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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Deep Fried Food Party + Giveaway Cuisinart Deep Fryer

I don't know many people who don't like deep fried food. Fatty, oily, crispy, golden and juicy. And those are just adjectives that describe me. Much more can be said for deep fried food. So when I was approached by Brad from Kitchenware Direct to review any product I wanted, I picked a deep fryer. After a bit of research, I chose the Cuisinart Deep Fryer as I believed it was the sturdiest and most reliable. This particular fryer holds 4 litres of oil and 1kg of food. I had previous disasters with deep frying in the past where I have learned that hot oil and skin do not mix. It's not quite as bad as Kat's experience where the whole kitchen went up in flames. Hence I was très excité (sounds more posh in French) to try out the fryer.

As it turned out, the gluttony moons aligned and at the same time that I was wondering what to make with the deep fryer, Agnes was blogging about her sensational Thomas Keller Fried Chicken. So I asked Agnes to join me for a Deep Fried Food Party. We rounded up a few more people so we could taste more food. After much assurance to Kat that we won't all end up in food comas such as from the previous deep fried food party she attended, we worked out who would make what and it was on.

Here is the Cuisinart Deep Fryer being tested. It's pretty simple, which is good. You flick a switch to turn it on. You set a temperature and time, the green light goes on when the oil has reached the set temperature, and then you lower the food in the basket into the oil. The lid gets put on while frying to stop oil splashes and you can watch the food through the two glass slots on the lid. When the food is done, you can lift the basket and place on a stand to let the oil drip off without taking the lid off, which is very hand.


First up, we have the mentioned Thomas Keller Fried Chicken, which was indeed awesome. The mix of spices, a super crispy batter and tender meat made for excellent fried chicken. It was served with Kewpie mayonnaise, the perfect accompaniment. You can see in the background that there are some snow peas covered in fried oil and some other brown thing on the right, coated fried mushrooms which were both done by I-Hua.


I made Lobak for this party, which was perfectly cooked. The lobak were super crispy and tasted really good, especially with some sweet chili sauce.


Kat made Thai Chicken Wings (middle section of wing split into halves) which were zingy and again beautifully crisped. She also made a simple Thai salad to try to help balance out all the fried food. I also contributed a Vietnamese Prawn Salad to again lighten the meal.


The last fried item I present to you is Sicilian Donuts from Agnes. Balls of dough with sultanas were fried and then dusted in sugar. They were quite nice but not as light and fluffy as I had expected when I think of donuts. I think I prefer a normal donut more.


Kat made some Bread and Butter pudding, which was good, but with a bit too much nutmeg.


Last but not least to finish off this calorie overloaded meal, I made an amazing (yes I don't mind self praise) Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie from an adapted recipe that Viviane emailed me. I served the brownie with some raspberries and vanilla ice cream and they were O for ORSM. We washed down all the food with a magnum of wine that April brought.


We really put the deep fryer through the paces and fried a variety of items at different temperatures. The fryer passed the test with glowing colours, easily frying the lobak in about 5 minutes and even the chicken didn't take too long. The set temperatures really keep the oil nice and consistent and hence the food also come out consistent. Cleaning was also not very hard, as the heating element lifts out and can be cleaned over the sink. The metal basin can then be completely submerged in water and washed.

If you've made it to the end of this post, you can now do one of two things, 1)express your disgust at the amount of fried food that we ate, or 2)express your delight at wonderful fried food and want a deep fryer of your own. If you are part of the second camp, here's the good news. You can win a Cuisinart Deep Fryer of your own.

GIVEAWAY

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COMPETITION CLOSED

Thank you to everyone who entered. I'm surprised at the number of people who wanted to fry the chocolate brownies. You're all nuts :-)

Anyway, the winner from the random draw is Karen Neo. Congratulations Karen, I shall be contacting you about the prize.
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Up for grabs is one Cuisinart Deep Fryer. Fried chicken and lobak are not included in the giveaway.

HOW TO ENTER

Just leave a comment.

I like flattery but that won't increase your chances of winning, but don't let that stop you from telling me how good I am. I will pick a winner randomly.

NOW HERE'S THE PART THAT YOU MUST GET RIGHT. MAKE SURE THERE IS A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU SHOULD YOU WIN.

