Before the very wonderful Byron Hamburgers started to take over London (a good thing, trust me), I knew nothing of courgette fries. Now I spent way too much time thinking about eating them. Courgette fries from Byron are like crack. Tasty, tasty deep-fried crack. I don't eat chips with my burger when I go.Courgette fries are better.
Last week, my craving hit and Byron haven't opened near Sluttery HQ yet so I decided to try and make them myself. The problem with this is two-fold. Deep-frying is a bit scary and gross (my favourite dress now smells vile) and courgettes are watery things and I was pretty sure that I would turn them into mush. Byron chefs clearly use magic and witchcraft to prevent this. Still, I was assured this recipe would work. And it did! I'm not usually a fan of polenta, but it makes the courgettes all crispy and perfect (after a few tries anyway). Be careful - they cook quicker than you'd expect and even one courgette goes a long way. They're well worth making yourself, just open all of your windows before you start frying.
For enough fries for two people, you'll need:
- Sunflower oil
- 1 large courgette
- 150ml buttermilk
- Small bowl of polenta
- Add enough sunflower oil to your pan for deep-frying (don't use olive oil, it won't get hot enough, you'll have a veggie polenta mush if you try) and heat.
- While the oil is warming, slice your courgettes - I made rounds, but you could make chips.
- When your oil is hot enough, dip your courgettes into the buttermilk and coat in polenta. Carefully pop in your pan and fry for a minute (about half the time you think it'll take). Fry in small batches and transfer to kitchen towel to soak up excess oil.
- Eat them all and then plan to do it all again with that other courgette you bought because you didn't believe me when I said that one was enough. Then pass out on the sofa.
They sound fantastic, think I may have to try them! I love the vegetarian posts you girls do! Amazing :)
ReplyDeleteI had gherkin fries during my last trip to NYC. Sounds horrid, but completely addictive. These look great!
ReplyDeleteI so have to try making these. I have tried to buy buttermilk, to no avail :(
ReplyDeleteVenka: apparently you just add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk to make buttermilk: http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm
ReplyDeleteWho knew it was so simple?
I have a problem with polent! What I 've got in sore is something like a brick in foil (like a haloumi cheese) I smashed it but is still to tick and wet to use it for coating!
ReplyDeleteCan you please advise me?! PLEASE!!! My craving is bigger that I can describe!
It should be the ground stuff that comes in a packet, Kesse! Like this: http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/catalog/sectionpagecontainer.jsp?skuId=910000386120&departmentid=1214921923813&aisleid=1214921926051&startValue=50&referrer=cookiesDetecting
Deletesometimes i press my nose against the glass when i walk past byron just to see the courgette fries... i'm going to try this recipe out tonight :) x
ReplyDeleteHeh, we retweeted that to the lovely Byron folk! They're very happy with you, Holly! (We do the same.)
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