Deep Fry

The name pretty much says it all: these are everything you could want from a French fry. They are great as is, but if you are looking for a change of pace, try tossing the fries with any of the seasoning mixtures on pages 117 to 119 or serving them with any of the condiments on pages 107 to 112.

Gina: Light, delicate, and full of flavor, homemade doughnuts are a true indulgence, one that’s worthy of a holiday, a birthday breakfast, or any other special occasion (“Look mom, all A’s!”). This recipe takes a bit of advance work, to prepare the dough and allow it to rise, but it’s a fun project to do with your kids. And the maple icing makes it difficult to eat just one.

Pat: When I was growing up in the South, there were “soul food” restaurants on every corner. I mean every corner. And there was one entrée served in all those restaurants, and that, of course, was fried chicken. Gina: To this day, in spite of our occasional diets, fried chicken is one menu item that is hard to resist. It has been and always will be one of our weaknesses. But it’s one we can live with. When you’ve had a bad day at work, there’s something about coming home to a good piece of fried chicken. It’s a Southern tonic: a feel-good, make-it-all-better food. Pat: We coat the chicken in dry spices first. This allows an incredible flavor to penetrate and permeate the meat. Then the chicken is double-dipped in buttermilk and seasoned flour to create a crispy, flavorful crunch. I promise you lip-smackin’ good fried chicken with this Neely favorite. It’s one of those dishes that partygoers love and are still talking about the next day.

Gina: They call me the spice fairy on our show, but my husband is the hot man! If you can’t take the heat, you might want to reconsider this dish. Pat: Living in the South, I have, of course, acquired a taste for both spicy food and fried chicken. In fact, I love fried chicken so much that I eat it at least once a week. And the wings happen to be my favorite part of the bird. No cut is more succulent or flavorful, especially when dusted with fiery seasonings, dipped in batter, and fried. To fire up the flavor in this recipe, I season both the wings and the batter with cayenne, red-pepper flakes, black pepper, and even a little hot sauce. Like Gina says, I just can’t seem to get enough spice or fire. I should add that Gina not only understands my fried-chicken affliction, she encourages it, and several years ago, she went so far as to purchase me a countertop fryer. This has made it easy for me to come home any night and fry up some chicken (it has also saved on time and mess). You will definitely want to adjust the heat levels in this recipe. I have to do the same thing at home, because if it’s too hot my girls won’t eat it.

You may have seen struffoli jazzed up with pine nuts, candied fruit, or slivered almonds. Sometimes they are piled into one big mound, sometimes shaped into several smaller mounds, or, especially around the holidays, formed into a wreath. Once you have the basics down, you can go off in any direction.

This is the side dish to make when you find yourself with leftover mashed potatoes. (If you are using leftover mashed potatoes, use your judgment about the ingredients you want to add, since the mashed potatoes may be flavored already.) It also makes a wonderful dish for entertaining—everyone loves them, and you can keep them warm in an oven up to 30 minutes after you make them.

Thermometers—whether the instant-reading type used for meat, the large-dial models used to measure the temperature of oil for frying, or those used to test an oven’s temperature—are key tools to have in the kitchen. Why twice-fried potatoes? The first cooking, at a lower temperature, cooks the potato fully, and the second frying, at a higher temperature, makes a delicious crunchy crust. This comes in handy if you want to make the dish for company—the first frying can be done several hours in advance, and the second cooking takes only 5 minutes or so.

The point of a fritto misto is to enjoy the flavors and textures of a variety of fish. You can vary the roster of fish according to what is in the market and increase or decrease the amount according to the number of guests you’re cooking for.

If you haven’t bought a deep-frying thermometer yet, this is a good time to do it. A few of the pizzette may “spring a leak” while they fry—you can minimize the risk by not overfilling the pizzette, and by wetting and sealing the edges well as you form them.

When my mother made fried zucchini for us, she would slice the zucchini lengthwise into 1/ 4-inch slices. Sometimes she would flour them, dip them in egg batter, cover them well with bread crumbs, and fry them, as I do here. But sometimes she would just dip them in flour and eggs and fry them. I liked them both ways. The ones without bread crumbs I make often for a vegetable buffet or antipasto. After they are fried and drained, I roll them like a jelly roll and serve them just like that. The best zucchini to use for this—and most—recipes are small ones, about 6 inches long, with bright skins and a firm texture. Zucchini of this size are called “fancy” in the restaurant business. You’ll see them labeled like that in some markets as well. Fry the zucchini in batches for better results. Overcrowding the oil when frying zucchini, or for that matter anything, lowers the temperature of the oil drastically, and that causes a lot of problems. First, the food becomes poached and not fried, and absorbs much more oil. The zucchini pieces will stick to each other and cook unevenly, without the nice, crispy crust which is one of the reasons we fry in the first place.