It is all great to have all the equipment and keep yourself safe, but there is no point unless you can replicate all that fabulous and bad for you food at home. Really, it is all about deep frying well. Do it wrong and you will end up with greasy undercooked food, or worse burnt, inedible food. Follow these tips to get it started right!

How to Deep Fry Successfully:

1. Choose the Right Temperature

Do your research on the food you are frying and pinpoint the right temperature for the oil to be at.  If the oil is too low, your food may not cook and can be soggy, if it is too high it will burn and be inedible.  Smaller foods cook quicker and therefore generally need higher temperatures. For example, if you are deep frying a whole turkey the temperature should be around 325F whereas if you are deep frying chicken wings, you need a temperature closer to 375F.

2. Maintain the Temperature

It is just as important to keep the temperature steady. When you add foods to the oil it will drop the oil temperature. I generally advise having the temperature a little higher than you want it when you add the food, that will help you to maintain that temperature while the food is cooking.  Continue to check the oil temperature often and adjust the heat source as necessary.

3. Don’t Crowd the Food

Don’t assume that you can fry two dozen chicken wings at once and have them crispy.  The temperature of the oil will drop too quickly and your items are likely to stick together.   Fry your food in batches.  This will involve some  playing around to figure out what a good batch size is.  This depends on how much oil you are using, how big your pot is, and what you are frying.   If you start with small batches you can always make them bigger.

4. Fry Thoroughly

Make sure you get all the liquid out of the coating and it is truly crispy when you remove from the oil. Nothing is worse than a really good batch of calamari or doughnuts which is crispy when it first comes out of the fryer and soggy twenty minutes later.  If you find this is your problem, you probably aren’t frying the items for long enough. If it is an item which needs to cook inside you can check by using a thermometer to check for temperature or a toothpick to check for tenderness. Still not sure? Aim for golden brown and do a small batch first, let it drain and then try it!

5. Drain Thoroughly

Once you have removed your food from the oil you may want to quickly toss it in a towel to dab off any excess oil. However do transfer it to a rack.  If you cool fried food on a flat surface you are likely to have one side of the food be quite soggy.

6. Be Prepared to Keep Food Warm

This is especially important if you are frying your food in batches.  Turn your oven on to a low temperature ~250F.  Place a cookie sheet with a drying rack on top in the oven. As your food comes out of the fryer you can quickly toss it in paper towels and let it drain right in the oven, on the rack while staying warm.

7. Season Quickly

If you want to add salt or pepper to your fried items do it while it is still quite warm. After the deep fried food is cooled the salt won’t want to adhere as well.

What tips do you have on deep frying?

Don’t forget to check out Part I and Part II in my Deep Frying series.

Are you afraid of deep frying? Me too. But I think that is quite a healthy fear, as long as it doesn’t prevent you from making yummy homemade fish and chips or spring rolls it will just keep you safer at home right? Here are some compiled tips on safely deep frying at home. Do as I suggest and you should be quite safe, assuming you aren’t deep into the wine when you start.

Spring Rolls

How to Deep Fry Safely:

1. Keep Your Tools Dry
Ever heard the expression like oil and water? Well hot oil and water are way worse, trust me. Adding anything wet to hot oil will cause the oil to bubble and splatter. A large amount of water could cause a pillar of flames to erupt and burn you. Or worse, explode. Scared yet? Good. You need to be cautious. But, this is easy to prevent, just make sure any tool you are adding to the oil is dry and any food you are adding to the oil is either mostly dry or coated in a breading. Lastly make sure when you go to clean anything with hot oil that you give it enough time to cool down. Also, be careful if you have multiple things on the stove that water can’t jump from one pot into the next.

2. Get a Fire Extinguisher
You already have one in the kitchen right? That’s what I thought. Like a plunger, you never want to have to use it, but you may be very relieved to have it if you need it.

3. Keep a Clean Workspace
Accidents happen and having excess clutter around where you are working will make it all the more likely. Avoid this problem by being organized and keeping the area you are deep frying in clean and orderly.

4. Dress Smart
I have only caught myself on fire while cooking once, and it was because my apron string managed to get in the way of my gas burner. Thankfully it was very minor and quickly extinguished but a good lesson. Watch that your sleeves aren’t too long and you don’t have any threads hanging off of your clothing. (P.S. I wasn’t deep frying when I ignited myself. But, if you do set yourself on fire, don’t panic.)

5. Pay Attention
Don’t walk away from your oil, any number of bad accidents could happen including it getting too hot and catching fire. When you are deep frying make sure it doesn’t get too hot, pay attention to your thermometer and your senses for any sort of smoky smell.

6. Carefully Add Your Food
When you add food to the oil, do it carefully (no dropping from high heights please). Always add the food away from you so if any splashes occur they burn the wall and not you!

Are you confident in deep frying at home? How did you become so? Have anything to add? Please add your tips in the comments!

Apple Fritters

Now, before you deep fry anything (stop eyeing those apple fritters), you need to have all the right tools at your disposal. Preparation is the key to success right? This of course assumes you don’t have an actual Deep Fryer. If you have a Deep Frying machine, then read the manual.

