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.