Today's first topic of discussion...fried food! I figure since I'm going to a state and in the lager scheme of things a region of the country infatuated with the consumption of fried foods then I might as well study up. Let's start with the ever popular state fair fried foods on a stick. The one I am most interested in trying? Deep fried candy bar on a stick! Uhhh! That just sounds soooo good! The candy bars are skewered on sturdy sticks and then dipped in a sweet funnel cake-like batter. Into hot vegetable oil they go, and round and round they twirl until golden brown. A dusting of powdered sugar, a few minutes of cooling and they are ready to eat. Heres the FCBS (Fried Candy Bar on a Stick) downfall....whether you choose Milky Way or Snickers you're looking at a whopping 420 calroies!!
If you'd like a taste but would rather not go with such a large intake then I offer you the following recipe. It originates from my grandma who passed it down to my mom. Mom calls it Mini-Pastry Fondue. To make this a less-fattening occassion make these for a large group of friends or family members. Your require a contained of pilsbury crescent dough, powdered sugar, vegetable oil, and a meltable candy. The crescent dough needs be pressed together and cut into small squares. You then place the candy (mini snickers bar, rolo, chocolate chips) and roll it in the dough. (I find that Kraft caramel pieces are quite delicious though you must let them cool before consuming or your tongue is is for a lashing) Anyway, you simply heat some oil in a pot on the stove (no need for a candy or fry thermometer). Carefully place the balls in the bubbling oil, making sure not to splatter. (Vegetable oil, or any oil, can be quite scarring and painful) Once the doughs of ball have reach a golden color and are floating on the top you must place the balls on a plate covered with a paper towel or two. The paper towel gets rid of any unnecessary oil drippings. (now comes the fun part) After filling a bowl with powdered sugar, place the dough in a vigorously shake the bowl around vigorously so as to coat the cooked confection. CAUTION! These are extremely addicting!! I haven't had them in quite awhile but when I was younger i would even go so far as to east the dough raw. When my mom would complain that I'd upset my stomach by eating raw dough, I would resort to cooking the balls for a limited time. This way i was greeted with a slightly crunchy outer layer encasing a gooey dough and melted caramel center!!
I shall now continue my fried food discussion! The following is a list of strangely surprising deep fried foods.
DEEP FRIED...(To save time I'm not gonna re-write that again and again)
-Twinkies (Please don't make this! Twinkies already have 39 ingredients!!!!)
-Macaronni and Cheese (Alton Brown has a delicious Panko-covered recipe for this)
-Oreos (Umm..yeah it's true...now that's plain weird)
-Pickles (No thanks)
-Pizza (Cause pizza isn't greasy enough)
-Coca-cola (WTF?!? Recipe shall be included...)
-Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Definitely good and hey you could use any cookie dough)
-Pop-tart (As of now these can be toasted, frozen, AND deep-fried)
-Spam (Did you know in the U.S., 3.8 cans of spam are consumed every second)
-Brownies (If brownies work then so can blondies! Serve with ice cream)
-Cheesecake (Can be chocolate-dipped, frozen, and fried)
-Cadbury Creme Eggs (Cause cadbury chocolate isn't rich and satisfying enough)
-Eggs (Keep in mind that a deep-fried WHOLE egg not a simple fried one)
-Banana (Often has shredded coconut in the batter)
-Corn (Can't imagine that batter can stay on so well)
-Cheese Curd (What are cheese curds anyway)
-Peaches (Let's make a healthy food un-healthy shall we?)
-Strawberries (I wouldn't suggest this, cooked berries aren't my fav)
-Ice-crem (Mexican classic)
-Hamdog (Hot dog wrapped in a beef patty,covered with bacon, chili, cheese and onions, and served on a hoagie bun topped with a fried egg and deep fried)
-California Roll (All-time favorite fried food!)
-Jelly Beans (Available at the the Texas State Fair)
deep fried oreos
deep fried coke
deep fried jelly beansRecipe for deep fried coke...
-3-4 cups all-purpose flour
-3 eggs
-2 cups Coca-Cola
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-Vegetable oil (for deep frying)
-Confectioners' sugar (for topping)
-Pure Coca-Cola Syrup (where do you even buy that?)
-Whipped cream
-Maraschino cherries
Beat the eggs, then add the sugar and Coca-Cola.
Sift 2 cups of flour, the salt and the baking powder and add to the Coca-Cola, sugar and egg mixture. Mix while adding more flour until the batter is smooth and not too thick.
Put vegetable oil into deep fryer, and heat to 375 degrees F.
Pour the batter into the fryer and cook up a mass of doughy strands.
Stuff into a Coca Cola cup, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and douse with pure Coke syrup. Top with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
Needless to say Americans fry almost anything and everything...That's not to say people of other lands don't fry themselves up some food every once and a while. They just don't fry as much as the good ole US of A. But for the sake of global recognition (it's good to be politically correct) I'll include some well-known ethnic FFs as well.
Ni Hao! China-Spring Rolls/Egg Rolls- To clarify, An egg roll is made by wrapping a combination of chopped vegetables (often mostly cabbage), meat, and sometimes noodles, in a sheet of dough, dipping the dough in egg or an egg wash, then deep frying it. When compared with its cousin, the spring roll, the egg roll is generally larger; has a thicker, puffier skin; is crunchier; and has more filling than the spring roll. The egg roll dough is wheat-based while the spring roll is sometimes rice-based.
Konichiwa! Japan-Tempura- The light batter used is made of cold water, wheat flour, eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices. Tempura batter is traditionally mixed in small batches using chopsticks for only a few seconds, leaving lumps in the mixture that, along with the cold batter temperature, result in the unique fluffy and crisp tempura structure when cooked. My favorite tempura-fried foods would have to be sweet potatoe slices!
Hola! Spain-Churros- These are fried-dough pastry-based snacks, sometimes made from potato dough, that originated in Spain. Easily found in your local Americanized Mexican fast food chains like Del Taco, Taco Bell, and Baja Fresh.
Bon Jour! France-Beignets- In France, beignet is used as a term for a large variety of pastries made from deep-fried dough with fruit or vegetable filling. They may contain other fillings, as well: potatoes, mushrooms, or even meat.
Well I've been talking about fried foods so much I almost feel a heart attack coming on!
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