Emerils Seafood Fritto Misto Recipes

FRITTO MISTO

Steps:

• For the sauce: Combine the basil, pistachios, olive oil, lemon zest and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until roughly pureed. Remove the contents to a small bowl and stir in the mayonnaise and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with the salt.
• For the seafood: Fill a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with 3 inches of oil and heat to 350 degrees F.
• Whisk together the rice flour, cornstarch, polenta, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Working in batches, dredge the shrimp and calamari in the flour mixture and add to the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan and drop the temperature. Fry until light golden brown and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Use a spider to remove the seafood to a paper towel-lined tray and season with a pinch of salt. Continue with the remaining shrimp and calamari. Serve hot alongside the pesto dipping sauce and lots of lemon wedges.

FRITTO MISTO

Steps:

• Put at least 3 inches of oil in a large, deep saucepan; a larger pan with more oil will allow you to cook more at once. Turn the heat to high and keep it there until the temperature reaches 350°F (a pinch of flour will sizzle). Then adjust the heat as necessary to maintain this temperature. While the oil is heating, prepare the vegetables.
• Make the batter: Combine 1 cup of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper in a bowl; mix lightly with a fork. Mix together the egg and wine, then stir the mixture into the batter until smooth; the mixture should be just about the consistency of pancake batter.
• Dredge each piece of food lightly in the remaining flour, then dip into the batter and add to the oil. Do not crowd the food; you will have to cook in batches. Cooking time will be just as long as it takes for the pieces to become an appealing shade of gold, just 5 minutes or so.
• Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with coarse salt, and serve immediately, with lemon wedges or aïoli.

VEGETABLE FRITTO MISTO WITH LEMON MAYONNAISE

Steps:

• For the fritto misto: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about 1/3 of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 1 minute.).
• Mix the egg and water together to make the egg wash. Dip the cauliflower, green beans, fennel, garbanzo beans, and lemon slices in the egg wash, then dredge in the flour to coat. Fry the dredged ingredients for 1 to 3 minutes until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels.
• For the lemon mayonnaise: In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise and lemon juice together until smooth. Pour into a small dipping or serving bowl.
• Arrange the fritto misto on a platter and serve with the lemon mayonnaise.
• If you don't want the lemon mayo, a good squeeze of fresh lemon does the trick too! Try this with other vegetables too. I'm going to do eggplant and zucchini next.

FRITTO MISTO

Steps:

• FOR THE BATTER: Combine the flour, cornstarch, black pepper, and cayenne in a medium bowl. In a measuring cup, mix together the water and olive oil. While whisking the flour mixture, pour in the water and oil mixture in a steady stream until the mixture is just combined. It should resemble heavy cream in texture. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 1 hour. Just before frying, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. With a large rubber spatula, fold the beaten egg whites completely into the batter.
• Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.
• Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it reaches 375 degrees. (Use an instant-read ­thermometer that registers high temperatures or clip a candy/deep-fry thermometer onto the side of the pot before turning on the heat.) To coat the vegetables, submerge them in the ­batter and, using tongs, remove them from the batter, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Making sure not to overcrowd the pan, fry the vegetables in batches until light golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per batch, depending on the vegetable. Adjust the temperature as necessary to maintain an oil temperature of 375 degrees. Remove the vegetables with a second pair of tongs, allowing the excess oil to run off the vegetables and back into the pot, then drain the vegetables on an oven-safe plate layered with paper towels. Use a mesh skimmer to remove any burned bits of batter from the oil and repeat with another batch of vegetables. Lightly salt and pepper the vegetables while still hot. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
• Fritto misto is best eaten immediately (have everyone in the kitchen to eat the vegetables as soon as they come out of the oil), but the fried vegetables can be held for up to 1/2 hour in a 200-degree oven on a paper towel-lined baking sheet or ovensafe plate.

FRIED GARBANZO BEANS

Steps:

• Drain and rinse beans. Heat oil to 375 degrees F. Mix flour, salt and both peppers. Dredge beans in flour mixture. Fry for 1 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

EMERIL'S SEAFOOD FRITTO MISTO

Steps:

• The zucchini should be cut into 1-inch by 4-inch individual strips.
• Whisk flour and olive oil together then add enough water to make a thinnish batter. You don't want it too thin. Season the batter with salt and pepper and let set 30 minutes before folding in whites.
• Season all the seafood and vegetables with salt and pepper. Then dip seafood in batter and let excess drip off. USE lots of paper towels.
• Now preheat the oil and fry fish in batches starting with calamari and finish with sea bass. After each batch let oil return to frying temp before doing next batch.
• Now dip the veggies and again let excess drip off and then fry until golden brown. About 3 to 4 minutes. Watch your temperature and the vegetables.
• Drain all fried items on paper plates. Taste and season as needed.
• Emeril suggests using two fry pans to speed up the process. Do not try that unless you have done lots of frying. It's too easy to get hurt with hot grease. If there are two of you doing this, give it a shot.
• Spoon the Marinara sauce over the bottom of a large platter then pile the fried seafood and vegetables on top of the sauce. Garnish with drizzles of aioli, cheese and parsley.
• Dig in and be a Roman -- .