Fry

This quick rendition of breaded cutlets with a lively relish will be a favorite at your house, I am sure. For a special brunch, top a cutlet with a fried or poached egg.

Crusty fried potatoes are as popular in northeastern Italy as they are in the United States. This Trieste version is as delicious as any I have ever tasted. You will get best results using a nonstick or cast-iron pan, browning and turning the potatoes over and over, so the caramelization is dispersed throughout. Use the timing here as a guideline, but follow your own tastes to create just the degree of crustiness you love.

Fried fish steeped in saor, a tangy marinade of onions and vinegar, is enjoyed in all the regions around the northern Adriatic, in the Veneto, Friuli, and Istria. Many fish are suitable for this preparation, including mackerel, monkfish, young trout, even fillet of sole, but I especially love fresh sardines. When I was young and we had fried sardines for dinner, the leftover fried fish went into a crock of saor. It would keep for days and become even more delicious. With this recipe, you can assemble the dish and serve the sardines a few hours later. But if you let them marinate (in the refrigerator) for 1, 2, or even 3 days, the results will be worth the wait.

It is a spectacle to see these fritters made at the churreria that opened in 1935, called Los Churros del Moro, in downtown Mexico City. The churro master, as I call him, presses a lever that pushes out the soft dough, and as it hits the oil, he moves it, forming a large coil that looks like a six-foot-long snake all curled up. He very gently bathes it with the oil. When it is golden, he pulls it out and drains it on a round metal tray. It is then handed to another churro master, who cuts it with scissors into long strips the size of a straw and rolls the strips in plain sugar or a ground canela–sugar mixture. You can get hot chocolate (there are five types: Vienna, Francesca, Español, Especial, and Mexicano, varying in sweetness) to accompany them, although some people prefer to dip them in warm cajeta or chocolate sauce. I knew the famed churreria was not going to share its recipe (I have tried for a long time), so I was always on the lookout for one that was close enough . . . Then one day, while visiting the Mercado Pino Suarez (the main market) in Villa Hermosa, Tabasco, I was suddenly distracted by the distinctive aroma of freshly made churros. I followed the scent, which led me to a small corner stand. The churros were warm, a little puffier than those at del Moro, and absolutely, undoubtedly, one of the best I’d ever had. There was no hot chocolate or sauce to dip them into. Just pure crunchy, sweet fritters with an intense cinnamon flavor and a little something else I couldn’t quite make out. I really wanted the recipe, and after a little talking and smiling, I was allowed to visit the next day to see how they were made. So, there I was, walking alone on the streets of this not-so-safe place, at 4:00 in the morning. It was still dark, and there were a few people around: some were just finishing their night and others were busy getting ready to open their businesses. I am not a morning person at all, but making churros at a market in Mexico is definitely an antidote to morning crankiness. The secret ingredient in these churros? Queso fresco! Here is the adapted recipe from Lorenzo Sanches Mendoza from the stand El As Negro, with my profound thanks.

PAT My sweetie and her mama love their sweet potatoes. You think maybe that has something to do with why they are so sweet? Gina created this extra-special dish for the mamas in our lives, but I love to prepare these potato cakes for her on Mother’s Day and serve Miss Gina in bed, of course.

Who needs pork? (Did we really just say that?) This herb- and spice-infused turkey sausage is a Mother’s Day masterpiece. Moms won’t have any idea that the patty is all turkey and no pork.

Mackerel is a rich fish with fabulous texture and depth of flavor. Though it’s not traditional, preserved lemon adds a piquant, salty touch to a rustic pounded sauce. To make sure the potatoes are crispy when you serve the dish, grill the fish first and fry the potatoes right before serving. Parboiling the potatoes makes it easy to get them crispy, while ensuring they’re cooked through.

Cauliflower is another one of those vegetables that gets a bad rap. Yes, it’s in the cabbage family, and when the cauliflower is raw, the connection is easy to identify. Take a page from the Italians, then, who aren’t afraid of oil and know that giving some vegetables a dip in the fryer brings out their best characteristics. In this case, the cauliflower turns sweet and silken; add in some smoky shreds of ham hock and, well, you’ll be begging to eat cauliflower more often. Ask your butcher to split the ham hock for you; they have big saws for that very purpose. And don’t you dare throw away the liquid left over from boiling the ham hock. One bonus of this recipe is a soup waiting to happen.

