From the beginning....

The holidays are always a challenge. After lots of travel and guests I didn't have the energy to do anything extravagant for New Years. J & I talked about it and realized, without any guilt, that we would be staying in. The tivo was full with the Twilight Zone marathon from scifi network and I had a new puzzle from christmas (MTA map). On J's suggestion it was decided: Superbowl food.

I know, it is unconventional. It takes alot of time, but the recipes are not challenging. So I get a kind of methodical, meditative moment out of it. Quiet, repetitive actions in the kitchen over a big pot of hot oil. The challenging part it to try and make different textures and tastes when everything is deep fried.

The first was Pommes Dauphine. This is a mix of half mashed potatoes and half pâte à choux, which is the dough for making cream puffs. I previously had made this for my mother-in-law and shown her how to do it, so luckily I had a batch of the mix in the freezer. Make some quenelles with two soup spoons and carefully drop them into the oil. You would think these are heavy, but the choux dough puffs them up extraordinarily and you end up with fluffy potato clouds with a crispy skin. Delicious, especially dipped in ketchup.

Second Course: Jalapeño Poppers. I started here, but had to make some modifications. 

Unlike the original recipe, I used some egg instead of just milk, I think the proteins help it bond together better. I also left the bacon out (obviously). Next time I think I will blanch the jalapeños first, as they were still a bit firm after being fried.

Third Course: Fried Pickles. Still crunchy and sour on the inside and crispy and bready on the outside. I mixed some of the leftover flour from the peppers with the leftover egg and milk mix.(Don't throw anything out until you are positive it should go!) I was aiming for a thin batter, like you would want for crepes. I added some salt and Siracha hot sauce. Using 4-5 inch spears, I dusted them in flour and then a quick dip in the batter.These cooked the fastest, as only the batter coating had to cook, unlike the potato puffs. So I turned the oil heat up to about 380º so they could just brown quickly.

The best thing about all of these is that everything we didn't eat gets easily saved. I spread them on a wire rack on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. After a few hours (ok, really, overnight) I separated them into ziplocks. They reheat great in a 425º oven for 15 minutes.