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nwhikerI deep fried calamari once when I was in grad school, while hosting a dinner for a friend and her brand new fiancé, he loved calamari. And was a decent guy, and last I heard, they're still together, though last I heard was over 15 years ago.
After grad school, I worked at Safeway frying doughnuts for a few months. That was freaking miserable. but I did deep fry stuff.
Since then, and it's been over two decades, I have never to best of my recollection fried any-freaking-thing. Just not worth it, a mess, it stinks, the oil must then be dealt with etc. The calorie count of deep fried food was less of a consideration than either of those.
But. I've been wanting to make good falafel for a while. I've baked them, and they're ok, but not great. I can eat them out, but the amount of cilantro in most restaurant falafel.... well, I guess people eat Tide Pods, I could eat those?
I decided it was time to try to deep fry falafel at home.
And it went... surprisingly well. It wasn't as hard as I thought, a lot less splattering (like almost none) than I'd feared, and the falafel came out good.
I still need to work on the recipe, they were good, but not the spices were not what I wanted. I just added a bit extra parsley for the cilantro. The recipe just called for cumin, but I should have added coriander as well (which, note, does not taste like soap!), and more pepper. I'll also try adding some mint next time, just a bit.
Perry and I made pita breads, and dh cooked them on the griddle while I was frying the falafel. The breads were good, but did not separate the way they should have. I'll have to work a bit more on that.
I winged it on tahini sauce and it was good.
Linnea had a friend over. She's lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive, and we invited her to stay for dinner! Linnea, btw, was horrified that I was serving vegan food. Linnea, my little darling carnivore, views vegan food as a a crime against humanity. We've all be sworn to secrecy, we're not supposed to tell anything that she actually ate and enjoyed vegan food. Heh.
I did toss the used oil. I don't think I'll be deep frying enough to warrant keeping it in the fridge. That was a waste, and something I'd need to work on.
I had bought an air fryer and gave it to AC when we didn't really a) use it or b) think that it was any better than baking. I might see if I can borrow it to try falafel in that, but considering how everything else worked -or didn't- in the air fryer, I doubt it'll be a success.
Anyhow, I feel like I now have a meal that while not-fancy, was well enough liked to be a "high value" meal for the kids.
My biggest fear: that Linnea realizes that if I can fry falafel, I can fry beignets. Repeat with "Perry/potatoes" and "dh/sopapillas".
After grad school, I worked at Safeway frying doughnuts for a few months. That was freaking miserable. but I did deep fry stuff.
Since then, and it's been over two decades, I have never to best of my recollection fried any-freaking-thing. Just not worth it, a mess, it stinks, the oil must then be dealt with etc. The calorie count of deep fried food was less of a consideration than either of those.
But. I've been wanting to make good falafel for a while. I've baked them, and they're ok, but not great. I can eat them out, but the amount of cilantro in most restaurant falafel.... well, I guess people eat Tide Pods, I could eat those?
I decided it was time to try to deep fry falafel at home.
And it went... surprisingly well. It wasn't as hard as I thought, a lot less splattering (like almost none) than I'd feared, and the falafel came out good.
I still need to work on the recipe, they were good, but not the spices were not what I wanted. I just added a bit extra parsley for the cilantro. The recipe just called for cumin, but I should have added coriander as well (which, note, does not taste like soap!), and more pepper. I'll also try adding some mint next time, just a bit.
Perry and I made pita breads, and dh cooked them on the griddle while I was frying the falafel. The breads were good, but did not separate the way they should have. I'll have to work a bit more on that.
I winged it on tahini sauce and it was good.
Linnea had a friend over. She's lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive, and we invited her to stay for dinner! Linnea, btw, was horrified that I was serving vegan food. Linnea, my little darling carnivore, views vegan food as a a crime against humanity. We've all be sworn to secrecy, we're not supposed to tell anything that she actually ate and enjoyed vegan food. Heh.
I did toss the used oil. I don't think I'll be deep frying enough to warrant keeping it in the fridge. That was a waste, and something I'd need to work on.
I had bought an air fryer and gave it to AC when we didn't really a) use it or b) think that it was any better than baking. I might see if I can borrow it to try falafel in that, but considering how everything else worked -or didn't- in the air fryer, I doubt it'll be a success.
Anyhow, I feel like I now have a meal that while not-fancy, was well enough liked to be a "high value" meal for the kids.
My biggest fear: that Linnea realizes that if I can fry falafel, I can fry beignets. Repeat with "Perry/potatoes" and "dh/sopapillas".
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Date: 18 Jan 2020 03:31 (UTC)I went on a sopapilla tour of Roswell on my last visit there. Sigh. Now I'm sad all over again. ;-) Not available in Michigan restaurants *at all* (and if someone dares to put it on a menu, it ends up being a fried tortilla. Shudder!)