How To Crisply Frazzle (aka Fry) Your Food Scraps

In this post ...

Sweet Potatoes
Leeks
Sage and Parsley
Thinly Sliced Onions
Chorizo
Prosciutto
Chicken and Duck Skin – Grattons and Gribenes
Pancakes

I was prompted to write this post on crisply frying things by a couple of experiments we did in the pub kitchen where I am now employed making desserts – firstly we sliced a Chantenay carrot lengthways and crisply fried it. Drained, cooled and salted the slices were both pretty and delicious.

Yesterday, as I peeled a whole case of apples to make loads of apple crumble (the season is upon us – yikes!), I wondered what would happen if we deep fried some of the peelings. So we did and they were crisp and lovely with caster sugar and a pinch of cinnamon, I think they will be showing up quite a lot on the menu.

I don’t think I have frazzled either of these in the past and have no photos of the above experiments but I have crisply fried the following …

Sweet Potatoes

To frazzle these I first peel the sweet potato and then using the potato continue peeling until I have a pile of sweet potato ribbons. More ideas for delicious sweet potatoes here.

Leeks

These make a lovely crunchy garnish for creamy leek dishes (see a few great ideas for leeks here). Cut a leek into long thin strips, rub a little cornflour (aka corn starch in the US) through them to help them go crips and deep fry for a few minutes till golden. Lift out of the oil with a skimmer and drain on kitchen roll. Sprinkle with a little crunchy sea salt.

Sage and Parsley

Just drop clean and dry sage leaves or parsley sprigs into hot fat for literally a few seconds, 2 or 3 will probably do it. Drain on kitchen roll and sprinkle with sea salt. Bacon and pork, savoury apple dishes, onions, butternut squash and blue cheese will all benefit from a sage garnish, and the parsley is a great garnish for fish dishes in particular and most other savoury dishes too.

Thinly Sliced Onions

I usually call this Onion Grass on menus.

This is a quicker, easier and in my opinion nicer alternative to making onion rings.

Chorizo

Fry coarsely chopped, julienned or shredded (or any other shape) chorizo in a little olive oil till crisp. Remove from the oil and set aside on paper towel to cool and crisp. Sprinkle on salads, soups, pasta dishes, fish and anything else that takes your fancy.

DON’T throw the oil away it will be infused with chorizo and great for drizzling on things such as soup or fried eggs, for instance. See here for lots more things to do with chorizo including purpose made chorizo oil.

Prosciutto

Pretty well the same as above goes for Prosciutto – see here for lots more ideas for proscitto scraps.

Chicken and Duck Skin – Grattons and Gribenes

These are delicious crispy morsels made from duck or chicken skin. See here for how to make grattons and gribenes and use them to garnish soups, salads, pâtés and general duck dishes or just nibble on them.