Arancini

[88BuckeyeGrad]

Me and Mrs. 88 saw some arancini for sale at the local market on Saturday. We had no idea what it was, and the person working the counter didn't know either. So we didn't buy it. But it got me thinking and Googling etc. And we made arancini from scratch today. T'was good.

To make arancini, you basically make a risotto and when it is done you stir in some grated parmesan cheese and let the risotto cool on parchment paper. Then you make cue-ball sized balls of the risotto and tuck a chunk of mozzarella cheese inside each ball. Then you roll the balls in flour, dip them in an egg wash and coat them in bread crumbs. The final step is to deep fry them for a couple of minutes. We made a spicy vodka cream sauce to put on them. Next time we make them I'm going to wrap the mozzarella chunks with anchovies. I think that would be good.

This ain't a picture of ours, but ours looked somewhat like this:

[Roux]

Basically an Italian version of a boudin ball. I'm a bit surprised y'all had not heard of them, they aren't in the restaurants there?

[Smackie Chan]

Next time we make them I'm going to wrap the mozzarella chunks with anchovies.

[Mikey]

These sound very tasty.

Just wondering because I’ve never tried deep frying anything. Do you use a dedicated countertop (or floor standing?) fryer like a restaurant might have, or do you pour a bunch of oil into a stovetop pan? How much oil do you need? What kind? What do you do with the oil when you’re done? How’s the clean up?

Can you get them pre-made and frozen in China from WalMart?

Ever deep fried a turkey?

I wonder if these could be done in an air fryer. Or would that be like playing an air guitar?

[bungle clone]

These sound very tasty.

Just wondering because I’ve never tried deep frying anything. Do you use a dedicated countertop (or floor standing?) fryer like a restaurant might have, or do you pour a bunch of oil into a stovetop pan? How much oil do you need? What kind? What do you do with the oil when you’re done? How’s the clean up?

Can you get them pre-made and frozen in China from WalMart?

Ever deep fried a turkey?

I wonder if these could be done in an air fryer. Or would that be like playing an air guitar?

Excellent questions. srsly

I'll hang up and listen.

[Roux]

I’ve never tried deep frying anything

I'm trying to understand that, it doesn't seem possible. Well ok, so for a basic fryer, go with something like this, they will have them at Walmart and many other places. Try to find one that handles 1 gallon of oil. If you have a good air vent in your kitchen, you can use it inside, but you might want to use it on the porch. By the way, that basket is WAY over crowded. This costs $50-$60.




Now this you definitely want to be outside, and this works great for when you're having a bunch of folks over. This entire set up maybe around $100.




Just for comparison, this is a Cadillac version of a fryer. No, I don't have one but my 1st cousin does at her camp. Just a phenomenal device, but of course you'll pay for it, probably goes for $500 and up.

[88BuckeyeGrad]

Mrs. 88 won't let me fry anything inside the 88 manse due to my tendency to get everything in the vicinity of the fryer covered in cooking oil. So, I had to come up with an outdoor solution.

First, I put down a big tarp (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-6- ... /308535019) to protect the patio stones from potential oily mayhem. I use a canvas tarp. The poly tarps get slippery. The canvas tarps are technically washable. But they are so cheap I tend to pitch them when they get muy grosso.

Next, I built a wooden stand out of scrap wood to hold up one of these puppies at about 36" from the floor: https://a.co/d/jeXKuNJ Amazing heat output. Great for fried rice and other Asian foods.

I use a wok (https://a.co/d/bbdf2xv) to hold about an inch or so of peanut cooking oil. You can roll the balls around in the oil with good utensils (see below).

It is important to monitor the temperature of the oil to it is hot enough but not too hot (safety issue too). For that, this is indispensable: https://a.co/d/jdpso0W 350°F is ideal.

You can handle the balls with good wok tools: https://a.co/d/aMBTx52

There is not a lot of cleanup when using a wok. It has fairly high sides and there is less oil spatter than with a skillet or other flatter pan.

I've never deep fried a turkey. I watched a moron neighbor basically set his back yard on fire trying to do it once. I think the key is being able to slowly lower the turkey into the oil.

The recipe we basically followed (https://www.themediterraneandish.com/arancini/) says you can drizzle the balls with olive oil and bake them or air fry them. We did not try that. We are going to try nuking and air frying the leftovers to see which is best.

