J@H - Fauxritos

It's time to finish my 2015 challenge! First up, Fritos! Or as I've called them "Fauxritos".  I don't know why I didn't make these earlier, they were really easy.

The only issue you might have with these is if you don't like deep frying. The boyfriend got me an electric deep fryer for christmas last year and it really takes the worry out of frying. Set the temperature and it will take care of everything else!

It took me a few batches before I was able to decide on the idea thickness for the dough. To make things easy for myself I used these rolling pin guides.  An offset spatula made it really easy to transfer the dough from the counter to the fryer.

The recipe doesn't make a huge batch of chips, just enough for one evening of TV watching. You can always increase the batch size if you have a big Super bowl party this weekend!
 
One Year Ago: Parmesan Fries
Two Years Ago: Magnolia's Banana Pudding
Three Years Ago: Homemade Granola
Four Years Ago: Thai Sweet Potato Stew
Five Years Ago: Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread

Fauxritos

From Classic Snacks - Made from Scratch

Vegetable oil for frying

1/2 cup masa harina
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Heat about 2-inches of vegetable oil in a deep pot or your electric deep fryer to 350 °F. Line a baking tray with paper towels and top with an upside down wire cooling rack.

Whisk together masa harina, yellow cornmeal, kosher salt and sugar. Whisk water and vegetable oil together, add to dry ingredients and stir until the dough comes together into a ball. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.

Roll out dough to a little less than 1/8-inch thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 1/2-inch x 1 1/2-inch rectangles. Fry rectangles until they are golden brown and most of the bubbling subsides. Remove chips from the oil with a wire spider strainer. Place on the prepared baking sheet and let the oil drain.

Eat within two days, otherwise they get soggy.

Cookie Dough Egg Rolls

I know, I’ve been missing a few posts recently. It’s been a busy time here in the Wilde household and lab. Deadlines abound at work this month and I’ve been spending weekends in the city, thereby cutting down on my cooking time. Don’t worry, I’ve brought you something extra special today. Thanks for waiting!


I have so many great memories from my five years in Madison and so many places that I miss. I wish that I could head to the terrace after work to enjoy a brat. The Dunkin Donuts are barely donuts in comparison to the heavenly pieces of deliciousness you can get at Greenbush Bakery. Connecticut pizza can’t hold a candle to the Southwest pizza at Glass Nickel. And no other restaurants dessert menu has the creative crazy choices as Bluephies.

What's hiding in there?  What's with the ice cream?

I was originally introduced to Bluephies at the Taste of Madison. It was my first summer in the city and also my first summer away from home. Boyfriend was visiting for the week and we went to the Capitol square for the annual Taste of Madison. The plan was to hunt around the vendors and find some great new places to eat around town. With over 80 local restaurants represented, we had many options for eating. What we weren’t counting on, were the bees.

Yep, bees. Lots of them. Madison, Wisconsin is lousy with bees. Something about the perfect combination of water, heat and flowers? Maybe, I actually just made that up. All I know is there were a ridiculous number of bees at the Taste of Madison. And do you know who has an irrational fear of bees? Boyfriend. He’s not deathly allergic or anything, he just had a traumatic bee episode as a child. Now he runs around erratically when there are bees in the air. There were lots of bees at the Taste, so there was lots of running.

Once we discerned that the bees liked to congregate around the trash bins we were okay. Just avoid the trash and we’ll be mostly bee free. Thankfully we figured this out, otherwise boyfriend might have sprinted right past the Bluephies tent. I might have never known the amazingness of their chocolate chip cookie dough egg roll.

It's filled with gooey, melty cookie dough!

Yup, you heard me right. Cookie Dough Egg Roll. It is seriously the most delicious and simple dessert I have ever had. You take some cookie dough, roll it up in an egg roll wrapper and fry it to crispness. Then add some ice cream for good measure, maybe some chocolate sauce too. If you are ever in Madison, be sure to stop by Bluephies for dessert. Their lunch and dinner menus are also pretty amazing. Most of you will never get the chance to visit Bluephies, but here’s your chance to enjoy their signature dish.