K+ADFS Season 3 World Premiere

That's right, folks, Kurt + Amy are back, dispelling rumors that we perished tragically in a horrible hot oil accident, and ready to entertain the viewers who so loyally stood by our side during our 6-month hiatus (or did we decide on "sabbatical"?).

We hereby bring you back into to our warm, surprisingly not-greasy embrace with a good ol' fashioned fish fry, the perfect meal for a head-on encounter with the relentless Hurricane Earl. The meal included fried clams and classic fish and chips, using a beer batter recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. Of course, our stormy fry fest would have been incomplete without a viewing of one of the many cinematic treats offered up by Netflix's Deadly Disasters genre. And while "Killer Wave" certainly looked tempting, the siren's song of pubescent nipples on stunning display in "White Squall," the film a veritable who's who of Tiger Beat circa 1995, ultimately won
us over.

New this season: food glamor shots!

Shepherd's Pie

Well this month (err, last month), Amy and I found ourselves victims to the Irish Curse: too much footage.

This resulted in some rare restraint by our creative director in chopping out a couple of zingers from the opening few minutes. Stay tuned for the deleted scenes in the season 1 DVD box set. Anyway this happened so long ago (sorry guys) that I'm just going to give a quick running diary and provide my reactions:

00:01: New take on the intro: having inaudible comments over the finished product.

00:50: This intro sequence is still the best thing we’ve ever done.

01:15: God I wish I had improv skills. Note to Amy: don’t put me on the spot.

01:45: Veering dangerously toward montage status. Glad we averted that.

03:40: No, you’re not a biologist Kurt. Or talented.

03:52: Taking those lamb chunks out of that plastic sleeve looked like Alien Autopsy. But with the grainy blogger video compression, it could've just been special effects.

05:13: Even I’m nodding off at this point

05:22: I’m saved from losing interest by yet more terrible improv. “Other types of sodabread” indeed.

06:15: Nice extended torso shot of Amy.

07:10: Spinoff alert: Kurt & Amy Pan Sautee Shit coming in 2011.

07:50: Cap’N’Trade deserves an explanation, but unfortunately you’re not going to get one here.

08:30: Fry science is being dropped. Look for our article “Nature’s Delicious Jacuzzi” in next month’s Scientific American

09:12: Way to start a joke you can’t finish Kurt. Amy, way to not edit that out. You know what? I'm going to swear off analogies. If they're not good enough for the SATs anymore, they have no place in K&ADFS

09:55: We hand-selected our gallery this week to be underwhelmed by whatever was put in front of them, and they did not disappoint.

10:55: “I would add salt to it.” A fitting way to end the episode. Thanks for coming Lili!

Japanese Pub Food

K+ADFS and Friends Say "Why Hello There!" to 2010! Er....

...Apologies for the time lag on posting this scrumptious feast of Japanese Pub Food which we enjoyed back in January. 'Twas a cold winter's evening when we descended upon M2M for such Japanese culinary provisions as tofu, fish roe and Sapporo before firing up the fryer. The night's menu consisted of:
Tempura shrimp and shishito peppers
Potato and Japanese yam frites served with fish roe mayo*
Agedashi tofu*

So, this post thus proves that Yes You CAN put together a delicious and healthy-ish dinner entirely in the comfort of your own deep fryer. The world is your squid! (Is that right?)

Like any good night of frying, we took a short break from toiling away in the kitchen in order to once again watch a few of our favorite Schoolbreak Specials and really, faithful audience, we can't recommend these highly enough. Our commentary on "Two Loves for Jenny [Susan]" has been edited from the above video due to content that some of our readers may find offensive.


