fried | Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats

Posts Tagged ‘fried’

Episode 149 – “TORT(illa) Reform”

Posted: November 13, 2021 in Season 10
Tags: alton brown, chips, corn, dinner, fried, fried food, good eats, guacamole, masa, nixtamal, peanut oil, salsa, snack, taco, tortilla, vegan, vegetarian

Some episodes of Good Eats end up being easier than others. This particular episode turned out to be a bit of a pain. Although there were only two recipes in this episode, I had to make the first recipe several times, so it ended up taking me a few weeks to complete the cooking portion. Anyway, I tried the recipes therein, and here’s how they worked for me.

Corn Tortillas

When I have had the opportunity to taste fresh, homemade tortillas, I have always found there to be a huge difference between them and the ones you can buy at the grocery store. I had never, however, attempted to make tortillas myself. Once again, I found this project to be pushing me to make a new food item at home. To make Alton’s corn tortillas, you’ll need dried field or flint corn, calcium hydroxide, and a tortilla press; I purchased all of these items through Amazon. The tortilla-making process takes two days, so you’ll also need to start this recipe the night before you plan to eat the tortillas.

To begin, rinse a pound of dried field or flint corn under cool water.

Place the drained corn in a stainless steel pot, along with 6 C water and 1/2 ounce of calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide (which is alkaline), otherwise known as slaked lime/pickling lime/cal is used to cause the corn to undergo nixtamalization, which removes the hulls from the corn and releases its nutrients and amino acids. After combining the corn with the water and cal, slowly (over 30-40 minutes) bring the solution to a boil. Be sure to use a stainless steel pot and utensils when working with cal, as it can bleach wood and discolor other metal.

Once the solution has reached a boil, place a lid on the pot, remove it from the heat, and allow it to sit at room temperature overnight; it is crucial not to refrigerate the mixture, as cold will halt the desired chemical reaction. The following day, rinse the corn under lukewarm water for 5-6 minutes, rubbing the corn between your fingers to remove the hulls.

Next, soak the corn for two minutes in cold water. Drain the corn and soak it for an additional two minutes. I wore latex gloves when I handled the corn and I found it helpful to use a slotted spoon to remove the corn from the soaking water, as this left more of the hull pieces behind. The resulting corn you have now is called “nixtamal.”

Place the nixtamal in the bowl of a food processor and pulse it 10-15 times. Scrape the bowl with a spatula, add 2 T water, and pulse 8-10 more times. Add 2 T water and 1 t Kosher salt and pulse until the dough clumps together when squeezed, adding more water if necessary.

Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Next, portion the dough into balls, placing them under a damp towel; Alton said he did 1.5 ounce portions, but I found the balls to be too small for my tortilla press. I opted for two ounce portions. Alton used a griddle to cook his tortillas, but I just used a large sauté pan. Either way, you want your cooking vessel to be around 400 degrees, which is approximately when drops of water sizzle and dance away. If you want to keep your tortillas warm, you can place a tea towel on a heating pad. When ready to cook, use scissors to remove the sides and zipper of a Ziplock bag, and use the trimmed bag to line both sides of your tortilla press. Place a ball of dough slightly off-center in the press (toward the hinge side), press the ball with your hand to flatten gently, and then press completely with the tortilla press.

Dough ball placed off-center in bag-lined tortilla press.

The tortilla may stick to the bag a bit, so flip the tortilla over and peel the bag off of the tortilla. Cook tortillas in the hot pan for about a minute per side. If big cracks form in your tortillas, you can try kneading more water into the dough, and then try again after another 30 minute dough rest. To refresh tortillas for later eating, spritz them with water, stack them in foil, and heat them for a few minutes in a 300 degree oven.

Okay, okay, so I wanted to like this recipe, but it was a complete dud for me. The first time I made the dough, my dough seemed crumbly in the food processor, so I added additional water. Yeah, that was a poor decision, as my dough became overly wet and sticky, and was impossible to work with. Into the trash, the dough went, and I had to start all over again several days later. The second time I made the dough, I did not add any additional water during the food processor portion of the recipe. The dough was still incredibly difficult to work with. I found that the dough stuck horribly to the plastic bag, so I tried spraying the bag with non-stick spray. That didn’t work. I also tried lining my press with both parchment and wax papers. Still, the dough stuck. Eventually, the system that seemed to work the best was to line the press with two pieces of parchment, pulling one sheet off and then flipping the tortilla into the pan, parchment side up. I would then try to gently peel the top piece of parchment off of the top of the tortilla, which almost always resulted in breaking the tortilla. If I was lucky, I would occasionally end up with a somewhat round tortilla.

Tortilla after pressing between parchment layers.

The corn aroma that filled our kitchen was wonderful and we used the tortillas from the second batch of dough to make tacos for dinner one night. The tortillas had rich corn flavor, but I did find them to be a bit too thick/chewy.

When all was said and done, the effort:reward ratio just was too skewed with this recipe. Now that I have a tortilla press, I do plan to make homemade tortillas again, but I plan to try them next with storebought masa harina. Oh, and I did make a third batch of these tortillas to continue on to the second recipe of the episode, which was for:

Lime Tortilla Chips

Making Alton’s tortillas was such a pain but I still maintained high hopes for the lime tortilla chips Alton made on the show. To make a full batch of the chips, stack 10 fresh corn tortillas and cut them into quarters.

In a bowl, whisk together 1/4 C lime juice and 2 t Kosher salt. Dip both sides of each tortilla triangle into the lime/salt mixture and set the triangles on a rack to dry for one hour.

After an hour, fry the triangles in two quarts of peanut oil at 365-375 degrees. The tortillas will need to fry for 20-30 seconds or until they float. Transfer the chips to a rack to drain/cool.

We found these chips to be nearly inedible, as they were incredibly dense and hard. They were difficult to bite/chew and I just threw my portion of nachos away.

Even served as nachos, Alton’s tortilla chips were inedible.

I was honestly afraid I would chip a tooth! I would just simply not make these again, or at least not with Alton’s corn tortillas. As I mentioned previously, I found Alton’s tortilla recipe to result in fairly thick, chewy tortillas, and that just really translated into the chips. I think I would enjoy the lime/salt flavor of these chips if it were possible to make them light and crispy, and maybe that would be possible with thinner, less dense tortillas. Here’s hoping to better recipes in the next episode!

Episode 135 – “The Waffle Truth”

Posted: March 25, 2020 in Season 9
Tags: alton brown, breakfast, brunch, chocolate, dessert, fried, good eats, sweet, waffle

Since we are all on lockdown for the Coronavirus, hopefully I’ll have some more time to cook and write. I also threw my back out two days ago, so I guess we may as well try to make the best of it. We are actually supposed to be on a cruise ship as I type, but instead I am perched in our family room. So, what does one eat during the apocalypse? How about waffles?

