Not Always the Equipment

A couple months ago I bought a small kitchen appliance.  It was love at first use.  Oil and greasy foods have never been a friend of my "ecosystem".  This air fryer offers the crispness like grease fried foods without the grease.  My main concern was to convince the guy that lives here to be as accepting.  He was!  Of course the first thing I tried was fresh cut french fries.  Seriously so simple,  cut them the thickness we like, soaked them in ice cold water for about an hour but it really doesn't matter if it is been 24 hours.  Then I drained and patted dry as much as possible, I am not one to dwell on completely because then it seems tedious.  Next I put them in the inner bowl of the air fryer, sprinkled two TBSP of oil and shake them around. They can be piled high.  I used olive oil the first time and after that canola oil and grape seed oil.  They all turned out crispy and tasty.  I put them in for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, shook them around and 10 more minutes.  It depends on how you like your fries.  Once they were done to our liking I sprinkled with salt.  A tip, once they are done remove from the air fryer.  Leaving them in will take the crispiness from them.  They need to be put to the open air rather than closed up in the fryer.  Another great feature.........clean up is a snap!  No grease spatters and so far nothing has stuck to the fryer.....I really like this thing.

Not one of the expensive ones but it works great!

Tonight we are having chicken tenders.  For tenders I buy fresh chicken tenders from the meat department.  You can buy whole chicken breasts but they tend to be less tender and dryer than a true chicken tender.  Yes, there really is a part of the breast called the tenderloin.  Even though when I asked once at Tops if they had fresh chicken tenders the gal said........no such thing, they are just cut up chicken breasts.  Who am I to argue with the meat department at the grocery store?  Oh wait, I am the chicken lady after all from the egg layers, to the meat hens (which I will NEVER raise again) to just loving to watch the chickens peck around.  Back to the fried chicken tenders.  I cleaned the little white tendon that runs down the middle out and soaked them in a bowl of buttermilk (because buttermilk makes everything crispier) with one large egg whisked in, salt and pepper.  This will soak for about an hour.  To a cup of flour I add what ever seasonings I feel like.  Tonight it is pepper, salt, garlic powder, smokey paprika and a mixture of seasoning that I buy for grilled steaks and meat.  I spray the bottom of the pan from the air fryer (it looks like a colander).  Shake off as much of the buttermilk and egg from the tenders and then roll in the flour mixture.  Place them in the fryer pan so they are not touching and spray the top lightly with Pam (I use the cheaper Aldis brand).  I set the fryer for 375 and the timer for 15 minutes, checking then to see if they are ready to be turned.  If so I turn them and fry for another 10 minutes.  Sometimes it is time enough but it might take 5 more minutes.  Take them out, place on a rack to let air circulate to keep them crispy and finish frying the rest of the tenders. I had two batches, when the second one was done I put the first batch on top and turned the timer on for 1 minute to heat them.  Worked great and 1 minute was all it took!

Almost ready to air fry!

The finished chicken tenders.  More comments below.

So here is what the title of this blog refers to.  It is not the equipment that matters but the person using it.  We built the cabin across the road with minimal tools and not the most expensive.  We tend to go middle of the road and always since the internet and reviews have come to be rely on helping to make our choice on what to buy.  So, the air fryer was middle of the road in price.  If I didn't like it and couldn't return it I wouldn't feel so bad about the money spent.  Well, maybe I would because I hate wasting $$.  I ordered it from Amazon with being quite confident they would take it back.  So far there has been NO complaints with their customer service.  Happy to say the air fryer is at Cook'n by the Creek to stay. 

When young, married and with children I would sew outfits for my kids.  I used my grandmothers/mothers treadle sewing machine (I still have it) until I could come up with $40. for an electric one.  One thing for sure, the treadle could sew just as nice as the electric one.  Convenience with the electric was the only thing better.  We lived two houses up from Marie Brown Stout.  She was a master seamstress and yes with an old sewing machine.  She made so many beautiful outfits and coats just as my mom had with her old treadle machine.  Another thought,  Bill Stavisky had a beautiful garden every year.  I would marvel at the "OLD" rototiller he used.  I think it could possibly have been the first one built!  It was a heavy old thing that you had to wrestle with to keep going straight and not dig its way to China.  It worked and in all the 20+ years I watched him every summer he never bought a new one.  So now do you understand what I mean when I say it is not the equipment but the person running it?  Sometimes out with the old and in with the new isn't really worth the money or effort if you are getting good results with what you have.  Something to think about.

Back to the tenders......Now let me be honest.  When I say the tenders are good, they are.  Do they taste like deep fried in oil tenders, no.  But it is a great alternative to healthier eating that really does satisfy the crunch.  Remember, nothing can take the place of the "real deal" and what we all grew up eating.  My digestive system is happy with air fry and that is all that matters to me.  I don't have to say no to fried now.  Had we never tasted grease fried food we probably wouldn't like it introduced in our later years.  Next week I will be trying Walleye fish that our Canadian friends gave us.  Researching recipes and maybe more to be told in the future on the blog.  

* The second batch I mixed a couple TBSP of maple sugar granules I had made last week.  That was my favorite!