Buttermilk Fried Chicken.

Saw this from Elise a long time ago, told myself I would try it when I bought a deep fryer. Always waffled on the deep fryer as I've heard that one you buy one, you get fat. I had bought some grapeseed oil a little while ago for deep frying though I don't really know what I was thinking at the time. In any case, I had a need for some BUTTermilk. Since I knew that I would have a lot left over, I planned on this.

I soaked overnight 2 nights in buttermilk, paprika, cayenne; had no fresh herbs. Tossed in flour, salt, pepper, more cayenne. Elise said 12-15 minutes per side, but I was using all drumsticks, not a fryer, and decided things looked done at 7-9 minutes per side. All in all, not bad for making do without a deep fryer or a thermometer. Could have used more salt, but I also read that brining before buttermilk does the job well. Maybe next time. Still want that deep fryer though.

Falafels.

There were some various methods for preparing chickpeas ranging from scratch to boiling canned ones and then chilling. I just used canned ones without boiling and without chilling the batter. In retrospect, doing both probably would have helped the balls hold together in the fryer. Falafel is pretty quick and simple, though not as quick when you're using a wok to shallow fry. An electric wok with temperature control would be handy. Or a deep fryer.