here comes the nerdy part), and use my cigar lighter to barely melt the edge, thus sealing it forever. I then seal this in yet another bag and after that the dog doesn't even try to get into it-you could drop it on the sidewalk and nothing would happen.

FIRE!.

The majority of home fires start-you guessed it-in the kitchen. Prevention, of course, is the best medicine, so keep recipe books, dishtowels, and the like away from heat sources, and be prepared if you do see flames. Don't automatically think bucket brigade. A grease fire needs to be starved of air; dousing it with water will make it worse. Small fires can be smothered using the lid to a pot or a couple of handfuls of baking soda. If that fails, reach for your trusty fire extinguisher. Yes, you should have a fire extinguisher nearby. There are three cla.s.ses of fire extinguishers. Cla.s.s A are for standard combustibles, paper, fabric, and wood, but should never be used on burning liquids or electrical fires. Cla.s.s B are for flammable liquids, while cla.s.s C don't conduct electricity and are the choice for "live" electrical fires. Every kitchen should have a BC-cla.s.s or ABC-cla.s.s extinguisher.

Why is frying in 350 F oil so fast and furious compared to cooking in a 500 F oven? Remember, from my rambling diatribe on conduction, that temperature is only one piece of the heat equation, just as voltage is only one part of an electrical equation.

Consider: * Joe weighs more than some cattle and pummels people for a living. * Joe weighs more than some cattle and pummels people for a living.* Clive weighs less than a heavy wind and punches a keyboard for a living, or at least he used to.* Based solely on this information one might determine that Joe has more potential to do damage to you if he were to hit you.

But there are other factors to consider: * Joe has been hit in the head many, many times. He is easily distracted by things like puppies, which he likes to pet. In other words, his ability to deliver on all that physical potential is limited. * Joe has been hit in the head many, many times. He is easily distracted by things like puppies, which he likes to pet. In other words, his ability to deliver on all that physical potential is limited.* Clive, on the other hand, has years of rage stored in his wiry frame. He just got laid off, blames the world for his persistent acne, and is carrying a piece of lead pipe.* Joe is a 500 F oven. Clive is 350 F oil.

PANKO.

Also referred to by some as j.a.panese-style bread crumbs, these have a coa.r.s.er texture than ordinary bread crumbs and make for a great crunchy crust. The tan-colored crumbs are made from a whole loaf of bread, while the white ones result from using the bread without the crust. If you can't find them on your local grocery's shelves, check upscale stores or Asian markets. Suitable subst.i.tutes for panko include regular bread crumbs or cracker meal.

BREADING, DREDGES, AND BATTERS, OH MY.

Fried foods are unique in that they usually have some kind of starchy coating. This coat, which Brillat-Savarin referred to as the "surprise," can be as simple as a dusting of flour or as complex as a multilayered breading.

The purposes of such a coating are to: * Create a great tasting crust that intensifies and highlights the flavor of the food. * Create a great tasting crust that intensifies and highlights the flavor of the food.* Protect the food from the thermal maelstrom of the hot oil.

How does the crust happen? Once the food hits the oil, the escaping moisture gets together with the oil and the starch to create a kind of gel, which hardens as it cooks.

Standard breading usually consists of: * all-purpose flour * all-purpose flour* beaten egg (or egg white)* "crumb" coat (could be anything from bread crumbs to crushed corn flakes)

To really s.h.i.+ne, the crumb layer needs to make very firm contact with the food and at least a little contact with the bottom of the pan. This accomplishes two things: it holds the breading on, and it creates spots of deeper browning where crumbs actually touch the bottom of the pan.

Target foods must be in thin slabs-tofu slices, eggplant slices, tomato slices, and meats like pork chops. Odd man out: fried chicken. The flour serves as a primer coat because egg doesn't like to stick to wet stuff. Cornstarch can also be used, but I find that flour works better with the egg. Don't try whole wheat flour by the way, you will be disappointed.

A successful standard breading. A very thin layer of starch acts as a primer for the egg layer, which then cements on the crumb layer. Ready to cook after a 30-minute rest.

Finally, wherever there are eggs there is potential complexity. Here we're talking a protein glue (which holds the outer crumb layer on), a browning agent (proteins), and a sealant (once set in the oil, the egg protein forms a pretty darned tight envelope). The fat in the egg attracts fat, making it possible for the cooking oil to get into the breading, which can be dangerous because if you let the fat temperature drop below 325 F the breading will go greasy.

The crumbs provide texture and insulation, further protecting the target food. Some possible crumb layers include: Some possible crumb layers include: * homemade bread crumbs * homemade bread crumbs* mixture of bread and cake crumbs* panko bread crumbs (coa.r.s.e j.a.panese bread crumbs shaped like little shards), my favorite for fried shrimp* crushed cereal (corn flakes are especially nice, although I have a friend who uses Cap'n Crunch from time to time)* coa.r.s.ely crushed Ritz crackers: my personal favorite. I've been known to cut their b.u.t.tery, salty goodness with gingersnaps.* potato chips (salt and vinegar-flavored . . . yum)

The number one reason breadings fail (fall off) is too much primer coat (flour). There is nothing to hold the layers together so they unzip from each other and your breading is floating free in the fryer, which is bad all around because all that particulate matter will only speed the degradation of the oil.

BREADING AND PAN-FRYING: THE BASIC STEPS.

Manufacturing a standard breading requires that each piece of food move through a breading a.s.sembly line. If that sounds too structured for you, consider the consequences: a big mess, a hand that looks like something the Elephant Man might sport, and food that's darned spotty lookin'.

try to wash it off in hot water and it'll be even worse because the outside layer of flour will gelatinize.

