For a brief period of my early childhood, I lived with my maternal grandmother. Every Sunday she rose early to help the family get ready for Sunday school. We would all pile into a car and attend services, while my Grandmother stayed home. I never quite got why my Grandmother did not join us at church until years later when my Mom pointed out that Sunday mornings were the only time that the house was empty. We lived in a four bedroom house with 7 people, so there was always someone at home….well except on Sundays. It was her time, yet when we arrived back home in the afternoon there would be the distinct sound of chicken frying…..that almost “white noise” of the grease hissing and our old exhaust fan wheezing to suck up the heat. That sound meant dinner was being cooked. Even during her “me time”, Grandma was thinking about the family and we were normally greeted with fried chicken, corn bread, sweet potatoes and collard greens. That sound of chicken being fried is embedded in my memory as something I find soothing …….
So I was pleasantly surprised that I had such a strong wave of nostalgia when I fired up my Krups High Performance Deep Fryer last week. This fantastic piece of metal wonder and delight was purchased as a birthday gift by my dear friend Larry. Through a bit of trickery on his part, he found out my secret wish of owning my own deep fryer and surprised me this beauty:
Isn’t it beautiful? As soon as we got it I instantly knew we would be making Black Truffle Fries in our near future. Well this weekend, The Partner and I tried it out since we both wanted burgers for dinner. Out came a pack of Uruguay ground beef, three potatoes and our infamous black truffle sea salt and transpired was magic.
The above fries were fantastic. Crispy, yummy, salty and truffled to the max — they were heaven with the burger:
In culinary school, we deep-fried plenty of stuff and let me tell you, cleaning the deep fryer at the end of the night sucks! Thankfully the Krups deep fryer dissembles and all the pieces (minus the control panel) can be placed in the dishwasher making for super easy clean-up.
However, aside from fancy fries and the occasional fried Mars Bar, owning the deep fryer means I can now make fried chicken without fear. While my fried chicken won’t be as good as my Grandma’s, I do hope I do her proud in another way. I am hoping that I can start a tradition of my own that centers around a weekly meal with my circle of friends and family in California.
If I am lucky, someone in the distant future, will hearing the sound of grease hissing and think of the times they spent over my dinners. hopefully, they will be warm memories that will inspire them and their loved ones…….
Courtney Out Loud 