Basic Waffle

Alton touts the waffle as one of his favorite things, explaining that waffles are essentially a fried food, as the batter is cooked between oiled plates. I had never really thought of waffles as fried, but that explains why I like them so much. I’ll nearly always choose waffles over pancakes. Alton’s basic waffles are made by whisking together in a medium bowl 4 3/4 oz flour, 4 3/4 oz whole wheat flour, 3 T sugar, 1 t Kosher salt, 1/2 t baking soda, and 1 t baking powder.

Dry waffle ingredients: flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, Kosher salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

Dry waffle ingredients after whisking.

In a larger bowl, beat three eggs until smooth and whisk in 2 oz melted butter.

Three eggs

Three eggs beaten until smooth.

Melted butter added to eggs.

Next, whisk in 16 oz of buttermilk at room temperature.

Next to be added: room temperature buttermilk.

Batter after adding buttermilk.

Preheat your waffle iron and add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, folding everything together with a spatula until just combined; the batter will have some lumps, but that is okay.

Wet ingredients added to dry.

Batter mixed just until combined.

Let the batter rest for five minutes. Spray the plates of your waffle iron with nonstick spray, which will aid in browning and release of the waffles. Pour about three ounces of batter in the iron and cook until golden and crispy.

Batter on hot oiled iron.

Alton’s basic waffle, served here with butter and boiled cider syrup.

You can keep the waffles warm by covering them with foil and placing them in a warm oven. For later use (such as when a pandemic hits), you can freeze the waffles and reheat them in a toaster. I am picky about waffles, as I really don’t care for them when they are at all soggy. I like my waffles to be extra crispy on the outside. This is a really good waffle recipe, resulting in waffles that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I ate my waffles with butter and some homemade boiled apple cider syrup, while Ted enjoyed his with some maple syrup straight from his aunt’s maple trees.

Chocolate Waffle

If plain ol’ waffles are too boring for you, or you’re looking for more of a dessert waffle, Alton has you covered with his chocolate waffle recipe. As with the basic waffle recipe from above, you will need two mixing bowls for this recipe. In the first bowl, whisk together 7 oz flour, 1 3/4 oz sugar, 1 1/2 oz cocoa powder, 1 t salt, 1 t baking powder, and 1/2 t baking soda.

Dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Dry ingredients whisked together.

In the second bowl, whisk three eggs until they are smooth and add in 2 oz melted butter. Follow that with 16 oz of room temperature buttermilk and 1 t vanilla extract.

Eggs, melted butter, room temperature buttermilk, and vanilla extract.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, folding with a spatula to barely combine.

Wet ingredients added to dry ingredients.

Batter stirred until just combined.

Finally, fold in 4 oz of chocolate chips.

Chocolate chips to be folded in.

Add about 3 oz of batter to a standard waffle iron that has been preheated and sprayed with nonstick spray. Cook until crispy on the outside.

Waffle after cooking on a hot iron.

We first ate these waffles for breakfast with butter as a topping. We subsequently had the leftover waffles for dessert with vanilla ice cream.

Alton’s chocolate waffle, served with butter.

We were pretty surprised with how much we liked these waffles. Ted, in particular, does not really like anything sweet for breakfast, but he said he thoroughly enjoyed these. The waffles are actually not very sweet, as they contain quite a lot of cocoa powder, but you get little pockets of sweetness when you bite a chocolate chip. I personally liked these best served with ice cream, and I think kids would find these super fun for a special breakfast or dessert.

Episode 122 – “Sprung a Leek”

Posted: April 2, 2019 in Season 8
Tags: alton brown, bacon fat, balsamic, braised, breaded, buttermilk, cream, dinner, fried, fried food, good eats, grilled, leek, leek rings, onion, potato, soup, vegetables, vegetarian, vichyssoise

Since it appears that spring has officially sprung, this leek episode seems super appropriate, both for the ingredient and for the episode title. I have used leeks in many recipes in the past, but they have typically assumed more of a back-up role to other ingredients. In these recipes, however, the leek takes center stage.

Grilled Braised Leeks

This recipe is (or, at least was) Alton’s favorite leek preparation. If you have ever worked with leeks before, you will know that it is crucial to clean them thoroughly, unless you enjoy sand and grit in your teeth. To clean leeks as Alton does, barely cut off the white root tip of each leek, discarding the tips. Next, cut off the dark green leaves of the leeks and discard them.

Trimmed leeks.

Place a leek on a cutting board such that the center oval inside the leek is perpendicular to the cutting board.

Leek, placed so its oval is perpendicular to the cutting board.

Use a sharp knife to cut straight down through the top of the oval, slicing the leek in half lengthwise, while keeping the leek layers together.

Leeks split in half.

To rinse the leeks, hold onto their white ends as you dip/swirl them in a large bowl of water; any grit should fall to the bottom of the bowl.

Leeks, swirling in water to clean.

To store cleaned leeks, wrap them in a layer of damp paper towels, followed by a layer of plastic. This recipe uses a grill, so preheat your grill such that one end of the grill is hot and the other is cool. While the grill heats, brush the cut sides of eight leek halves (prepped as above) with bacon drippings. We happen to keep a jar of bacon drippings in our refrigerator, so I just melted some of the drippings in the microwave. After brushing the leeks with bacon fat, sprinkle them liberally with Kosher salt.

Bacon drippings.

Cuts sides of leeks brushed with bacon fat and sprinkled with Kosher salt.

Place the leeks, cut side down, on the hot side of the grill, and check them after three minutes of grilling.

Leeks placed, cut side down, on the grill.

You want your leeks to have grill marks, but you do not want them to get charred. My leeks were ready after three minutes. When your leeks have grill marks, transfer them to a large piece of foil and brush on some balsamic vinegar; Alton said he used about 1 T of balsamic vinegar, but he appeared to use more than that in the episode.

Leeks transferred to foil after grilling for 3 minutes.

Leeks drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Reassemble the leeks by placing two matching halves together and fold the foil closed to make a tight pouch. Place the foil packet over indirect heat and grill for 10-12 more minutes, or until the leeks are tender.

Leek halves placed on top of each other.

Foil packet placed over indirect heat for 10-12 minutes.

Serve the grilled leeks with any combination of black pepper, goat cheese, artichokes, and greens. This leek recipe really showcases the leek. I served my leeks with pepper, marinated artichoke hearts, and goat cheese, and it was a fantastic combination of flavors.

Grilled braised leeks served with pepper, goat cheese, and marinated artichoke hearts.

I do think my leeks could have used more time on the grill, as the outer layers of the leeks were pretty chewy and had a strong onion-like bite to them. The inner layers, however, were tender and had the sweetness of cooked onions. I definitely want to make these again, but I think I will let them sit on indirect heat for at least a good half hour. Next time, I will also purchase the smallest leeks I can find, as the larger leeks seemed to have much tougher outer leaves. These would be a perfect accompaniment to any summer (or spring) barbecue.

Leek Rings

For a twist on onion rings, Alton turns here to the leek. This recipe uses 12 ounces of leeks, and you’ll first want to remove their root tips and their dark green leaves. Next, slice the leeks into half-inch rings, separating the layers to form rings.

12 ounces of leeks.

Leeks, trimmed and sliced into half-inch rings.

Leek layers separated into rings.