Have I shouted that loud enough yet? If I can't contact you to inform you that you have won, I'm redrawing the prize. You can leave your Twitter, blog or email contacts. If you don't want to publish your email, please email me at ieatblog@yahoo.com and let me know which comment was yours.

Conditions of Entry
- One entry per person.
- Australian readers only. Delivery of the prize is only to an Australian address.
- Competition closes Sunday March 4th 9pm AEST. The winners will be announced on Monday March 5th and published on this same post.
- I will contact the winner directly.

Thanks to Kitchenware Direct for providing the prizes.

42 comments:

  1. Wow!! Those mushrooms and snow peas I cooked looked amazing even in all that bokeh :P This should be renamed to the Deep Fried Brown party!

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  2. Oooh I have always wondered about deep fryers but never looked into it. I'm waaaaay too chicken to deepfry stuff on the stove! My forearms are already scarred from my brief career in fast food...

    On the other hand, is it right and proper that I should have the means for on-demand doughnuts? (I think so).

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  3. ooo ooo i want one. =)
    surely i'd be the best person for it, with my bottomless pit hahaha

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  4. Unfortunately i just do not like deep fried food.

    Sorry.

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  5. Deep fried anything is win-win.
    I had the opportunity to try deep-fried durian once - AMAZING!

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  6. DEEP FRYER! omgness. The food looks good! WIsh I could have one! hehe

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  7. It all depends on what goes in the deep fryer as to how good it tastes. All that food up there looks amazing would love to try it out

    Email- sboyle07@hotmail.com

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  8. Why would anyone express disgust? Seems like it would be an awesome good time.

    Shame the bread & butter pudding and brownies weren't also deep fried. I guess it might be too hardcore for some.

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  9. @miriamsleiman2/26/2012 9:58 PM

    Your Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie looks like a real winner. And if given the chance, i would definitely try deep-frying it.

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  10. #icreepyouoninstagram therefore I am cool. Follow me @dani_lanes :-)

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  11. This would be perfect to make Roy Choi's easy-peasy Chinese chicken wings!! Want! Want! Want! Last time I stupidly made them on a scorching Melbourne day and suffered splatter burns. #deepfriedlover :-)

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  12. I would love to use it for deep fried chicken wings, or making deep fried crispy chicken Thanh

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  13. Love everything that is fatty, salty, and deep fried! Cannot resist to own a deep fryer my own and start making good yummy food :-)

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  14. Have you heard of the restaurant in NYC that deep fries everything, including cupcakes and pizza? You can bring your own stuff in for them to deep fry or they have an extensive menu! That chocolate brownie of yours might be great deep fried! I think you first batter it all then go for the fryer! I would happily invite you to a fry up if i am lucky enough to win! x

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  15. Wow, good move, wouldn't think of trialling a deep fryer! :) I would go nuts and just...well. Fry chocolate. Or something stupid. :s

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  16. "Fried chicken and lobak are not included in the giveaway".

    Can we at least get the recipes if we win then? The food looks so delicious.....

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  17. I-Hua, things are a bit brown aren't they.

    Jackie, I think on-demand donuts could be rather dangerous, but delicious at the same time.

    Allan, you are totally a bottomless pit.

    Unknown, deep fried durian is the best.

    Simon, I can see how some "normal" people may be disgusted with all the fried food, but you are looking at it from a gluttonous food bloggers point of view :-)

    Miriam and Ashley, trust me, frying chocolate is great, until the 10th chocolate bar and you'll regret it after.

    Girlbug, I know what you mean about the splatter, it hurts.

    Vida, deep fried cupcakes sounds so wrong, but I also want to try.

    Sophie, yes you can definitely get the recipe. :-)

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  18. Deep frying makes almost everything taste good! :D Croquettes are my ultimate weakness! Creamy and crunchy...

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  19. You forgot to mention how the basket is nice and wide compared to other deep fryers, but I guess that is obvious from the photo!

    I would like to have a deep fryer, but the non-fatty part of me thinks it wouldn't be a good idea. The fatty part however, would be very stoked to win a deep fryer! :P

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  20. You've clearly (and deliciously) shown how diverse this appliance is. A range of applications that I think would enamour me to my son and his Uni friends. And you really dared to deep fry Viviane's brownies?! Very brave man!

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  21. mmmm fried chicken.
    i want to hate it.
    but i just. can. not.