I've eaten Boudin balls before. I guess I did not realize they were similar. Makes sense, though.

[Roux]

Ever deep fried a turkey?

Yes. Don't do it, more trouble than it is worth. Too much hassle, too much oil, and honestly it can be dangerous.

But using a big air fryer is great. They also do great for other large things like a big pork roast. You'll have fun experimenting with this.

[Mikey]

I'm trying to understand that, it doesn't seem possible.

I'm pretty adventurous in cooking (a lot more than Mrs Mikey for sure) but it's something I've just never gotten around to trying. Probably because I get enough fat in my diet without it and there are plenty of other great things to cook, and also because it always seemed pretty messy (and I like to clean up as I go). I once tried making eggplant parmesan in my kitchen. It's not deep frying but you have to dredge the eggplant in egg, and then flour and bread crumbs, fry it on the stove (spattering crap all over the place), assemble it all in a pan and then bake it in the oven. By the time I got done I felt like I needed to bring in the pressure washer. That was my last foray into eggplant parmesan. There's a good local Italian place where I can get it to go.

Thanks to you and 88 for all the info. I may have to get one of these things for my outdoor kitchen. Outdoors seems like a good compromise. I like 88's gas wok burner but I'm thinking that the dedicated deep fryers probably have some kind of thermostatic control so you don't have to try and shoot for the right temperature. I have an offset smoker, which I love, but it's hard to get a good constant smoking temperature. You have to sit outside and drink beer for hours to keep an eye on it. Probably going to go for a Traeger or Weber pellet smoker on my next round.

Nobody answered about what you do with the oil when you're finished. Can you re-use it? Do you just cool it down and dump it in the garbage?

Probably going to get started on a new batch of Marcella Hazan's minestrone today. I use heirloom cannellini beans from Rancho Gordo Beans and flat Italian green beans (some call them Roma or Romano beans) if I can find them. This will be my fourth time around on it and it's seriously rich and delicious even though it's vegetarian, other than the broth and the hunk of parmesan rind that you cook with it. I buy a big wedge of imported parmesan at Costco about once a month so I've gotten to where I make this soup each time a bring the cheese home. Great as a main course in a light dinner, or as a side to any meat or fish. I make a big pot and then freeze the leftovers in single meal containers.

https://www.thekitchn.com/marcella-haza ... p-23269319

https://www.ranchogordo.com/

[Roux]

Nobody answered about what you do with the oil when you're finished. Can you re-use it? Do you just cool it down and dump it in the garbage?

Yes you can reuse the oil a few times. You'll want to filter it, and for that purpose I just use an oil funnel for a car with a coffee filter in it, obviously not one that previously has been used to add oil to a car.

With the Cadillac fryer that I posted above, the oil just stays in it. Somehow the burned particles go to the bottom and aren't a problem for your next cook.

I make chicken parmeasan every so often and I've never used a fryer, just a good size skillet in the kitchen. Use one of these splash screens and that will help a lot with oil going everywhere. At Walmart for $5.




As to temp control, yes both the kitchen fryer and the outdoor air fryer have temperature control on them, both work well.

[Wolfman]

Odd---I never heard of it or saw it in a restaurant. Born and raised on the North Side of Syracuse, where 90% of my high school classmates had last names ending in a vowel and spoke Italian in the home. Google says it is a Sicilian staple and many in my hood were from Sicily and southern Italy.
I'll be looking for it, sounds good.

[88BuckeyeGrad]

I think my dad’s mother (I have six grandmothers…) was Sicilian, and I never heard of it either.

I pitch the used oil. I don’t fry frequently enough to clean and reuse it. And there isn’t that much at the end, anyway.

If arancini is a restaurant option, I haven’t noticed it before. But then again, we almost never eat out, and when we do it is rarely Italian. You can make great Italian dishes at home and serve it with better wine at a fraction of the cost, IMHO.

Mikey, I’ll post a recipe for breaded veal scallopini. Butter fried to perfection.

[StrawMan]

Why do you all keep spamming the Cul de Smack with your cooking threads!?

Every day it's the same GOT DAMN thing!!

Sin,

JayPeeGee

[HighPlainsGrifter]

You got chicken nuggies and ketchup?