To set up the breading stations for this recipe, combine 2 C flour with 2 t Kosher salt and divide the mixture between two containers. For the third station, combine 1 1/2 C milk with a beaten egg in a third container, and place the liquid container between the two flour containers.

Flour and Kosher salt.

Milk combined with an egg.

Three breading stations.

Preheat three quarts of oil (vegetable, safflower, or canola) in a large Dutch oven to 375 degrees. While the oil heats, you can bread your leek rings by using your left hand to place a handful of rings into the first flour container, tossing them to coat.

Rings into the first flour station.

Next, with the left hand, move the floured rings to the milk and toss the rings with your right hand.

Rings into the milk station.

Also with the right hand, move the milked leeks to the second flour container and use a fork to toss.

Rings into the last station.

Remove the breaded leeks with your left hand, transferring them to a spyder or to a plate. Use the spyder to gently drop the leeks into the hot oil, frying them for 30-90 seconds, or until golden brown.

Breaded leek rings.

Leek rings, frying in batches.

Transfer the fried leeks to a rack over a sheet pan to drain.

Fried leek rings.

We ate these a side with dinner one night and they were pretty fun. We thought they looked a lot like calamari rings. The nice thing about these was that they stayed pretty crispy, while onion rings can sometimes get a bit soggy. Before eating these, I wondered if they would need some sort of dipping sauce, but a little extra Kosher salt was all these needed for me. They have a slightly sweet onion-like flavor and a crispy outer shell. It was a little tedious to separate the leek layers and to bread them, but these were a fun thing to do for something different.

Leek Potato Soup

Alton’s take on Vichyssoise soup is the final recipe in this episode. It starts with melting 3 T butter in a lidded six quart pot over medium heat.

Butter in large pot.

While the butter melts, prep a pound of leeks, as done above for grilling (trim, cut in half through the oval, wash). Slice the leek halves into thirds lengthwise, and then chop them.

A pound of leeks.

Trimmed leeks.

Leek aligned so its oval is perpendicular to the cutting board.

Chopped leeks.

Add the chopped leeks to the melted butter, along with a large pinch of Kosher salt. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the leeks sweat for 20-25 minutes.

Chopped leeks added to melted butter, along with Kosher salt.

Leeks after sweating for 20-25 minutes.

Once the leeks are tender, add 14 ounces of Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped, along with a quart of vegetable broth.

Peeled/chopped Yukon gold potatoes.

Potatoes and vegetable broth added to leeks.

Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the liquid to a boil. Once boiling, decrease the heat to a simmer, put a lid on the pot, and cook the soup for 45 minutes.

Liquid brought to a simmer.

Lid placed on the pot for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, use an immersion blender, or a regular blender, to puree the soup to a smooth consistency.

Soup after cooking for 45 minutes.

Pureed soup.

Combine a cup of heavy cream with a cup of buttermilk and stir the dairy into the soup; combining the dairy prior to adding it to the soup will help to prevent curdling.

A cup of cream and a cup of buttermilk.

Finally, stir in a teaspoon of white pepper.

Dairy and white pepper added to soup.

Serve the soup topped with chopped chives.

Leek potato soup

This was a really delicious and simple soup. It was rich, without being heavy, and the leeks contributed a sweet flavor and aroma. This is a soup that could be eaten year-round, as you could serve it hot in colder seasons or cold in warmer weather. It is also a great vegetarian option, and it really highlights the flavor of leeks.

Episode 109 – “Wonton Ways”

Posted: October 19, 2018 in Season 8
Tags: alton brown, Asian, dessert, dumplings, fried, good eats, hoisin, pear, pork, potstickers, soy, steamed, tofu, vanilla, vegetarian, walnut, wonton

Episode 109 centers around wonton wrappers and the different ways to use them. Wonton comes from the Cantonese term “wahn tan,” which means “cloud swallow.” While it is possible to make your own wonton wrappers at home, Alton was adamant that it is not worth the time and effort to do so. Instead, do yourself a favor and buy the wonton wrappers that are readily available in the produce section of almost any grocery store.

Perfect Potstickers

This episode starts with Alton’s version of potstickers, featuring a pork and vegetable filling. The filling is made by combining in a bowl 1/2 pound ground pork, 1/4 C chopped scallions, 1 beaten egg, 2 T finely chopped red bell pepper, 1 1/2 t Kosher salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1 t light brown sugar, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, 2 t Worcestershire sauce, 2 t ketchup, and 1 t yellow mustard.

Ground pork.

Ground pork, an egg, red bell pepper, and scallions.

Ground pork, an egg, red bell pepper, scallions, Kosher salt, pepper, brown sugar, cayenne, Worcestershire, ketchup, and mustard.

Mix the filling thoroughly with gloved hands.

The mixed potsticker filling.

As you fill your wonton wrappers, be sure to keep the remaining wrappers moist by covering them with a damp paper towel.

Wonton wrappers.

To form the potstickers, place a wrapper so it is a diamond in front of you. Brush the two edges furthest from you with water and place a melon baller of filling (about 1/2 t) in the center.

Wonton wrapper with the two far edges brushed with water and a melon baller of filling.

Fold the bottom of the diamond over the filling to form a triangle, pressing the edges together and squeezing to remove any air bubbles.

Bottom of diamond folded over filling.

Edges pressed to seal and air bubbles pushed out.

Make two pleats on each short side of the triangle by folding the wrapper under itself and pressing (see photo).

Pleats made on each short side of the triangle.

Set the formed potstickers on a sheet pan, covering them with a damp towel until you finish filling the rest of the wrappers. For long-term storage (these will keep for 6+ months in the freezer), freeze the potstickers on a sheet pan and then transfer them to ziplock freezer bags. To cook the potstickers, heat a large skillet (that has a lid) over medium heat. Ideally, you do not want to use a nonstick skillet to cook potstickers, as you want them to stick to the pan. I, however, do not have a large skillet that is not nonstick, so I had to work with what I have. Heat the skillet until water droplets will “dance” across the surface of the pan. When the skillet is hot, brush the pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil and place 8-10 potstickers in the pan. Let the potstickers cook for two minutes, resisting the urge to lift or move them.

Hot skillet brushed with vegetable oil.

Potstickers added to skillet and cooked for two minutes.

When the potstickers have begun to stick to the pan, add 1/3 C chicken stock to the pan and quickly put the lid on the pan. Decrease the heat to low and cook the potstickers for two more minutes.

Chicken stock added to the pan.

Chicken stock added to the pan and lid placed on for two minutes.

Potstickers after cooking.

If you need to cook more potstickers, transfer the cooked potstickers to a foil cone and place it in a 200 degree oven while you cook the rest.

Foil cone to keep potstickers warm.

Potstickers transferred to foil cone to keep warm in the oven.

Be sure to deglaze the pan between batches by adding water to the pan and scraping up any stuck bits. Alton recommends serving the potstickers with hoisin sauce (you can buy this in the grocery store) or a mixture of soy sauce and honey. I served my potstickers with a mixture of soy sauce and lemon juice.

A plate of Alton’s potstickers.

