[Wōdnes-dæg] Advocating for a Better Kind of Fry

A food as rich and thorough as avocado needs no preparation. But everything's better fried, isn't it? So avocado fries must, by default, be indescribably delicious.

I got the basic recipe for avocado fries from an article that ran in the Feb. 21 issue of the Globe and Mail.

To carry out this procedure you'll need:

• one almost ripe avocado
  
• two cups cooking oil (any will do, but a high smokepoint is ideal)
  
• one egg
  
• bread crumbs
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• one small pot
  
• two bowls
  

The Globe and Mail's recipe calls for cumin and panko crumbs, but since I have neither I cut the former out entirely and just used regular breadcrumbs. My fries had less of a kick and less of a big crunch, but the small breadcrumb-covered crescents reminded me of fried shrimp in look and tempura yams in texture.

To kick this recipe off, cut your avocado in half. If you're unfamiliar with how to do this, then follow along.

Pop out the remainder of the stem in the top of your avocado, then cut your fruit in half length-wise. Take the avocado in your hand and twist the two separated halves apart - one half will have held onto the pit. Slide the blade of your knife into the pit (one slow cut along its middle, then gently rock the blade deeper into the pit) and turn the knife to the left or right to remove the pit.

Once you have your avocado in half use your knife to cut the fruit into 1/2 inch strips (length or width wise). Use a spoon to work out the pieces, or just to loosen them in the husk. Gently squeezing top to bottom can also help loosen your avocado slices.

Next, break your egg into a bowl and scramble it with a fork or egg beater. Add about a 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs to your other bowl and add salt and pepper to these crumbs to taste.

Toss your avocado pieces through the egg bath so that each one is liberally covered. Then, using your fork, move each piece from the egg bath to the bread crumbs and cover each avocado piece with the breadcrumb mixture.

At this point, put your cooking oil into a small pot and put it on a burner set to medium-high (or 7-8 of 10). Let the oil heat up for a minute or two - to test if the oil is hot enough to fry the egg and breadcrumbs on your avocado pieces toss a piece of bread into the oil. Once the bread quickly turns brown after touching the oil, it's hot enough to cook up your avocado fries.

Set all of your avocado slices into the oil, and keep a careful watch over them to make sure that they don't burn. Because all you're doing by frying them is softening the avocado and making the egg and breadcrumb coating crisp, each piece will take one minute (two, tops) to fry - if they are all fully immersed.

Place your avocado fries onto a paper towel (or a double layer of tissues, in a pinch) to drain off the oil and then enjoy!

They'll turn out looking like this:

{Definitely toasty - and also soft centered.}

And that's all there is to avocado fries.

My only warning is that you should be careful about how ripe of an avocado you use. If you use one that's soft enough to turn to guacamole in your hands, then you'll likely end up with more of a mess than a masterpiece; but if you use an avocado that is still as hard as a fossilized dinosaur egg, then your crumbs and egg will probably burn before your avocado even starts to soften. Ideally, the avocado you use for this recipe should still be firm to the touch, with just a little bit of give under pressure.

If you try this recipe and want to go on about how simple and delicious it is, or want to call me out for creating a fried abomination, feel free to do so in the comments.

And on Friday check back for my attempt to find some good in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising.