Deep-fry

Even people who think they don’t like onions will fall for these onion rings, which are crispy on the outside and have a sweet, soft interior. Double dipping the onion rings helps to give them that extra-crunchy coating. I love the extra-sweet taste of Vidalia onions, but if you can’t find them in your market, any other sweet variety or even good old yellow onions will work well, too.

I never turn my nose up at potato chips out of a bag—what’s not to like? But there is something incredibly satisfying about making your own, and eating them when they are hot. Considering how easy homemade potato chips are to make, there’s no reason to deny yourself this pleasure. Just make sure that the potatoes are uniformly cut into thin slices and that you salt them as soon as they come out of the fryer. Now I like these chips just plain out of the fryer, but I love them dipped into warm, tangy, gooey Blue Cheese Sauce (page 110).

Thin and crispy, shoestring potatoes are like a cross between a French fry and a potato chip. Because the potato is sliced so thin, these cook in a matter of seconds and you won’t need to soak them or cook them twice as you would regular French fries. Unless you have an incredibly sharp knife and your knife skills are borderline masterful, I suggest using a mandoline to cut the super-thin slices of potato. You can of course season these with any of the spice mixtures on pages 117 to 119, but if you really want to be decadent, try them with a drizzle of white truffle oil and some shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano—delicious!

Gina: Light, delicate, and full of flavor, homemade doughnuts are a true indulgence, one that’s worthy of a holiday, a birthday breakfast, or any other special occasion (“Look mom, all A’s!”). This recipe takes a bit of advance work, to prepare the dough and allow it to rise, but it’s a fun project to do with your kids. And the maple icing makes it difficult to eat just one.

Pat: When I was growing up in the South, there were “soul food” restaurants on every corner. I mean every corner. And there was one entrée served in all those restaurants, and that, of course, was fried chicken. Gina: To this day, in spite of our occasional diets, fried chicken is one menu item that is hard to resist. It has been and always will be one of our weaknesses. But it’s one we can live with. When you’ve had a bad day at work, there’s something about coming home to a good piece of fried chicken. It’s a Southern tonic: a feel-good, make-it-all-better food. Pat: We coat the chicken in dry spices first. This allows an incredible flavor to penetrate and permeate the meat. Then the chicken is double-dipped in buttermilk and seasoned flour to create a crispy, flavorful crunch. I promise you lip-smackin’ good fried chicken with this Neely favorite. It’s one of those dishes that partygoers love and are still talking about the next day.

You may have seen struffoli jazzed up with pine nuts, candied fruit, or slivered almonds. Sometimes they are piled into one big mound, sometimes shaped into several smaller mounds, or, especially around the holidays, formed into a wreath. Once you have the basics down, you can go off in any direction.

This is the side dish to make when you find yourself with leftover mashed potatoes. (If you are using leftover mashed potatoes, use your judgment about the ingredients you want to add, since the mashed potatoes may be flavored already.) It also makes a wonderful dish for entertaining—everyone loves them, and you can keep them warm in an oven up to 30 minutes after you make them.

When my mother made fried zucchini for us, she would slice the zucchini lengthwise into 1/ 4-inch slices. Sometimes she would flour them, dip them in egg batter, cover them well with bread crumbs, and fry them, as I do here. But sometimes she would just dip them in flour and eggs and fry them. I liked them both ways. The ones without bread crumbs I make often for a vegetable buffet or antipasto. After they are fried and drained, I roll them like a jelly roll and serve them just like that. The best zucchini to use for this—and most—recipes are small ones, about 6 inches long, with bright skins and a firm texture. Zucchini of this size are called “fancy” in the restaurant business. You’ll see them labeled like that in some markets as well. Fry the zucchini in batches for better results. Overcrowding the oil when frying zucchini, or for that matter anything, lowers the temperature of the oil drastically, and that causes a lot of problems. First, the food becomes poached and not fried, and absorbs much more oil. The zucchini pieces will stick to each other and cook unevenly, without the nice, crispy crust which is one of the reasons we fry in the first place.

Just as you use trimmings from baccalà to make salt-cod fritters, you can use this same method to make fritters from other types of fish. Whether using baccalà or other fish, finely diced fresh tomatoes or sliced scallions would make a nice addition to the batter.

You have to buy a quart of buttermilk in order to get the 2 cups you need for this recipe, but I’ve got your back on the extra 2 cups: transfer it to a large resealable food storage bag and freeze it. Don’t forget to label the bag—if you’re like me, you have enough mystery items in your freezer already! Use the buttermilk to make this recipe again, or check out the recipe for Bacon and Creamy Ranch Chicken Burgers with Crispy Scallion “Sticks” on page 236.

The English have nothing on this fish! Serve with store-bought frozen waffle-cut fries, prepared to package directions, and oil-and-vinegar-dressed slaw. Also, try skipping the tartar sauce one time and serve with malt vinegar instead—it takes even less time and effort and tastes great!

Yup, call the kids to the table for this one!

The tang of these doughnuts provides an excellent counterpoint to the cinnamon sugar that coats them. Beware; these doughnuts tend to disappear quickly, especially if there are people in the kitchen when they emerge from the fryer. The doughnuts can also be dipped in warm ganache made with equal parts chocolate and cream. We’ve even been known to turn these into bomboloni by filling them with vanilla pastry cream and serving them with chocolate dipping sauce. Lemon curd or good jelly, perhaps lightened with a little whipped cream, are also nice fillings. A little caramel sauce is never an unwelcome accompaniment, whether the doughnuts are stuffed or plain. But really, the cinnamon sugar does pretty well all by itself. Warm doughnuts are one of life’s special pleasures, and once you experience them, you’ll want to make these again and again.

This recipe, made from mashed potatoes fried in little patties, came from Poland to Metz a century ago. I have tasted different versions of Passover and Hanukkah chremslach, whose name refers to the well in the pan in which they were traditionally formed before frying. Sometimes stuffed with meat, they should be eaten piping hot, as directly from the pan as your fingers and tongue can stand.