Meet My New Man, George

I don’t often invite men into my kitchen much..number one, it’s my space, number two, they always seem to want eat everything before it’s actually ready, and number three, they are times when it’s just better off for them to be on the couch or manning the grill! But I had to make an exception with George, because not only did he help me out, but he became the new star of my kitchen. Confused? Let me explain…

This is George.

This is what George delivered.

“This” as in the Lean Mean Spin Frying Machine (aka Deep Fryer).

Take a short minute to watch the commercial on this gem..

Pretty cool, huh? So you better believe I’ve been rounding up some great deep-fried recipe to try. It took me awhile to actually decide to buy this due to some of the bad reviews I read online, but I like to give everything at least one chance. Some of the biggest complaints were:

• Too many parts to clean, I found that, yes, it does take more time to clean. but not anything outrageously difficult.
• The spin cycle warps your food, I found that spinning for 2 minutes on low doesn’t cause any damage to the shape of your food.
• The magnetic plug can be bumped easily and unplug mid-frying, I put the fryer up on my counter and kept the cord out of the way. It’s basically common sense not to put it where you’ll hit it.

So overall, I would give my new kitchen appliance 9 out of 10.

• It still gives you the great flavor and texture of deep fried foods.
• No more greasy fingers or draining on paper towels…by the way, I put some fried foods on the paper towel, and just like the commercial shows, there isn’t a trace of leftover grease.
• It does a good job of keeping the “fried” smell from overpowering your house with the vent and cover.

So George and I would like to present to you….

Mini Donuts

Ingredients:

1 cup milk, I used buttermilk
¼ cup water (110F/45C)
3.5g / ½ package dried yeast
½ cup sugar     2 tsp cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4½ to 5 cups of plain, all purpose flour
¼ cup / ½ stick of butter, melted
Glaze:
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

• Warm the milk in a saucepan until bubbles appear around the edge.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool to 110F/45C.
• In the meantime, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes.   Stir in the milk, sugar, salt, beaten eggs, and 1 cup of the flour.  Beat the mixture until smooth.  Add 2 more cups of flour and continue to beat.  Continue until the dough is glossy.
• Add the melted butter and stir well.  Add a further 1 ½ cups of flour and continue to beat well.  Stir in the remaining ½ cup of flour bit by bit until the dough is stiff – you may not need to add it all. 
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.  Then knead the dough lightly until it is smooth and glossy.  Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, lightly spraying the top of the dough with oil to prevent drying.  Allow to double in size, about 1½ to 2 hours.
• Punch down, and let rise again until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

• 1/2 batch of above dough recipe will yield approximately 25 doughnut holes.

• After the second rise, divide the dough into 25 equal portions.

• Allow-to proof for 20 minutes.
• Heat up a small saucepan of neutral flavored oil (vegetable, canola) to 370F / 190C.  Or preheat a deep fryer to 375 F. I used canola oil as well.

• Cook 4-6 doughnut holes at a time for 1-2 minutes, turning as you cook to ensure they are evenly browned.

• Allow to drain on absorbent paper.  Once slightly cooled, toss in cinnamon sugar.

*Tasted just like the ones you would get at the fair!! And when using the Lean Frying Machine…so much healthier!**

 

Do you deep fry foods often? If, so what?

Have you heard of the George Foreman Deep Fryer?