[Mikey]

I think my dad’s mother (I have six grandmothers…) was Sicilian, and I never heard of it either.

I pitch the used oil. I don’t fry frequently enough to clean and reuse it. And there isn’t that much at the end, anyway.

If arancini is a restaurant option, I haven’t noticed it before. But then again, we almost never eat out, and when we do it is rarely Italian. You can make great Italian dishes at home and serve it with better wine at a fraction of the cost, IMHO.

Mikey, I’ll post a recipe for breaded veal scallopini. Butter fried to perfection.

Thanks I would like to try that.

If you don't already have it, and are interested in Italian cooking, this is pretty much the bible. Covers just about everything. There are some absolute classics in there, like her lemon roasted chicken, minestrone, and Bolognese.

https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Class ... 431&sr=8-1

[88BuckeyeGrad]

Thanks, Mikey. I just ordered that cookbook. We often take the approach that if you combine good ingredients in visibly reasonable amounts and in classic ways, you can't go wrong. And that's usually the case. But I love trying to make things the way they should be made.

Veal scallopini is dirt simple. You get some veal scallopini (thinly sliced veal cutlets), dredge them in corn starch, then egg wash and then bread crumbs and let them dry a bit on a rack for about 20-30 minutes. To fry them, take a cast iron skillet and turn on the heat. Add some butter while the pan is heating. You want the butter to melt and bubble, but not to burn the milk solids. Once you have the butter in the pan hot enough (but not too hot), you lay the breaded scallopini in the pan. It cooks quickly. Probably 90 seconds or so on the first side and 60 seconds on the second side. I never worry about the veal cooking through. I just gauge it by the brown-ness of the breading. It will be fork tender when served.

We usually serve it with pear pasta (cheese, and pear fiocchetti - which is available locally fresh-made from our a pasta shop inside our kick-ass grocery store - https://seedtotablemarket.com/) and a simple lemon caper sauce Mrs. 88 whips up.

[Mikey]

That looks like a great market. It's good to be able to get produce that comes straight (or at least almost straight) from the farm, instead of spending a few days on trucks and in distribution centers. That's why I go to the FM on Saturday mornings.

I'm like you guys most of the time as far as good ingredients reasonably combined and prepared. You can't really go wrong. I usually keep things pretty simple but try to use quality ingredients. There are some things, though, that if done correctly, seem to have a magic transformation. The minestrone, for example. Onions, carrots, celery (the classic mirepoix or soffritto in Italian), Italian squash (zucchini), cabbage, green beans, diced potatoes, dried white beans, canned tomatoes, butter, EVOO, broth and a parmesan rind. No seasoning at all except adjusting for salt. No garlic. Seems pretty simple and bland but something about how they're cut up and the order that they're added takes it to another level. I also added some Tuscan kale (some call it black kale or dinosaur kale or lacinato kale) last time. She has a recipe for roasted chicken that's basically a whole chicken stuffed with a couple of lemons, S&P, and roasted breast side down for a while and then flipped. Always good. Ossobuco is another favorite.

[mvscal]

If you don't already have it, and are interested in Italian cooking, this is pretty much the bible. Covers just about everything. There are some absolute classics in there, like her lemon roasted chicken, minestrone, and Bolognese.

https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Class ... 431&sr=8-1

I second that. I have been using it for nearly 20 years now. One of the best is also the easiest: Tomato sauce with butter and onion. I tweaked it very slightly. 28 oz. can of good San Marzano tomatoes, 6tbs butter, 1 medium onion, S&P. Chop onion in half, add to pot with butter and tomatoes, S&P to taste and low simmer for 45 minutes, discard onion. That's it. I actually ran into this sauce at a restaurant in Bend served over gnocchi (as she suggests in the book). It doesn't sound like much, but it just works.

Some things in the book don't work, though. Her carbonara recipe is bollocks. There is no garlic, white wine or parsley in carbonara. I really don't know what the fuck she was thinking there. It was...not good. I did not go back to carbonara for ten years after that until I found the proper recipe/technique. Still, tons of great stuff for all skill levels.

[Mikey]

Yeah there’s a whole lot in there, from basic information and simple recipes to some very involved stuff requiring ingredients that are hard to come by. I like to pick something out occasionally and just try it.

