Frying Oil Aha! Moment

Earlier this month I posted a recap of making doughnuts from scratch. I found it difficult to keep my oil within the suggested 365 to 370 degree range. The oil took a very long time to reach the mid-300's, then it shot up beyond 400 degrees before I even noticed which resulted in burnt donuts. Even after I adjusted the heat, the oil remained too hot. The donuts cooked very quickly on the outside which resulted in barely done insides. I noticed a very fine smoke in the air, too. I wrongly chalked it up to the wonkiness of frying.


Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. I work in an office building that hovers in the frigid zone during the hot summer months. I like to warm up by eating my lunch outside. I grabbed lunch and Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen With A Good Appetite and headed outside. It's a very readable cookbook which makes for a lovely lunch companion. I flipped the book open to Chapter 8: Better Fried. The introduction starts with an endearing story about Clark's run in with Chef Larry Forgione who said "Everything is better fried, but nothing is better than fried cheese." She concludes the essay by saying she prefers to use pure lard for frying, but, since it's hard to find, she recommends other oils. She concludes with this nugget:

"Another exotic though expensive frying possibility is pure, raw (virgin) coconut oil--if you don't mind a subtle coconut taste to your fried goods (excellent with fried pies and doughnuts, less so with corn dogs).

Vegetable, pure olive, and soybean oils will work well, too. But avoid canola, which is less stable when heated to very high temperatures."

Aha! I used canola oil. Even though the recipe specifically states vegetable oil, I only had canola oil on hand so that's what I used. Phew! Not only am I relieved, but I learned something too!

Cherry Clafouti

Summer is on. I'm still baking, but the heat is brutal as we hover in the high 90's. I feel like a runner who's hitting the wall...you. just. keep. going. On Friday, I bought a dozen fresh farm eggs from a co-worker (I know, how cool is that?). I needed to bake something to showcase the freshness of the eggs. After posting to facebook for ideas, I decided to bake a Cherry Clafouti. I love this easy recipe I found in the Kansas City Star a few years ago. The original recipe is no longer available via the KC Star, but you can view it here. A serving is less than 200 calories. What's not to love??


I adore this recipe because it's super easy and light. I used Fage Greek Yogurt because it adds a richness and smoothness that's unbelievable. I left out the blueberries, but doubled the amount of cherries. I also baked in a tart dish which I thought was a little too big, but it fit perfectly. I omitted the dusting of powdered sugar because I forgot about it.





You might also notice that I let it get a little brown...probably browner than I should have. But did that stop us from devouring it? Not a chance. I must admit that I became distracted by watching the batter rise. I think the farm fresh eggs are to blame!

YA Lit

I'm reading a lot of Young Adult literature lately. I think it all started with the WSJ article Darkness Too Visible by Meghan Cox Gurdon. She attacked YA for being too negative and for exploring dark subject matters. I follow Maureen Johnson on twitter who immediately responded with an eloquent defense of all types of YA. Check out this post by Kate Hart who examined 400 YA covers published during 2010. As it turns out, they're definitely not dark. As I followed the developing story, I fondly recalled reading whatever books I wanted to back in the 80's during my formative years (does anyone else recall M.E. Kerr's Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! ?), so I decided to check out new YA.

I read Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes (don't let the girlie cover fool you) followed quickly by Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why. Over the weekend I devoured The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I was going to search for more titles, but I'll probably start Catching Fire, the 2nd book in the trilogy.

Club: BAKED: Farm Stand Buttermilk Doughnuts

This is my first post for Club: BAKED! We're baking our way through Baked Explorations which is quickly turning into one of my favorite cookbooks! Gloria selected this recipe. Be sure to check out her amazing creations. I really enjoyed learning how to make doughnuts. Today the temperature hovered in the upper 90's. Next time I make these will be in the Fall! I'm including a picture of the ingredients. I'm always a little amazed when these simple ingredients turn into such awesome treats. It's magic.


I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I used Ree the Pioneer Woman's trick to make my own. I've made my own buttermilk several times now and it always works, trust me. I discovered that the lighting in my kitchen is funky. I'll work on that as I take more pics.

The recipe is easy to follow. The dough was VERY sticky, but I added enough flour to make it work. I used a 1 3/4" and 3 3/16" biscuit cutter. I'm not a huge fan of frying food at home because I just don't feel safe around hot oil. This is my first time to fry at home. I ran into trouble heating my oil. I made it about 1" deep which took forever to heat up...but then it became crazy hot...like 3-alarm fire hot. I totally burnt the first 2 doughtnuts. I turned down the flame which was still a little too hot. I finally hit my groove on the 3rd try.



I made the vanilla glaze and added sprinkles to the doughnuts. I used cinnamon sugar for the holes. I had every intention to make the chocolate dip, but my family and I just couldn't wait any longer to dig in. My doughnuts are a little thin. Next time I'll use a smaller biscuit cutter to make the hole. The doughnut holes tasted best! Soft, pillowy goodness.


This is my 2-year old Stella as she gives her sign of approval! I've found a greater appreciation for anyone who makes doughnuts (or is it donuts?).

Twitter

Okay, it looks like I fixed it. My twitter updates are now posting to this blog. *fingers crossed* What, it only took me a year??