These potstickers are fantastic. They are far superior to the frozen versions you get at any store. The filling is a perfectly balanced mixture of sweetness, spiciness, and tanginess. The wrappers are nearly translucent after cooking, having the texture of an al dente noodle on top and light crispiness on the bottom. I found that soy sauce overpowered the flavor of the filling, so I opted to eat mine with just a small amount of Asian mustard. Yes, it does take a little bit of time to fill and form the potstickers, but they are worth the time. I will absolutely make these again.

Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings

Another way to use wonton wrappers is to make steamed dumplings. If you do not have a steamer, Alton has a hack for you. To assemble his steamer, you will need a wide pot with a lid, a few pastry rings or tuna cans with the tops and bottoms removed, and disposable pie plates that you have perforated with scissors or a knife. To assemble the steamer, place 1/2″ water in the bottom of the pot, followed by a pastry ring or can. Top the ring/can with a perforated pie plate. Continue layering rings and pie plates to the top of the pot and put on the lid. You can then steam your dumplings by placing five dumplings in each pie plate layer. We have a bamboo steamer, so I used that. Anyway, back to the recipe. Cut 1/2 pound of tofu in half horizontally and place the layers between paper towels for 20 minutes. It helps to place a plate or pan on top to press out excess liquid.

Firm tofu.

Firm tofu, cut in half.

Firm tofu, cut in half and left on paper towels to drain.

Tofu after draining.

Once the tofu is ready, cut it into small cubes and place it in a bowl.

Cubing the tofu.

To the tofu add 1/2 C grated carrot, 1/2 C shredded Napa cabbage, 2 T chopped scallions, 2 T chopped red bell pepper, 2 t minced ginger, 1 T chopped cilantro, 1 T soy sauce, 1 T hoisin sauce (in the Asian section at the grocery store), 2 t sesame oil, 1 t Kosher salt, 1/4 t pepper, and one beaten egg.

Cubed tofu and grated carrot.

Cubed tofu, grated carrot, and Napa cabbage.

Cubed tofu, grated carrot, Napa cabbage, and scallions.

Cubed tofu, grated carrot, Napa cabbage, scallions, red bell pepper, and ginger.

Cubed tofu, grated carrot, Napa cabbage, scallions, red bell pepper, ginger, and cilantro.

Cubed tofu, grated carrot, Napa cabbage, scallions, red bell pepper, ginger, cilantro, and soy sauce.

Cubed tofu, grated carrot, Napa cabbage, scallions, red bell pepper, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, Kosher salt, pepper, and a beaten egg.

Lightly stir the filling, as you do not want to break up the tofu.

Dumpling filling.

Place your wonton wrappers in damp paper towels to keep them moist as you fill. To fill, place a wrapper so it is a diamond in front of you and place a melon baller (~1/2 t) of filling in the center. Brush all four edges of the wrapper with water and bring opposite corners together.

Wonton wrappers.

A melon baller of filling placed on a wonton wrapper, and all four edges of the wrapper brushed with water.

Folding opposite corners together.

Press the edges together, squeezing out any air bubbles.

Folding opposite corners together and pinching the seams.

Place the filled dumplings on a sheet pan and cover them with a damp towel while you fill the remaining wrappers. You can freeze them for later use or cook them immediately.

Dumplings on sheet pan.

To cook the dumplings, heat water in a steamer until you can see steam. If using Alton’s steamer, spray the pie plates with oil. Place the dumplings in the steamer, put the lid on, and cook the dumplings for 10-12 minutes.

Dumplings in steamer.

Dumplings in steamer for 10-12 minutes.

Dumplings after steaming.

Alton recommends serving these dumplings in a bowl of chicken stock. For vegetarians, you could use vegetable broth. I had some homemade chicken stock in the freezer, so served my dumplings in that.

Alton’s vegetarian steamed dumplings in chicken stock.

This is another wonderful recipe. In fact, we probably liked these vegetarian dumplings more than the pork potstickers. The filling of the dumplings is spicy and sweet, with occasional punches of fresh ginger and cilantro, and the dumplings look quite pretty when folded in this manner. Serving the dumplings in a bowl of warm stock makes for a delicious meal. Great recipe.

Pear Walnut Wontons

Dessert wontons? Yep, Alton has a recipe for those too. The filling for these wontons starts by combining 1/4 C sugar and 1/4 C water in a saucier. Bring the water and sugar to a simmer over medium heat, or until the sugar has dissolved.

Sugar and water over medium heat.

Meanwhile, split a vanilla bean and scrape out its seeds.

Vanilla bean to be scraped.

When the sugar has dissolved in the pan, remove it from the heat and add 1 T orange liqueur and the vanilla bean scrapings. Let the syrup cool.

Orange liqueur.

Orange liqueur and vanilla bean scrapings added to syrup.

Next, chop 6 ounces of dried pears and place them in the bowl of a food processor.

Dried pears.

Dried pears, chopped.

Dried pears, chopped and placed in food processor.

Pulse the pears until they clump together.

Dried pears pulsed until clumpy.

Add the cooled sugar syrup to the pears and pulse until smooth.

Syrup added to pears in food processor.

Pears and syrup after pulsing.

Place 1 1/4 ounces toasted and chopped walnuts in a bowl (I toasted mine in a skillet over low heat) and add the pear mixture, stirring to combine.

Toasted walnuts, ready to be finely chopped.

Toasted/chopped walnuts.

Pear mixture combined with walnuts.

Place the filling in the refrigerator for an hour or up to overnight. For these wontons, Alton used a different forming method than for the two previous recipes. For these, he placed a wonton wrapper on top of his fist, pressing the center of the wrapper down into the hole of his fist. He brushed on a little bit of water and filled the little indentation with filling. He then crimped the edges around the ball of filling, pushing out the air and forming a little octopus shape (at least, that’s what it looked like to me). Okay, so this method of filling just didn’t work for me, though the little octopus-like dumplings were cute in the episode. I found that the filling leaked all over, the wrappers tore, and it was impossible to put much filling into the wrapper with this method. I gave up after throwing away several wrappers, and opted to fold my wontons as in the vegetarian dumpling recipe above.

Attempting to fold wontons Alton’s way.

So, instead, I placed a wrapper so it was a diamond in front of me and placed a melon baller of filling in the center. I brushed all four edges of the wrapper with water and brought the opposite corners together, pinching the seams and pressing out any air bubbles. As with the other recipes, be sure to keep your empty wonton wrappers in moist paper towels as you fill, and place filled wontons on a baking sheet covered with a damp towel.

Filling in the center of a wrapper and all four edges brushed with water.

Folded wontons.

I chose to freeze a bunch of these right away since we only planned to eat a few, so I placed the sheet pan of wontons directly in the freezer. These babies get fried; afterall, it is dessert! To fry these wontons, heat 1/2 gallon of vegetable or peanut oil to 360 degrees.

Oil heating to 360.

Add eight wontons to the hot oil, cooking them for two minutes, or until golden. Transfer the fried wontons to a rack over a sheet pan to drain and cool.

Wontons added to hot oil.

