Apple Fritters (Unlocked)

now with fried green beans

Originally published for paying subscribers July 11, 2021. Unlocked now with the addition of a recipe for Fried Green Beans.

Smells can be so deeply attached to memory. If I catch a whiff of newspapers in the rain, I instantly feel like my grandfather is walking beside me. I was cleaning out my bathroom cupboards a few weeks ago when I came across an old bottle of perfume and with one small sniff was transported back to my sophomore year of college when I wore it every day.

The smell of frying oil picks me up and sets me down in the middle of a great, green field full of white pop-up tents, booths and vendors, and tear-down corrals full of prize-winning pigs. The smell of apples does this same thing to my husband.

I grew up in the South, and he grew up in New York, but we both associate fried food and fun with one thing — State Fairs.

When I was a kid, State Fairs (and County Fairs and Holiday Fairs and Just-For-the-Heck-of-It-Fairs) were one of the most fun experiences of the year. When we lived on the Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the salty smell of fresh fish and sea-spray mingled with the smell of the all-important funnel cake. When we lived inland on our little farm, the still-all-important funnel cake smell mingled more often with the dusty smell of horses and farm animals. I loved looking at all of the animals. I loved the booths where you paid someone to guess your weight or your age (an activity that I now understand why my mom didn’t love nearly as much as I did). I loved taking pictures with my head stuck through the face holes of those cutouts of cartoon characters and cowboys (whatever they’re actually called). I loved fairs.

And I recently learned that State Fairs hold just as special an olfactory place in my husband’s memory, too. But in New York, one agricultural item reigned supreme over the wares of fairs — Apples.

On days off, my husband and I love to look through our cookbooks. On this particular day, we were trying to use up a large bag of aging apples sitting on the kitchen counter. We found this recipe in a cookbook themed on Scottish foods, though I’m not quite sure what it was doing there. I’ve heard Apple Fritters attributed to everyone from the Romans, to the Medieval citizens of England, to Martha Washington. But wherever they come from, we were excited to try them.

Frying things has always terrified me. I’ve been burned by intense oil splatters far too many times. Guess who forgot to register for wooden spoons for her wedding and stirred everything with a teaspoon for two months? Me. I hate being splattered with oil. So I’ve just never really tried to fry anything.

But these sounded so good, and my husband and I were so excited to try them that we went for it. Our compromise was that I stood in front of the pot of boiling oil with the biggest lid from the biggest pot we own held in front of me like a shield.

But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I didn’t need a shield at all! In fact, the oil doesn’t really bubble at all until you put the fritter batter into the oil, and even then it froths more than anything else. It won’t hurt you. I promise.

Be warned — the oil makes some weird (and terrifying) popping noises when it’s heating up, but it shouldn’t splatter. Just be careful not to put too many fritters into the oil at once or it actually WILL start to splatter. The temperature will also lower the more fritters you put in at once, so put no more than five in at a time if you want them to cook evenly and on time.

I hope this delectable dessert fills your home with the smells of days spent outside, enjoying local culture, and sticking your head into those pictures you put your head in (whatever they’re called). But I do recommend opening a window while you’re frying them. I must say, the novelty of scent-memory wears off quite quickly, while the smell of frying oil sticks around for a very long time.

Apple Fritters

You will need:

1/4 cup orange juice (no pulp)

1/4 cup whole milk

Juice and zest from 2 large limes

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

4 medium apples (I used Gala)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon melted butter

Like, literally, a whole bottle of vegetable oil

Candy thermometer (a meat thermometer should also work)

What to do:

In a medium bowl, mix together the orange juice, milk, lime juice and zest, sugar, vanilla, and ground ginger. Peel and core the apples, then dice them into 1/2-inch cubes. Add them to the mixture and toss them until they are fully coated. Leave them marinating in the mixture for 30 minutes.

Drain the apples, but don’t get rid of the marinade. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk in the eggs, melted butter, and 1/2 cup of the marinade juice. This will turn into a batter similar to pancakes. Stir the apples into the batter. Make sure to mix them in well so that they are well-distributed.

Fill a large pot with oil until the oil fills the bottom three inches of the pot. Heat it over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F.

Use a ladle to pick up about a tablespoon of the batter (make sure you get some apple slices in each ladleful). Use a regular spoon to drop the batter fluidly into the oil. The “fluidly” part is very important — each drop of batter will form its own fritter rather than joining the rest of the batter. This gets messy FAST, so really try for fluid batter-dumping into the oil.

Cook the fritter for about 2 minutes on each side, or until each side is a nice, golden brown. Don’t put more than four or five ladles-full of batter in the oil at once — the oil will not splatter unless you put too many fritters in.

Ladle them back out (or use a slotted spoon) and place them on paper towels to drain. They are best served warm and dusted with sugar.

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Unlocked Additions

Remembering childhood and state fairs reminds me of another thing — fried vegetables. You can fry anything in the South. But fried green beans were always my favorite. There was a restaurant we would go to when we lived on the island in the Outer Banks called “Flippers” that had fried green beans as a side. I’d always order two and nothing else.

Baked Fried Green Beans

You will need:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 large egg whites

1 Tablespoon water

3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (I put mine in my food processor to get it really fine)

1 Tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

1 lb green beans (ends snipped off)

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Set out three shallow, wide bowls. Fill one with flour, the next with the egg whites and water (whisk together until frothy), and fill the last bowl with the breadcrumbs, parmesan, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Make sure the green beans are slightly damp. Take a small batch of the damp green beans and toss them in the flour. Then dip these in the egg whites. Next, press them into the breadcrumb mixture. Place them so that they’re not touching on the foil-lined pans. Do this until all the green beans are coated. Bake them until they are a little crispy (about 30 minutes).

Top with more parmesan if desired and enjoy!

Were you terrified of the popping noises the oil made as you were frying your fritters, too?

If the new season of “Stranger Things” has you on the hunt for more spooky stories, check out some of my flash-fiction work that’s been published over the past year!

That’s it for this week. If you liked this post, consider sending “Food & Fodder” to a friend who you think might enjoy it! Paying subscribers can come back later this month for lots of sweet things!

Thanks,

Juliana

PS —

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You can find the cookbook I mentioned above, “Half-Baked Harvest: Super Simple,” there!

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