Frying all the Potatoes

I may have mentioned a few weeks ago that the boyfriend got me a deep fryer for Christmas. This was both a great gift for me and a self-serving gift for himself. I think he really just wanted some french fries!

I have always been nervous about deep frying. Heating a giant vat of oil to over 300 degrees just seemed like a dangerous proposition. My new deep fryer takes away all the fear and I've been having a great time frying everything! Chicken tenders, chicken wings, donuts and of course, french fries.

I have finally been able to put my French Fries cookbook to good use. I've tried a few methods to get the perfect golden crunch on my fries, the frying method from this cookbook delivers the most delicious and consistent results. I'm thinking of making my way through this cookbook, cover to cover.

I may put on twenty pounds this year...

In other news, I'm putting my gym membership to good use!

Daring Bakers: Let’s go nuts for Donuts!

Can you believe that I have never deep fried anything? Deep-frying, along with lighting the gas grill, seemed like dangerous cooking feats. Why would I want to heat up a gallon of oil to 365 °F? That seems like a bad idea for home cook, right? There is just one problem, I love fried food! Give me a pile of chicken wings, some French fries and fry me up a Snickers bar and I’m a happy camper. Although on the other hand, it might be good that I don’t fry at home, I’d be 400 lbs…

Luckily I joined the Daring Bakers. My first challenge was more of an aesthetic challenge than a baking one. Decorating sugar cookies was super fun and now I’m ready for the holidays! This month’s challenge is what I have been hoping for, something to really push my boundaries, test my baking skills and make me a little uncomfortable. This month we would be making donuts (doughnuts?)

I love donuts, so this Daring Bakers challenge is a win-win. I get to play with hot oil and I get to eat lots of donuts! NOM! Neither of these things is an unusual happening. I use hot oil on an almost daily basis in the lab. I’m also lucky enough to walk by not one, but three Dunkin’ Donuts on my way to work. Making my own donuts would save me so much money! But don’t worry, I didn’t fry them in silicon oil, that would be disgusting.