Fried wontons.

Alton recommends serving these guys with ice cream.

Fried wontons with ice cream.

We had these for dessert last night, and they were a really fun dessert to have. The wonton wrappers were golden brown and crispy, while the still-warm filling was reminiscent of warm fruit pie filling. The walnuts gave the filling a little bit of texture. The filling is not overly sweet, so these really do pair well with the sweetness of ice cream. I plan to fry up some more of these for dessert over the weekend.

Episode 107 – “Flat is Beautiful II”

Posted: October 12, 2018 in Season 8
Tags: alton brown, beef, Butter, caper, chicken, dinner, fried, good eats, kiev, lemon, meat, paillard, piccata, poultry, tenderloin, turkey

Alton Brown fans probably know that he is going to back on our TVs starting Monday. He is going to revisit Good Eats, revamping the old recipes he is unhappy with, and adding new methods, techniques, and information. I am anxious to see which recipes he chooses to alter, as there have certainly been some less than perfect recipes along the way. Of course, there have also been some fantastic recipes that have become mainstays in our house. Now, back to my personal assessments of Alton’s original Good Eats.

Beef Paillard

Alton’s beef paillard calls for a good cut of meat, namely beef tenderloin. To serve four people, he calls for a pound of beef. Since it was just the two of us, I had the butcher cut us a couple steaks from the tenderloin, rather than buying a larger cut of tenderloin. Prior to cooking, place your meat in the freezer for two to three hours, as this will make it easier to cut thin slices. When your meat has chilled, remove it from the freezer and slice it into thin slices; Alton used an electric knife for this, but I used a sharp chef’s knife.

Beef tenderloin, after freezing for two hours.

Place the slices of beef between sheets of plastic wrap, spritzing the beef and the plastic with water (this decreases friction and prevents tearing of the meat and plastic). Pound the meat until it is very thin – probably about 1/8-inch thick.

Sliced beef tenderloin spritzed with water and placed between sheets of plastic wrap.

Pounded beef tenderloin.

When all of your meat slices have been pounded, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat for a few minutes.

Paillards of beef tenderloin.

Cast iron skillet, heating over medium heat.

While the skillet heats, brush both sides of the meat slices with vegetable oil and sprinkle them with pepper and Kosher salt.

Paillards of beef tenderloin, brushed with vegetable oil and seasoned with pepper and Kosher salt.

Once the skillet is hot, invert the pan and brush the back of the skillet with vegetable oil. Place the beef paillards on the inverted skillet and they should begin sizzling immediately. Alton said his beef took about 10 seconds per side, but I would say that mine took about 30 seconds per side. I would err on the side of caution here, as you really do not want to overcook the beef.

Inverted cast iron skillet.

Paillards added to oiled skillet.

Paillards, flipped after cooking on one side.

Transfer the beef slices to plates, drizzle them with olive oil, and garnish them with some capers, shaved Parmesan, and greens.

Alton’s beef paillards with olive oil, capers, greens, and shaved Parmesan.

With this recipe, my biggest concern was that I would overcook my beef, but it turned out perfectly. The meat was amazingly tender and seemed to melt in your mouth. And, Alton’s garnishes of olive oil, Parmesan, capers, and greens were spot-on, complimenting the flavor of the beef without overpowering it. The salty nuttiness of the Parmesan, along with the tang of the capers was just perfect with the fruitiness of the olive oil. The best part of this recipe is that it is worthy of a special occasion, yet you can put it together in a very short period of time. This is a recipe that, in my opinion, needs no revamping.

Turkey Piccata

While I had previously eaten chicken piccata (piccata means “sharp”), I had never before had a version with turkey. Alton’s recipe calls for a whole turkey breast, which, surprisingly, was just impossible for me to find. I had to settle for some pre-sliced turkey breast, as that was all I could find after going to numerous stores. If you are able to find a whole turkey breast, slice it into half-inch slices. Place the slices between sheets of plastic wrap, spritz them with water, and pound them until they are twice their original size.

Slice of turkey placed between sheets of plastic wrap.

Season the top sides of your pounded slices of turkey with Kosher salt and pepper, and place them, seasoned sides down, in a pie plate of flour. Season the second sides of your slices of turkey and coat them also with flour, shaking off any excess.

Pounded turkey, seasoned with Kosher salt and pepper.

Turkey slice, seasoned side down, in flour.

Second side of turkey seasoned with Kosher salt and pepper.

Next, heat 4 T unsalted butter and 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high.

Butter and olive oil in skillet.

Melted butter with olive oil.

When the butter has melted, add the floured turkey slices to the pan, cooking them until golden (about two minutes per side).

Seasoned/floured turkey added to skillet.

Flipped turkey slices.

Move the cooked turkey slices to a foil packet and keep them warm in a 200 degree oven while you make the sauce.

Cooked turkey transferred to foil packet.

To the pan in which you cooked your turkey, add 2 T chopped shallots, cooking for about a minute.

Shallots added to the pan.

Add 1/2 C white wine and 1/3 C fresh lemon juice to the pan, allowing it to simmer for two to three minutes.

Wine and lemon juice added to the pan.

Finally, whisk 2 T butter into the sauce.

Butter, stirred into the sauce.

Spoon the sauce over the warm turkey slices, garnishing with parsley, capers, and peppercorns, if desired.

Capers added to finish the sauce.

Turkey piccata.

I had mixed feelings about this recipe because I found the sauce to be tangy and delightful, but my turkey was tough. I see that Alton tells you to cook the turkey for only one minute per side in the online recipe, but he cooked his turkey for two minutes per side in the episode, which seemed to be too long. I also think my turkey piccata would likely have been better if I could have found a whole turkey breast and sliced it just prior to cooking. I’m tempted to give this one another try because the sauce was smooth, buttery, and full of lemon tang. I would recommend opting for chicken if a whole turkey breast is unavailable.

Chicken Kiev

Chicken Kiev is something I remember my mom making once or twice. She viewed it as a special occasion dish, as her mother served it to her father’s business clients who came to dinner. Chicken Kiev is actually of French, rather than Russian, origin, but was brought to Russia by the French in the 18th century. I remember my mom sometimes being frustrated with her Chicken Kiev because the filling would leak out during cooking. Having never made it before, I was hoping Alton’s recipe would keep my filling intact. This is a recipe that you will want to start at least two hours prior to serving, or even the night prior. The first step of this recipe is making a compound butter by combining a stick of softened unsalted butter, 1 t dried parsley (I used fresh, so I used twice as much), 1 t dried tarragon, 1 t Kosher salt, and 1/4 t pepper in a stand mixer.

Butter, parsley, dried tarragon, Kosher salt, and pepper.

Place the compound butter on wax paper, roll it into a log, and place it in the refrigerator to firm.

Compound butter transferred to wax paper.

Compound butter rolled into a log.

After the butter has firmed up, place a chicken breast between pieces of plastic wrap, spritzing the chicken and plastic with water.

Chicken breast in spritzed plastic.