*Recipes at the end of the video

Superbowl Party III: A New Hope

In a rare monomedia* post to K&ADFS, I'd like to declare my latest Superbowl party a rousing success. Here's the menu, with first, second, and 3rd place honors:

Chili Pie (ineligible)
Frickles
Belgian Frites w/ spicy mayo- 2nd
Japanese Yam Fries
Fried Crawfish (actually just shrimp)
Buffalo Wings - 1st
Falafel - 3rd
Beef short ribs (ineligible)
Memphis style pork ribs (ineligible)

The wings are simple: wingette pieces fried for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, then smothered in wing sauce (1/2 bottle of Frank's Red Hot and a quarter stick of butter simmered in a saucepan) with celery & carrot sticks, and bleu cheese. I'm unfortunately not at liberty to divulge the bleu cheese recipe that I use, as it was given to me in confidence. Suffice it to say that buying Wishbone dressing won't cut it. Find a recipe that incorporates almost equal parts mayo and sour cream, calls for real bleu cheese crumble, and take it from there.

We've covered the Belgian frites naught but two episodes ago, and the falafel is easy when you find a dry mix, so I'll open it up to comments at this point.







*Just text.

Happy Holidays!

Yes, it's that time of year again, when halls are decked, stockings are hung and, most importantly, treats are frying. An early poll in the field informed us that this year the people wanted something completely new: Deep Fried Egg Nog.

A Google search confirmed that we were once again in uncharted culinary waters, but Kurt's ever-steady hand steered us towards a funnel cake recipe that would easily incorporate egg nog and we were like a couple of wise men discovering the baby Jesus. Due to the high concentration of eggs in nog -- hence the name! -- we were able to simply substitute about a cup of nog for the eggs in Alton Brown's funnel cake recipe. To really maintain the integrity of our beloved liquid nog, we added some nutmeg to the powdered sugar sprinkled atop the funnel cake. The results were sweet, crispy, delicious. Just ask our studio audience.

And just to amp up the holiday spirit, that night found Brooklyn encased in snow thanks to the Great Blizzard of 2009.

Finally, some of you may be commenting on Kurt's shabby outward appearance, mindless repetition of the recipe, and general inability to form cogent points. The official press release from Kurt & Amy Studios states that he is suffering from "exhaustion" due to K&ADFS's busy shooting schedule, and not (repeat: not) because of over-consumption of holiday nog during the filming of this webisode.

Happy Holidays!

K+ADFS: Now with 200% More Corgi!

Just in case the "Fry Event of the Year" isn't enough to get excited about, this year welcomed the company of two furry guests: corgis Duke and Gus (courtesy of their indulgent parents Amy and Wing -- thanks again, guys!). It wouldn't be a stretch to proclaim these waddling cuties the hit of the party, but coming in a close second (by a snout, if you will) was Kurt's extensive menu, which featured the debut of deep fried pb&j, hailed by party-goers as an "instant classic." The pb&j was prepared on Wonderbread and dipped in a French toast-style batter enhanced with evaporated milk.

Of the foods that I didn't alert Amy that I was making (sorry Amy!), the frites in particular came out really nice (and one of these days, we're going to get those pumpkin pie bites right). We cut them about 6" long by 1/2" wide/deep, soaked them in cold water for 10-15 minutes, then dried them and fried them in 300 degree oil for 6 minutes. Once they cooled to room temperature, we put them in for another 2 minutes at 350. Another one of those foods that can't really be replicated without a deep fryer. Since one of my friends questioned the practicality of of owning one, I'll reiterate that if you want to eat fried foods every once in awhile (anything from eggplant parm to falafel to any of the treats you've read about on this blog) there is no easier, cheaper, or healthier way to do it than with a deep fryer. Plus under what other pretense could you get a pair of welsh corgies to your apartment?


No corgis were hurt, mocked, or excessively fed in the making of the video. So lay off, PETA.

Fry Party - 11/13/09

Come one, come all!* It is decreed that on the 13th day of November, in the year two-thousand and nine, a Fry Party will occur on the premises of the K&A DFS set. So get your vitamin B supplements, your milks of magnesia, and your bibs, and come on down. The delectables shall include:

Frickles

Belgian frites

Fried Mac & Cheese

Fried Risotto balls

Squash Croquettes

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Fried S'mores

Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly

Apple cider doughnuts

*Invite only.