Note: Great fryers work with a wet hand and a dry hand; that is, one hand for the flour and crumbs and one hand for the egg. Once you start layering egg, flour, and crumbs on your hand, you will be a victim of club hand and your life will be miserable.

1. Set up a breading a.s.sembly line (see Stations of the Dredge, below). Season food with salt and pepper.2. Dredge in flour (seasoned but not salted).3. Shake off all excess (very, very important).4. Coat in eggs that have been beaten together with 2 teaspoons water for every egg used.5. Coat with crumbs.6. Let rest for 20 to 30 minutes so that the egg has time to set. You'll be glad you did. The coated food can be wrapped, frozen, and stored for up to a month (since flavor-absorbing fat is involved, airtight wrapping is required; I generally freeze everything on a flat tray, then portion it into freezer bags).7. Fry in fat no deeper than half the height of the food.

Immersion-Frying: Dunk 'n' Dredge

This is my personal favorite breading method because it requires no mixing or measuring and generates a really great crust.

Target foods: seafood such as calamari and bay scallops. Also darned good on portobello mushrooms that have been cut into strips. This breading doesn't provide much in the way of insulation, so whatever food you choose needs to be relatively small and relatively moist. Squid is perfect, baby carrots not so perfect.

1. Dip seasoned food into b.u.t.termilk (low-fat but not skim).2. Dredge in cornstarch (sifted if you have time).3. Fry.

Why Hot Oil and Water Don't Mix

Oil and water don't mix-especially when the oil is hot and on top of your stove. When water meets with hot oil, it immediately (not to mention violently) vaporizes, aerosolizing a good bit of the already angry oil with it. Let a few molecules of this. .h.i.t the heating coil and you will shortly find your kitchen in flames.

The entire effect is not unlike the cylinder in your car engine, but this time, you're the piston.

This is not meant to scare you from deep-frying; it's just to let you know that some things don't forgive you if you don't respect them. Vats of hot fat qualify. Avoiding such disasters means paying attention, that's all. Don't leave the room when you're frying. And remember, fats heat much faster than equal volumes of water, so don't try to guess the heat time-use a thermometer.

REAL SPARK PLUG AND PISTON.

HUMAN SPARK PLUG AND PISTON.

Master Profile: Frying Heat type: dry dry

Mode of transmission: 90-percent conduction, 10-percent convection 90-percent conduction, 10-percent convection Rate of transmission: very high very high Common transmitters: liquid fats, such as canola, peanut, and safflower oils liquid fats, such as canola, peanut, and safflower oils Temperature range: relatively narrow, between 250 and 375 F relatively narrow, between 250 and 375 F Target food characteristics: * small, uniform pieces of food containing high protein and/or starch content * small, uniform pieces of food containing high protein and/or starch content* foods that can be dredged, breaded, or battered such as onion rings or fish strips* firm vegetables Non-culinary application: fast-food french fries fast-food french friesBatter Up A batter is basically a liquid version of a standard breading, or at least the first two parts of it, liquid and starch. For my money, the best batters emulate the Portuguese-j.a.panese hybrid style of frying called tempura. Such batters create an almost impossibly thin and light coating that is like wrapping a present in tissue paper: you can literally see through it. This is my basic batter recipe, although I do also use a beer-based batter for fish and chips and occasionally chicken fingers (you know ... for the kids).Steer clear of the blender versions of this recipe, which produce thin, overworked batter. Also, since tempura is Asian, you'll probably serve it with some sort of salty soy or ponzu sauce, so you don't want to oversalt the batter.

Application: Immersion-FryingHeat the oil to 350 F.In a small bowl, sift together the salt, pepper, and cornstarch. In a medium bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Continue whipping while gradually adding the cornstarch mixture.Holding the target food at the end with tongs, quickly wave the food through the batter (this type of frying is best done one piece at a time), retrieve from the batter, let it drip for a few seconds, then put it into the oil.Using the tongs, press the food down to keep it completely submerged in the oil (to prevent the food from flipping over-if an air bubble forms on the top between the food and the batter, it will just keep rolling over). When the food has turned golden brown, approximately 3 to 5 minutes, remove the food to the draining rig. Repeat with remaining target food and serve immediately.Notes: Previously used oil works better than fresh for this recipe. If you use fresh oil, the target food will be done before the batter has turned golden brown. Previously used oil works better than fresh for this recipe. If you use fresh oil, the target food will be done before the batter has turned golden brown.Possible target foods include: b.u.t.terflied shrimp (split them down the middle, but not far enough to split them in half; you can also leave the tails on to allow an unbattered "handle"), and blanched vegetables, such as sliced sweet potatoes, broccoli, squash, and flat-leaf parsley. This recipe makes enough batter to coat about pound of U21/25 shrimp, a medium-sized head of broccoli cut into florets, and one large sweet potato, thinly sliced.Software: 2 quarts peanut or safflower oil 2 quarts peanut or safflower oil (see Notes Notes) Salt Freshly ground white pepper cup cornstarch 1 cup egg whites Target food (see Notes Notes) Hardware: Electric fryer or heavy Dutch Electric fryer or heavy Dutch oven fitted with a fat/candy thermometer Small mixing bowl Mesh strainer for sifting Medium mixing bowl Electric mixer Tongs Draining rig (see ill.u.s.tration ill.u.s.tration)

PONZU.

Ponzu sauce is j.a.panese and is typically made with lemon juice or rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin or sake, seaweed, and dried bonito flakes. Bonito flakes, also called katsuobus.h.i.+, are made of strongly flavored tuna.