When you pour out the polenta to chill, don’t worry about making it pretty. Do what we do at the restaurants and use a cookie or biscuit cutter to create even shapes, or cut out wedges or squares—use your imagination. Grilled or sautéed polenta makes an excellent accompaniment to meat, game, or poultry. Try a couple of disks nestled next to a pork chop, roasted chicken, or guinea hen. Firm polenta should be crispy outside, soft and creamy inside, like a good French fry. In short, everything you could want.

If you are the kind of person who prefers a croque madame to a croque monsieur, the addition of the fried egg gilding the lily in a truly spectacular way, then this is the dish for you. Fresh pillows of gnocchi topped with earthy morels makes for a sublime dish all on its own. Top each dish with a fried duck egg, the soft yolk oozing under your fork . . . need I go on?

Anytime I go to Galotoire’s, in New Orleans, I start by ordering a round of their legendary fried eggplant. The thing that makes it special—and so distinctly New Orleansian—is the strange but delicious mix of confectioners’ sugar and Tabasco sauce that is served on the side, for dipping.

We had fried okra almost nightly at my grandmother’s house during the summer. It’s my mom’s idea of a green vegetable, how can you fault her? It is green, underneath the golden, deep-fried crust.

I’ve shared recipes for fried green tomatoes before, but each time I’ve tried to gussy them up by adding herbs or layering them with other ingredients. I like those dishes, of course, but the fact is there is something wonderful about making fried green tomatoes the way my mother and grandmother made them—that is, simply. Stripped of nonessentials, the warm tartness of green tomatoes, tempered by a hint of sugar, and the toasted crunch of cornmeal crust shine through in perfect balance.

For an easy weeknight indulgence that is as crispy, crunchy, and succulent as fried chicken, make these skillet-sautéed pork chops. The key here is to pound the pork chops until they are very thin—sort of like German schnitzel—or buy them thinly sliced. (They can usually be found in the prepackaged section of your grocery’s meat department; in the South, they are labeled “breakfast chops.”)

This crispy fried quail is for anyone whose favorite part of fried chicken is the crust. Because quail are so small, you get a satisfyingly high crust-to-meat ratio—but the meat itself is flavorful enough to stand up to all that crust. I drape my version in a veil of creamy, herb-flecked pan gravy.

This dish contains all the flavor and crunch you expect from fried chicken, but with all the health benefits of using boneless, skinless chicken breast. Plus, you get bonus points for scattering the cutlets over a tender arugula salad bursting with fresh herbs and drizzled with tarragon-infused Buttermilk Green Goddess Dressing.

Granny Foster made the best fried chicken in the world—salty and golden brown with a crackly crust that gave way to meat as moist and tender as could be. The secret is the overnight brine of water, salt, and spices that drives extra moisture and flavor into the meat, where they are locked in during the cooking process.

When I was in college I had a job waiting tables at the Half Shell, a little wood-paneled restaurant in Memphis that makes the best fried oysters I have ever eaten. They serve their perfectly crisp-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside oysters by the half-dozen, with lemon wedges and tartar sauce, but you can also get them layered with slaw in a creamy po’ boy sandwich or sprinkled atop eggs Benedict. A few years ago the Half Shell moved across the street to a larger location, and while it’s never felt quite the same since they moved, I still drop by for their fried oysters every time I visit Memphis. My Half Shell–inspired version of basic fried oysters makes a perfectly good meal on its own, but check out the four easy serving suggestions if you want to take things one step further.

I used to make crab cakes using all kinds of herbs and vegetables for added flavor and texture, but the ultrasimple crab cakes Peter and I enjoyed on a recent trip to the Maryland shore convinced me that in this case, less is more. I don’t add much more to this dressed-down version than is needed to hold the cakes together, so the only time to make them is when crab is in season and at the peak of freshness.

I grew up on these tasty little fried cakes, which Granny Foster used to serve for breakfast with fried eggs and biscuits, or sometimes for supper along with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. Like most Southerners, Granny used canned salmon in her croquettes. I opt instead for freshly poached or grilled salmon, a move that allows the delicate, grassy flavor of the fish to come through. Crispy and satisfying (the name croquette comes from the French for “to crunch”), these easy treats are an excellent way to revitalize leftovers from last night’s salmon dinner, ensuring that the switch from canned to fresh fish does not necessarily sacrifice convenience.