Pound the chicken until it is thin enough to roll. Chicken breasts are fairly thick, so it is tedious to get the chicken thin. Place a couple slices of compound butter in the center of the pounded chicken, along with 1 T panko bread crumbs.

Pounded chicken topped with compound butter and panko bread crumbs.

Roll the chicken over the butter and bread crumbs by folding the longest edge of chicken over the filling and then folding in the ends. Continue rolling the chicken, using the plastic to help you roll and keeping the ends tucked inside. Wrap the rolled chicken tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours, or overnight.

Rolled chicken.

When ready to cook your chicken, roll the chicken in a pie plate containing two eggs beaten with 1 t water.

Chilled chicken being rolled in egg wash.

Next, roll the chicken in a plate of panko bread crumbs.

Chicken rolling in panko after egg wash.

Breaded chicken.

Put a half-inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet and heat it to 375 degrees. Once hot, add the breaded chicken rolls to the pan, cooking for 4-5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Breaded chicken in hot oil.

Chicken cooking in oil.

Transfer the cooked chicken to a rack, letting it rest for five minutes.

Chicken resting after cooking.

I found that my chicken took considerably longer than 10 minutes to reach 165 degrees inside. You do get some carryover cooking, so I think it is best to pull the chicken from the oil when the internal temperature hits 158-160. Otherwise, your chicken may be slightly overcooked by the time you cut into it.

Alton’s Chicken Kiev.

We were pretty happy with Alton’s Chicken Kiev. His method for rolling the chicken worked well, and kept the filling intact for the most part (my one roll split a little bit). It is easier to roll the chicken if you get it really thin, so try to get it as thin as possible before filling/rolling. Also, don’t skimp on the chilling time for the rolled chicken, as the chicken really needs that time to maintain its shape. The panko bread crumbs gave Alton’s chicken a really great crispy crust, and the filling of the chicken had lots of anise-like flavor from the tarragon. I do wish that the compound butter would have melted a bit more, though. I just wouldn’t cook the chicken all the way to 165, as my chicken was just a tad overcooked. My mom can’t really cook anymore because of her Parkinson’s, but I think she likely would have adopted Alton’s Chicken Kiev recipe as her go-to.

Episode 104 – “Going Bananas”

Posted: August 8, 2018 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, banana, bananas foster, Butter, dessert, dessert sauce, fried, fruit, good eats, ice cream, plantain, rum, sweet

My back has been bothering me for the last six days, so I haven’t been able to be as active as I like to be. Though it is a nice, albeit smoky, summer day, I find myself rather confined because of my darn back. Seems like a good time to write a blog post.

Banana Ice Cream

I can honestly say that I like all fruit I have tried. That being said, bananas are definitely lower on my favorite fruits list. Alton, of course, came up with some recipes to showcase bananas, starting with his banana ice cream. You will need 2 1/4 pounds of bananas for this recipe, and you will need to place them in the freezer (still in their peels) overnight.

2 1/4 pounds of bananas

The online recipe tells you to remove the bananas from the freezer and let them thaw for about an hour. In the episode, however, Alton instructed to let the bananas thaw completely, which took five hours for my bananas.

Frozen bananas beginning to thaw.

Frozen bananas, thawing.

Thawed bananas.

You freeze and thaw the bananas to get a mushy texture, which is desirable for making this ice cream; basically, the bananas will replace the eggs that are in a custard-based ice cream. Once the bananas are thawed, peel them and place them in a food processor. Add 1 T fresh lemon juice to the bananas and process them; the lemon juice will prevent browning.

Thawed bananas in food processor.

Fresh lemon juice.

Fresh lemon juice processed with bananas.

Add 3/4 C light corn syrup to the processor, along with either 1/2 t vanilla extract or, preferably, the scrapings from one vanilla bean.

Corn syrup.

Vanilla bean, split in half and ready to be scraped.

Scrapings from a vanilla bean.

Corn syrup and vanilla added to bananas.

With the machine running, drizzle in 1 1/2 C heavy cream.

Heavy cream.

Heavy cream, drizzling in with processor running.

Chill the ice cream base in the refrigerator until it reaches 40 degrees.

Banana ice cream base, ready to be chilled.

Once chilled, process the banana base in an ice cream maker.

Ice cream base in ice cream maker.

Churned ice cream.

Freeze the ice cream, airtight, for 3-6 hours before eating.

Churned ice cream, heading to the freezer for several hours.

Alton’s banana ice cream.

This is one of the easiest ice creams you will ever make, as there is no cooking of custard, etc. The texture of this ice cream really does seem similar to that of a custard-based ice cream, as the bananas give quite a smooth, rich mouthfeel. And, if you want banana flavor, this is loaded with it. Being kind of “meh” about bananas, we enjoyed this, but I think true banana lovers would find this amazing. This is a cold and easy summer treat.

Bananas Foster

I remember going to some fancy restaurant as a kid, and my brother and I ordered bananas foster for dessert. Prepared table-side with lots of flair, we were awed by the flames enveloping our dessert. I don’t think I had eaten bananas foster since that time, and Ted had never had it, so it seemed like it would be fun to give it a go at home. I don’t have the greatest track record with flames, such as when my fish and chips caught on fire in episode 22, but I figured I’d give it a whirl. For this recipe, you will need two bananas, 2 T unsalted butter, 1/4 C dark brown sugar, 1/4 t ground allspice, 1/2 t ground nutmeg, 1 T banana liqueur (I got a miniature), 1/2 t orange zest, and 1/4-1/3 C dark rum.

Brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, and banana liqueur.

Two bananas, halved with their peels on.

Rum.

Orange zest

Alton prepared his bananas foster on a table-side burner, but I opted to make mine on the stove. Either way, place a large, heavy skillet on the burner over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, slice two bananas lengthwise in half, leaving their peels on to prevent browning. Melt the butter in the pan, and add the brown sugar and spices.

Melted butter.

Brown sugar and spices added to butter.

Stir this mixture into a syrup and add the banana liqueur.

Banana liqueur added to syrup.

Remove the bananas’ peels and place them, cut side down, in the pan for one minute.

Bananas added to the pan.

Flip the bananas and cook them for another minute. Some of the bananas may break, but they will still taste great.

Bananas flipped after one minute.

Using two forks, transfer the bananas to a plate.

Bananas, transferred to a plate.

Allow the sauce to return to a simmer and then turn off the heat.

Sauce returning to a simmer.

Add the rum to the pan, swirl it around, and ignite it with a long-handled lighter.

Rum added to pan and ignited with burner OFF.

Continue to swirl the pan until the flames extinguish.

Swirling the pan until the flames go out.

Cook the sauce for 30 more seconds and stir in the orange zest.

Orange zest added to sauce.

Spoon the sauce over the bananas and add some vanilla ice cream. Or, you can serve your bananas foster over waffles

Alton’s bananas foster with vanilla ice cream.

. I have to admit that this was a really fun one to make, as my flames were at least a foot high! If you were bold enough to try this around kids, they would be super impressed, as I was when I saw it years ago. Yes, there is some alcohol in this dessert, but most of it cooks out (hello, flames!). In addition to the fun flair (or should I say flare?) of this dessert, it is also super tasty. The bananas get tender and caramelized with spices and brown sugar, and then you pour over the warm, buttery, rum-flavored sauce. Add in some cold vanilla ice cream and it’s a pretty fantastic combo.