What you Need to Deep Fry:

1. The Right Pot
Either a high-sided saucepan or a wok work quite well for deep frying on the stove top. You just want to make sure you have enough room that the item you are deep frying can be completely submerged and still leave you with enough space so it is at most half full. You don’t want oil boiling over. Make certain your pot is stable on your stove.

2. An Oil Thermometer
If your oil is too cool your food will get really greasy and soggy, if it is too hot it may burn the food before it is cooked through. With an oil thermometer you can adjust the temperature as you go to maintain the correct heat for the food you are deep frying.

3. The Right Oil
You need an oil with a smoking point higher than the temperature to which you plan to take the oil for frying. When oil begins to smoke that means it has begun to break down. This is not necessarily the point at which the oil will ignite (called the flashing point and generally much higher), but it is still something worth avoiding. Of course you also usually want an oil neutral in flavour. I usually use canola oil, other good choices are safflower and grapeseed. I also regularly use peanut oil, which has a high smoking point but isn’t truly neutral.

4. A Slotted or Spider Spoon
Once the food is in the oil, you will need to turn it, and eventually retrieve it. I usually use a spider, which is a utensil you can buy for about $2 if you go to a dollar store and is great because you don’t waste very much oil while removing items.

Alright deep frying enthusiasts, am I missing anything?

Since deep frying at home is very much something every cook should be comfortable with, I am introducing a new feature for the next several weeks: Frying Fridays.

Every Friday, I will post a set of tips around deep frying. The tips will cover how to do it safely, what tools you need to deep fry at home, and how to be successful at frying food. Plus, every Friday there will be a new recipe to use those techniques you are learning.

So, if you have any questions about deep frying, please leave them in the comments and I will do my very best to answer them.

And as a tease, here are a few of the recipes you will see over the coming weeks, with the first available today:

Deep Frying Recipes:
Apple Fritter Recipe
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Fried Calamari
Fried Okra

Cooking for yourself shouldn’t be stressful but rather rewarding. Don’t put too much pressure on the result, if for some reason your muffins don’t rise or your pasta is watery, then figure out why!  Email me for advice or do a web search. As long as you learned something all is not wasted. Any good cook has made several nearly inedible meals while they were teaching themselves how to cook.

Another key thing to do is to read the full recipe before you start. You will want to understand how long it will take, what ingredients and tools you need and most importantly if there is something you don’t understand.   Here are some ideas and recipe to start cooking!

Make some Pasta:

Pasta is a great place to start cooking as it can be quite simple and easy. It also doesn’t take a lot of time which can be frustrating for new cooks. Here are a few recipes to try:

Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs - for a classic comfort food
Tortellini Recipe with Mushrooms, Ham, Red Peppers and Cream – try omitting the red peppers and adding in frozen peas at the end!
Baked Shrimp, Feta and Tomatoes Pasta Recipe
Eggplant, Zucchini, Kale, and Tomatoes with Whole Wheat Penne Recipe – a vegetarian pasta recipe
Sausage Rigatoni in a Tomato Cream Sauce Recipe

Learn to Cook Green Vegetables:

Though it might not be sexy to cook broccoli, eating it may make you sexier. Vegetables are also an inexpensive way to try out different cooing methods like steaming, broiling and baking.

Cold Lemon Asparagus Salad Recipe
Roasted Broccoli Recipe with Lemon and Chilies
Stir Fried Bok Choy
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Walnuts and Balsamic Vinegar

Make a Stew or Braise:
One of the first dishes I was most proud of cooking was a lamb shanks recipe, but here is the thing- they are easy! Make sure you give yourself enough time to let them meat get nice and tender. Also, read these tips on making a good stew.

Provencal Beef Shank Stew
Simple Beef and Red Wine Stew Recipe
Braised Pork with Caramelized Leeks and Apple Cider
Lamb Shanks with Red Wine

Cooking spaghetti squash is extremely easy, and once cooked it is a delicious vegetable which can be used in many different ways.  You can create wonderful side dishes based around spaghetti squash like fritters, casseroles or simple warm salads. My favorite recipe is for spaghetti squash gratin.

Of course, a very common way to use spaghetti squash is to use it as a substitue for grains in low glycemic or low carb diets. You can make it part of your main course by serving lightly dressed spaghetti squash underneath an Indian dahl, a ragu recipe or a warm and hearty beef stew.

I love using dried mushrooms because their flavour is concentrated while drying and so a little goes a long way, plus the wonderful liquid produced when soaking dried mushrooms has countless potential uses. Once you are familiar with this product you will find yourself using them regularly.

How To Buy Dried Mushrooms:
When you are buying dried mushrooms try and buy mushrooms which are whole, rather than broken into little mushroom crumbs. In addition do read the package to make sure that if you are buying chanterelle mushrooms, you are getting 100% chanterelle mushrooms and not a mixture of random varieties.

A Lasagna made from Dried Mushrooms

As with any basic recipe a multitude of variations exist. Common variations would be to add half a white onion, a dash of Chinese cooking wine, some soy sauce or a clove of garlic.

Check back tomorrow for a hearty Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe.

As a hot sauce lover, this is my new favorite condiment. It has a pure chili flavour and is a great addition to many dishes, from pastas to soups, or just to dip a grilled cheese in. Once made do keep it in your fridge, it should store well for about two weeks.