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  22. OMG donuts, crispy chicken & more. Oh my! It could almost be a song! Hehe yummmmmo.

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  23. Ah heck why not. I want recipe for the fried mushrooms tho. *pokes ihua*

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  24. Ooooo I love FRIED food!!! I tried to stay away from it though because it's so 'fatty' lol but I've always wanted a Deep Fryer!!! I love the fried chicken :)

    Thanks for the opportunity to win!!!

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  25. i saw the instagrams of this. Everything looked amazing! i used to have a deep fryer but Hubby was too kind and gave it a clean for me but he did too much of a good job (he washed the element) and broke it :(

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  26. Wow, that deep fryer looks fantastic. I would save a lot of time for me. I always get lazy to
    cook something needs to be deep fried like tempura.

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  27. Oh man, I love deep fried food!! XD And that brownie looks amazing - where do you get your fresh raspberries from? I live in Perth, I just don't know where to find them >.<

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  28. OMG I wants! Get in mah bellehhhhh! I want this so after I reach my target weight loss (almost there) I can bask in a pool of deep-fried goodness! Especially souther-style fried chicken and chicken wings. Given that I haven't consumed junk food in just over 7 weeks now I can literally taste the fried chicken as I type this *drools* - @lynnie11

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  29. On behalf of Peter

    "I think you should have deep-fried the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie to round out the meal properly."

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  30. I have always had a dream of having a deep fryer installed next to a lounge chair so all my food can be deep-fried without getting up. I also have a dream of being able to continue to see my toes, so I guess there's gonna have to be a compromise somewhere...I don't really like my toes anyway.

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  31. OH-EM-GEE! All that fatty goodness! :P Makes me wonder how awesome the bread & butter pudding will taste if it was deep fried too?

    Oh btw, will you be posting up the recipe of your super professional yummeh looking brownie? :D

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  32. Whooohoo!

    I fight weekly with my boyfriend about whether we're allowed to get a deep fryer. He thinks I will explode it.

    I think he is being lame.

    My contact info is eggton.mail@gmail.com

    Thanks!

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  33. Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie?? Seems definitely good.. I'm curious about this kind of cake..

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  34. Are you sure your Lobak isn't part of the giveaway? >.< It looks amazing and just imagine dipping one (or many) of these babies in some homemade sweet chilli sauce...*drools*

    I'd love to win this Cuisinart Deep Fryer so I can try making it at home - if you don't mind sharing the recipe that is :p

    ravelome@gmail.com

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  35. I don't live in Melbourne so I'll be missing out on the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival :( Would love to win one of these deep fryers so I can drown my sorrow in KFC a.k.a. Korean Fried Chicken (I had the best one in Korea Town NYC so missing my holiday in NYC is adding to my sorrow...)

    Email: u4315065@anu.edu.au

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  36. it`s looking so tastier this is a complete Deep Fried Food Party if there is so much tasty food so who care`s for diet.

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  37. Must be a month of giveaways! Mmm, salt and chilli popcorn chicken. That is all.

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  38. Deep fried food isn't that unhealthy if done properly, it just has a bad rep..The oil has to be hot enough and food has to be taken out before you turn off the heat.

    This will be be perfect to use when I fry my Kueh Pie Tee cases cos I can rest the copper mould on it, those babies are freaking heavy...

    Oh and I want to try deep frying cake pops, gross I know but I love deep fried mars bar so who knows...

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  39. Dear Thanh,

    Thank you so much for giving out such an awesome prize!

    I love your home made spring rolls recipe and have been making them for my dinner parties - and I always tell my friends I got the recipe from your blog =D The addition of water chestnuts make these spring rolls so unique and dangerously addictive.

    I have an electric stove so deep-frying them is the only part of the cooking process I do not enjoy as much - so it would be absolutely awesome if I could be the winner of this fabulous prize!

    My email contact is weicheny@gmail.com

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  40. Oh man, I wonder how those brownies would taste if they were deep-fried...

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  41. Kazzybits, one day I might fry the brownie haha.

    Anonymous, in Melbourne even the supermarkets have raspberries.

    Michelle, shall definitely share brownies recipe.

    Ravelome, lobak definitely not part of giveaway :-)

    Weicheny, thanks.

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  42. Your recipes are an inspiration...
    Love greasy goodness too :P

    xx Gab
    gabby.margerison@gmail.com

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