Fried Plantains

The only plantains I’ve really had have been in chip form from a grocery store, so I was eager to cook with this ingredient for the first time. Our chain grocery store did not have plantains, but a local, smaller market did.

Two plantains.

To make Alton’s fried plantains, you will need the following items:

a rack over a sheet pan
Rack over sheet pan.
a wide skillet with 1 1/2 C vegetable or canola oil at 325 degrees
Oil heated to 325.
an inverted sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper on it
a wooden/plastic spatula
Inverted sheet pan with parchment, and a spatula.
a medium bowl with 2 C water, 1 t Kosher salt, and 3 crushed cloves of garlic
Bowl of water with Kosher salt and garlic.
a tea towel or a pad of paper towels for blotting
2 plantains, peeled (you may need to score the peels with a knife) and cut into 1-inch medallions
Plantains, peeled and cut into medallions.

The first step is to place the plantain medallions into the oil for 1 1/2 minutes. Flip the plantains and cook them for 1 1/2 minutes more. You want the plantains to be golden on both sides.

Plantains in hot oil.

Flipped plantains in oil.

Decrease the heat under the oil and transfer the plantains to the parchment paper on the inverted sheet pan.

Plantains transferred to parchment.

Use your spatula to smash each plantain medallion to about half of it’s original height.

Smashed plantains.

Next, place the smashed plantains in the bowl of water with the garlic and salt for at least a minute. Alton never really specified why you place the plantains in the water, but I’m assuming it is to remove starch and impart flavor.

Smashed plantains, placed in water.

After their soak, move the plantains to towels to dry.

Soaked plantains drying on paper towels.

While the plantains dry, increase the heat under the oil, bringing it back up to ~325 degrees. Once at temperature, fry the plantains again for 2-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

Plantains back in hot oil for second frying.

Transfer the fried plantains to the rack over a sheet pan and season them liberally with Kosher salt while they are still hot.

Fried plantains on rack. Seasoned with Kosher salt.

Fried plantains

We ate these for lunch one day and they were great. They are reminiscent of french fries, yet with slightly sweeter flavor. They are golden and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You could really pair them with any condiment you like. I ate mine with some hot sauce, which I thought was great with the subtle sweetness of the plantains. I really liked how Alton had you prep everything in advance for this recipe, as it made the frying process super easy. I highly recommend making these, and they’d make a great side for any burger or sandwich.

Episode 99 – “The Man Food Show”

Posted: May 1, 2018 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, beef, burger, chuck, corn dog, fried, fried food, good eats, hamburger, hot dog, man food, meat, slider

In this episode of Good Eats, Alton tackles a couple of “man food” recipes. What exactly is man food? Well, judging from the two recipes in this episode, I take it that man food is either composed of meat, deep-fried, or both. This girl was certainly happy to give Alton’s manly recipes a try.

Corn Dogs

While I can truly appreciate a good hot dog (especially a Chicago dog), corn dogs have never really done much for me; it comes down to the corn batter. Typical corn dog batter is chewy, dense, and overly sweet. I was hopeful that Alton could improve upon the carnival classic with his recipe. To make his corn dogs, pour a gallon of peanut oil in a deep fryer (or in a Dutch oven if you are like me and don’t have a deep fryer), heating it to 375 degrees.

Peanut oil, heating to 375.

While the oil heats, combine the dry ingredients for the batter in a large bowl: 1 C cornmeal, 1/4 t baking soda, 1 t baking powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 2 t Kosher salt, and 1 C flour.

Cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and Kosher salt.

Cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and Kosher salt, along with flour.

Combined dry ingredients for batter.

In a second bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: 2 T minced/seeded jalapeno, 1/3 C grated onion, 8.5 ounces of canned creamed corn, and 1 1/2 C buttermilk.

Jalapeno and grated onion.

Jalapeno, grated onion, and creamed corn.

Buttermilk

Buttermilk added to other wet ingredients.

Combined wet ingredients.

Note #1: This recipe makes a lot of batter. I halved the recipe, made five corn dogs, and still had a lot of batter remaining. Note #2: You can complete the recipe through this step ahead of time, but you cannot move onto the next step until you are ready to cook.

Dry ingredients on the left and wet ingredients on the right, waiting to be combined once ready to cook.

Once ready to cook, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Pour the batter into a pint glass and set it aside for 10 minutes.

Wet ingredients added to dry ingredients.

Corn dog batter.

Corn dog batter, poured in a pint glass and left to sit for 10 minutes.

While the batter rests, you can prepare your hot dogs (Alton prefers all-beef hot dogs). To prep the dogs, insert unseparated chopsticks or thick wooden skewers into your hot dogs, and roll the hot dogs in cornstarch, using your hand to remove any excess; you want a very thin coating of cornstarch.

Beef hot dogs with skewers inserted.

Rolling hot dogs in cornstarch.

Cornstarch-coated hot dogs.

Dip each hot dog into the pint glass of batter and then into the hot oil.

Dipping cornstarch-coated hot dogs in corn batter.

Corn dogs frying.

Alton says it will take four to five minutes to fry the corn dogs, but I found that my dogs were golden and crispy in about two minutes. Remove the corn dogs and place them on a rack. Serve the corn dogs with mustard and/or ketchup.

Alton’s corn dogs.

These corn dogs were absolutely the best corn dogs I have ever had, and I will make them again. The batter was light, crispy, and slightly spicy, and the hot dogs remained juicy. The batter really reminded me of Alton’s batter for fish and chips, which I also loved. I highly recommend these, as they are very easy to prepare and take very little time, aside from heating the oil. Whether you already love corn dogs, or are skeptical that you could love corn dogs, these will be the best corn dogs of your life.

Mini Man Burgers

Since my husband is from the midwest, I’ve long heard how White Castle is the classic place to get sliders, and I have even visited a White Castle once or twice. I was interested to see what Ted would think of Alton’s take on sliders. To make proper sliders, Alton recommends using an electric griddle. We don’t have a true electric griddle, but we do have a panini press that has griddle plates, so I used that. Set your griddle temperature to 350 degrees and preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Wrap your slider buns in foil and place them in the warm oven while you prep the meat.

Slider buns to heat in the oven.

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, placing a pound of ground chuck (20% fat) on top.

Meat placed on parchment-lined pan.

Top the meat with a layer of plastic wrap and use a bottle to roll the meat until it fills the bottom of the pan.

Plastic wrap placed on top of meat.

Rolling the meat with a bottle.

Meat, rolled to fill the pan.

To season the meat, combine 1/2 t onion powder, 1/2 t garlic powder, 1/2 t black pepper, and 1/2 t Kosher salt, and sprinkle it all over the surface of the meat.

Onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and Kosher salt.

Rolled meat, sprinkled with seasoning.

Next, use the parchment paper to fold the meat in half onto itself, pressing it together with your fingers.

