SimplyGrand Dishing with Steph: From Yeh to Yah, That’s Good!

Stephanie Bernstrom is kicking off a new blog feature as she works her way through Molly Yeh's cookbook while social distancing.

Hi! My name is Stephanie Bernstrom, I’m the Director of Sports and Events at the Greater Grand Forks Visitors Bureau and I love to cook. I’m excited to try out recipes from Molly Yeh’s Cookbook, Molly on the Range and share my experiences with you.

Popular blogger, chef and cookbook author turned Food Network star Molly Yeh has really put her stamp on the culinary map while simultaneously shining a spotlight on Grand Forks/East Grand Forks, where she currently resides with her fifth-generation farmer husband, Nick and darling little daughter, Bernie.

First up: Asian Scotch Eggs

My children’s favorite restaurant in Grand Forks is Rhombus Guys Brewing Company, and every time we eat there, my kids order scotch eggs. We recently ordered takeout, but by the time we called, the scotch eggs were sold out. If you’ve never had a scotch egg before, it’s a whole soft or hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. We decided to try out Molly’s recipe (page 172) to see if it would tide us over until we could get our hands on Rhombus’ eggs again.

Ingredients and Tools:

• I found all the ingredients I needed at Hugo’s, their employees are doing an amazing job keeping stores stocked.
• I used a large, deep pot for frying the eggs and a clip-on candy thermometer to watch the temperature of the oil.
• I recommend using long tongs to place the eggs in the oil.

Making the Eggs:

I followed Molly’s recipe exactly. Her recommendation for boiling the eggs for 6 minutes was perfect if you like a runny yolk (which we do). Coating the pealed eggs in the chicken mixture and then dipping them in the breadcrumbs was the hardest part, the chicken was so sticky. I was worried the eggs would turn out lopsided because I didn’t think I had the chicken wrapped around the eggs evenly. Next time, I will spray some Pam on the parchment paper and my hands to avoid having the chicken stick to everything.

We carefully placed the eggs in the hot oil, two at a time and watched them closely. They got a little dark because the oil heated up past the recommended temp as we were cooking, but they turned out beautifully.

Tips and Tricks:

Measure how much oil you will need in the pan before shopping, the bigger the pot, the more oil you’ll need. Vegetable oil works well for this type of frying.

Prepare everything ahead of time so when it was time to fry the foods, you don’t have to stop to prep anything.

Don’t crowd the pan when you’re frying and watch the temp very closely. If it gets too hot, lower the temp and take the pan off the heat to bring the temp down.

Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet and cover the rack in paper towels, this will help drain the fried foods and keep them crispy.

This recipe is fun to make with kids but have them step away from the stove while frying the eggs.

Results:

The scotch eggs were delicious. The outside was crunchy, the chicken was cooked though, and the yolks were perfectly done. The leftovers were even good cold. Next time I make them, I’ll try them with country style ground pork, I think they’ll taste almost exactly like the ones from Rhombus Brewing.

Next up: Fried Cheesy Pickles

We are enjoying treating our kids to takeout from restaurants they can’t normally visit (ones that are for guests 21 and up). They have quickly become addicted to Cheesy Fried Pickles from the Toasted Frog and ask for them every week. These pickles are delicious! It’s a pickle spear, wrapped in cheese, then wrapped in an egg roll wrapper and deep fried. They are crunchy on the outside and cheesy on the inside and irresistible, especially when dipped in Sriracha ranch. We couldn’t resist trying out Molly’s recipe (p. 174) to see how it measured up.

Tools and Ingredients:

• This is one of the simplest recipes. You just need pickle spears, cheese and egg roll wrappers and ranch and siracha for a dipping sauce.
• I fried these right after making the scotch eggs so I was able to use the same pans and equipment.

Making the Pickles:

My son, James, jumped in and asked to help make these. I put him to work drying the pickles while I started wrapping. These were so easy to make; it was like wrapping the pickle up like a tiny burrito. James begged to take over wrapping and mastered the process quickly. I had him step aside while my husband and I fried the pickles. We added three to the pan at a time. It only took a couple of minutes, when they start to turn a light golden brown, remove them from the pan and set aside on paper towels.

Tips and Tricks:

• Pick your favorite pickles. I used Vlasic kosher dill spears.
• Dry the pickles very well, just as Molly directed, and trim them down if they’re too thick.
• Wrap the pickles up like a little burrito.
• Don’t crowd the pan when you’re frying and watch the temp very closely.
• Cut the pickles in half and serve with ranch dressing mixed with Sriracha.

Results:

We couldn’t wait to try these and started eating our first pickles while frying the rest. They tasted EXACTLY like the Toasted Frog’s. They were simple to make and delicious. I highly recommend making these and will definitely make them again.

One more tip to get rid of that “fried” smell:

Here’s a tip if you hate the smell of oil from frying foods. I had the kitchen windows open while frying. After cleaning up, I added the following to a pan and let it simmer on the stove for about an hour. It made the house smell amazing and eliminated the fryer smell.

Simple Freshener

• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 cinnamon Sticks
• 5-6 whole cloves
• 2-3 orange slices

Check back next week when I share our experiences making Molly's Smoky Bacon Mac & Cheese.

If you have recipes for Ms. Yeh's book you would like us to try, send me an e-mail at sports@visitgrandforks.com or post to VisitGrandForks on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.