Here’s another link worth exploring. An importer in NJ where you can get stuff like bottarga, colatura, Italian tuna in EVOO, preserved fruits, various types of risotto and pasta, dried porcinis, etc. Lately I’ve been getting hooked on the traditional balsamic (12 or 25 years aged) and the top shelf EVOOs.

https://www.gustiamo.com/

[mvscal]

Here’s another link worth exploring. An importer in NJ where you can get stuff like bottarga, colatura, Italian tuna in EVOO, preserved fruits, various types of risotto and pasta, dried porcinis, etc. Lately I’ve been getting hooked on the traditional balsamic (12 or 25 years aged) and the top shelf EVOOs.

https://www.gustiamo.com/

Jesus Fucking Christ. I hope you aren't buying all that from there. $31.50 for a jar of fucking tomatoes?!? Screwy's colon just prolapsed and spooled out around his ankles. Here another link to explore: amafuckingzon.com. Posardi brand from Sardinia are excellent.

Bottarga I've had it and enjoyed it, but not enough to buy any more at that price point. I do keep colatura in stock. It's pricey as well, but delivers. It's more like a finishing salt. Red Boat is my go to Asian fish sauce. It's just anchovies and salt same as colatura, but the flavor of colatura is much more intense.

If you haven't tried salt packed capers, I would highly recommend. They have a much cleaner caper flavor than vinegar brined capers. Puttanesca is probably my favorite sauce and they definitely shine there. Fast, easy and lights out.

[Mikey]

Tomatoes? Hell no. I get organic canned tomatoes at Costco that are plenty good. A couple of years ago Costco was actually carrying cans of DOP San Marzano tomatoes for not much more than the domestic ones, but I haven't seen them since. Lately they've been carrying organic Asaro Castelvetrano olives, and some Greek sun dried tomatoes packed in EVOO and balsamic for pretty ridiculously low prices.

From Gustiamo I mostly buy the more hard to find specialty stuff. Bottarga and colatura a couple of times. The Traditional Balsamic of Modena is pricey but unbelievably tasty, along with some of the small batch EVOOs that they carry. Saba. The carnaroli rice that comes in vacuum packed cans makes the best risotto IMO. Black rice, which I have in the pantry but haven't used yet. Same with the capers packed in sea salt. The various grades of bluefin tuna packed in jars in EVOO are a little pricey but pretty special. They seasonally have these dried white figs, stuffed with almonds, raisins, candied orange peel and soaked with some rum and fig molasses, then wrapped in fig leaves. A bit expensive, but worth the cost for something pretty unique. In Italian they call them "fagottini" so there are a few people on T1B who might relate.

It's also a great place to order gift packs from.

I'll have to try making puttanesca with the capers.

[mvscal]

I'll have to try making puttanesca with the capers.

It's a very noticeable difference. It's a more bright caper flavor and pops. Brined capers are pickled and that does work in some applications like a tartar sauce or something. They're almost two different ingredients.

[dan's college room mate]

These sound very tasty.

Just wondering because I’ve never tried deep frying anything. ?

I gotta call fake news on this one, slim.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dan's college room mate]

A dude from the SEC who single-handedly keeps the GI surgery bidness solvent is having difficulty with the concept of cooking in anything other than a deep fryer?

Color me shocked.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mikey]

These sound very tasty.

Just wondering because I’ve never tried deep frying anything. ?

I gotta call fake news on this one, slim.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Never said I didn’t EAT any of that stuff. I just never tried cooking it. Let Jack in the Box clean up their own greasy mess.

I’m down to about 212 yesterday. That was after working outside in 88 deg weather for about five hours so there may have been a little water loss. Was down to about 202 last year before I somehow lost my Mojo and got back up to 220. If I could get down to 190…I’d probably be dead.

[88BuckeyeGrad]

I see the 260’s when I’m pickleballin’, otherwise I hover around 272 most of the time. That kind of sucks because for most of my life I was between 220 and 240 (220 when mountain climbing or triathaloning and 240 when just being dad). The ~30 extra pounds I tote around these days showed up in my 50’s and won’t fucking leave. But neither will the booze and good food…. And on that note I made home made potato chips tonight to go with my grilled Chicago dog and baked beans.