Seasoned meat folded in half, using parchment.

Using a pizza cutter, cut the meat into eight equal rectangles, and cook the patties on the preheated griddle for two to three minutes per side.

Meat, cut into 8 rectangles.

Patties on the griddle.

While the meat cooks, spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on your warm burger buns, as this will keep the buns from getting soggy.

Heated bun spread with mayo.

Transfer the cooked burgers to the buns and serve with condiments. We ate our sliders with oven fries on the side, and I opted to put cheese and mustard on mine.

An Alton slider with fries.

An Alton slider with cheese and mustard.

Alton’s sliders were pretty darn tasty, with the patties being very well-seasoned, juicy, and flavorful. There’s also something kind of fun about eating sliders since they’re so small, don’t you think? Ted thought these sliders were a good representation of the real midwestern thing. Would he have them again? You betcha.

Episode 85 – “Crustacean Nation III: Feeling Crabby”

Posted: August 21, 2017 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, Butter, crab, crustacean, fried, fritter, ghee, good eats, marinated, salad, seafood

As I type, my beloved Coonhound, Hitcher, lies next to me. He was diagnosed with inoperable cancer a few weeks ago. He has been my constant sidekick since we found him, as an abandoned puppy, on a roadside 10+ years ago. This news has been tough – very, very tough. Once again, I will use this Good Eats project to distract myself.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Marylanders, I have had my share of crab over the years. Growing up, a trip to Grandma and Granddaddy’s was not complete without a crab dinner (or 3!). Whether it was a trip to a local seafood restaurant, a family crab picking session around Grandma’s table, or a plate of Grandma’s amazing homemade crab cakes, crab was something we ate early and often. Yes, this was an episode I eagerly anticipated.

Steamed Alaskan King Crab Legs

Alton’s preparation of crab legs was first in this episode. When purchasing crab legs, it is best to buy frozen legs (frozen crab has already been cooked), thawing them overnight in the refrigerator at home; just be sure to allow the moisture to drain away from them as they thaw, and consume any thawed crab within 24 hours. Alaskan king crab legs are large, so you can allot two per person.

Alaskan king crab legs.

Working with three legs at a time, break/cut each leg into sections at the joints. Wrap the segments in two layers of damp paper towels, along with a sprig of fresh dill.

Alaskan king crab legs, broken into segments and topped with fresh dill.

Wrap the entire bundle tightly in plastic wrap, and microwave it for two minutes on high power; the goal here is to re-heat, rather than re-cook the crab.

Alaskan king crab legs, broken into segments, and topped with fresh dill. Wrapped in damp paper towels and plastic wrap, the whole bundle heads into the microwave.

Let the heated crab legs rest in their bundles while you microwave any remaining packages of crab. Serve the legs with ghee, which just happens to be the next recipe in this episode.

Steamed crab legs, served with ghee.

Alton’s crab leg method is outstanding. It takes almost no time to prepare an amazing meal, using this method. If you want to have crab legs at home, this is the way to do it.

Ghee

What goes better with crab than butter? As mentioned above, Alton recommends serving his crab legs with ghee. To make Alton’s ghee, melt a pound (I did 1/2 pound) of unsalted butter over low heat.

Melting unsalted butter over low heat.

As soon as the butter has liquefied, increase the heat to medium.

Liquefied butter. Increasing the heat to medium.

Continue to cook the butter over medium heat until it finishes foaming.

Butter, foaming for the first time.

When the foaming has ceased, increase the heat to high and wait for the butter to foam a second time. Watch the pan carefully, as the butter can easily burn.

Butter, foaming for the second time.

When your ghee is ready, the pan will have brown bits on the bottom and the butter will have darkened slightly. Strain the ghee into a clean container and serve.

Strained ghee.

Ghee is a perfect accompaniment for crab legs, and Alton’s explanation of how to make ghee is super easy. If you prep crab legs at home, be sure to make some ghee also!

Marinated Crab Salad

Alton’s third crab recipe is for a marinated crab salad. I suppose you could just purchase crab meat for this, which is how the online recipe is written, but what fun would that be? Instead, in the episode, Alton hand picked the meat from two Dungeness crabs. Thankfully, I was able to find whole Dungeness crabs at a new local store.

Whole Dungeness crab.

If you have never picked a crab before, here are Alton’s instructions:

Flip the crab upside down.
Use a screwdriver to pry off the apron.
Holding the crab over a sink, pry off the back of the crab.
Rinse the inside of the crab.
Pull off any gray gills, discarding them.
Twist off the legs.
Break the remaining central core in half and pull out as much meat as you can from the tiny compartments.
Crack each leg and scoop out the meat.

My crabs had already been prepped through step 5, so I just had to get the meat out.

Whole Dungeness crab, apron and gills removed.

Crab legs, twisted off.

Central core of crab.

Crab meat, picked from Dungeness crabs.

Once you have your crab meat, it is time to make the marinade for the salad. Combine in a large Ziplock bag: 1 C olive oil, 1 C red wine vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 C chopped parsley, 1/4 C fresh tarragon, 1 1/2 t Kosher salt, and 1/2 t pepper.

Fresh tarragon.

Olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, parsley, tarragon, Kosher salt, and pepper.

Use an immersion blender to thoroughly emulsify the marinade. Add your crab meat to the marinade, pushing any excess air out of the bag. Refrigerate the crab for 4-8 hours.

Marinade and crab in plastic bag.

Serve the crab mixture over mixed greens with lemon wedges.

Marinated crab salad, served over greens.

This was a light summer entrée that we enjoyed on our deck. While tasty, I did feel that the delicate flavor of the crab was a little overpowered by the marinade. To me, crab is so good on its own (see the crab leg recipe above) that I would tend toward recipes that allow the crab to shine more.

Crab Fritters

Crab fritters were Alton’s last recipe in this episode, and he did use purchased crabmeat for this one. In the episode, he used a 50/50 combination of lump and special crabmeat. Since I was only feeding two of us, I used one 8-ounce container of jumbo crabmeat.

8 ounces of crab meat.

To begin, place a rack on a sheet pan for draining and heat 2 1/2 quarts of canola oil to 375 degrees over medium heat.

Canola oil, heating to 375.

Meanwhile, combine 1 C lump crab meat, 1 C special crab meat, 1/2 C mayo, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 1/2 t pepper.

Crab meat, mayo, lemon juice, and pepper.

Scoop the crab mixture with a 1-ounce ice cream scoop, rolling the balls in Panko breadcrumbs.

Using an ice cream scoop to form the fritters.

Crab ball, rolling in Panko.

Fritters, ready to be fried.

Alton tells you to fry the balls for 5-7 minutes, or until they are golden, but I found that my fritters were done in 3-4 minutes.

Fritters, added to hot oil.

I served my fritters with lemon wedges.

Crab fritters.

Alton’s crab fritters were pretty darn delicious, as they had little “filler” and loads of crab. The Panko breadcrumbs gave a crispy, crunchy shell to the creamy crab/mayo filling. These are a definite great alternative to the classic crab cake.

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Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats

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