The new oven came this week. Whew!
But meanwhile, I am still enjoying the Air Fryer.
So I thought I’d share some recent air fryer endeavors.
I cooked the asparagus in the picture below in the microwave for about two minutes–in a glass shallow pan covered with a cloth. The chicken tenders I put into a bowl with a little melted duck fat and then coated each one with the gluten-free panko I bought and ground finer–so there is just a light coating here.
They were good–but maybe cooked just a bit too long, which made them be a bit dense. I used the roasting feature–but I think I’ll try a shorter time next (maybe 6-8 minutes, turn them over halfway) and then finish with the air broil to brown the coating. I had enough left over to top a supper salad–which I make while cooking my noon dinner.
For the next meal, I cooked the broccoli in hot water until tender–in a pot on the stove top. The cod fillet I thawed, coated with some melted ghee using a brush, then patted the top with the panko mix. I cooked on air fryer for about 10 minutes as this fillet was thick. I think I checked it at about 8 minutes.
It was flaky and DELICIOUS. This one was a win-win. Hmmm, a dollop of tartar sauce, or, for me, some homemade mayo, would be a nice addition.
I had a meeting Thursday morning, and when I got home I was so hungry. I had bought this little loin steak, so thought I’d try it in the air fryer as I was feeling lazy about the outside grill or pan-frying it. (I reheated my leftover broccoli in the microwave.) I cut up one small russet potato and did not soak it in ice water for 30 minutes, which does make the browning more even I think. I tossed the slices in a tablespoon of melted duck fat in a bowl. The potatoes cooked in under 15 minutes (I shake them every few minutes and almost burned them this time–at under 15 minutes.) And the steak cooked on roast in about 10 minutes.
The potatoes were delicious. The steak was fine, but felt a bit tough. I had enough steak to top my supper salad–which is always nice. So, steak in the air fryer works fine, but isn’t as nice as the grill.
I like asparagus roasted in the air fryer. But I don’t really like broccoli cooked that way–it is tough. Maybe if one par-boiled it until almost tender and then air broiled it? But that seems like way too much trouble.
So, the air fryer is a learning curve, but one I’m enjoying. And I’m feeling more confident with using it to its best potential. And it is so easy to clean up. There is no grease all over the stove top from pan-frying something. Yes, I could easily have fried the potatoes in a pan with some duck fat–but the air fryer does use much less fat–and the texture of the air fryer potatoes, unfortunately for my body, is awesome!
Louisa Enright's Blog 