I've been to the dark side and it wasn't that bad

I've lost my innocence. I’ve deep fried. Tuesday is Tuscan cooking class, same room, same teacher, same students, with the addition of two women from New York City. They were mother and daughter and a bit negative about the conditions of the kitchen, but as I said, it is in line with the cost of the school. The daughter was typical Type A and insisted that the ravioli be in a stack and fixed them when they fell. With her hands. But she also used that Type A ass of hers and cleaned the whole kitchen for us so I guess she can paw my food all she wants.

We focused on the town of Chiusi and made fried vegetables, Gnudi (naked ravioli), and Cicerchiata (fried dough balls drenched in honey, almonds and candied fruit). It was the day of balls. The naked ravioli was the most interesting thing we made. After steaming and chopping fresh spinach, we added whole milk ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, eggs, nutmeg, and flour. We rolled the mixture into little balls and then floured again. One ball was tested to make sure it didn’t explode in the water and then we boiled the rest. We made a butter sage sauce, garnishing with parmigiano reggiano. It was delicious and easy. I’m definitely doing that again. I have been using the baby spinach from the bag for things like this and man, fresh adult spinach really makes a difference. So does butter sauce.

We chopped the soon to be fried vegetables. We just dipped the zucchini, mushroom, and onions in flour while the fennel and cauliflower got flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. The difference was due to the water in the vegetables. Wetter veges don’t need the batter (but may be good with it). About ¾ inch of vegetable oil was heated in a large sauté pan. Once it sizzled, the vegetables were fried and salted.

But that’s not the only frying I did that day. We also fried dough. As an annual visitor to the Ohio State Fair, I have had my fair share of fried dough, but never made it myself. This dough had lemon rind, flavored liqueur, eggs, and olive oil. We kneaded it and rolled it into long tubes. We cut the tubes and made small balls, the size of a lima bean, floured them and then deep fried them in hot vegetable oil. After frying we mixed in caramelized honey, almonds and candied fruit. It reminded me of this popcorn tree my mother and I would make every Christmas because I loved it. Ours was marshmallow and popcorn shaped into a tree and stuck with toothpicks of juju beans. This was honey based. Too sweet for me and I don’t think the frying brought anything special to the table so I think I’ll stick with the tree. As I’ve always said, I’m into rich, not sweet. (Sorry, I don't have a picture.)