Churros

I had some leftover frying oil from the Fried Avocados I made (find the recipe here) so I decided to make some churros. They were surprising simple to make, just took a little time to fry them all. I had to make mine skinny since that's the only piping tip I had, but I would recommend to make them about 1 inch thick. You can also make dipping sauces for the churros if you want to make them fancy.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
Canola oil, for frying
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, optional

Directions:

1. Combine the water, butter and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Using a wooden spoon, dump in all of the flour at once and stir until the mixture becomes a smooth dough. You will want to cook the dough for a minute or two to make sure you cook out the raw flour taste.

2. Remove the dough from the heat and while stirring constantly, add 1 egg at a time to the dough. You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer. Once the first egg is incorporated, add the second egg and repeat until all eggs are incorporated.

3. Get a piping bag with a 1 inch star tip. Fill the piping back with the dough mixture.

4. Heat up a pan with about 2 inches of oil at the bottom over medium high heat. You will want the oil to be at 350.

5. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.

6. Using the pastry bag squeeze a 4-5 inch strip into the oil. You may need to use a knife to cut the dough from the tip. Fry the churro, turning during the frying until all sides are golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.

7. Place fried churro on a paper towel to remove a little excess oil. Put into the sugar mixture and roll around until churro is coated (be careful, churros are hot!). Put on a plate and store in warm oven until all churros are fried. Serve immediately as they are best right after frying!

Fried Avocado

I went to a Cuban restaurant and they had fried avocado. It was so delicious! It is something that I've never tried or heard of before. It was so interesting to have the contrast of crunchy outside with smooth avocado inside. I wasn't sure how they did it so I tried to different ways - one with cornmeal breading and the other with the more traditional breading of flour, egg, and bread crumbs. The bread crumbs were the winner! Best way to serve the avocado is with a little sour cream dip or with some of your favorite hot sauce.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs (I do a 50/50 mix of regular and panko bread crumbs)
Avocado slices

Canola oil, for frying

• Directions:
• 1. Prep the avocados by cutting the avocado in half, removing the pit and scooping out the avocado flesh with a spoon. Then slice the avocado into wedges. 
• 2. Place the flour on one plate, crack and stir the eggs and put on a second plate, and put the bread crumbs on a third plate. Sprinkle a pinch of salt onto each plate and stir to combine salt and that ingredient. (Using paper plates for this saves a lot of time on clean up)
• 3. Place an avocado wedge into the flour. Coat avocado and pat to get rid of excess. Place the avocado into the egg and coat with egg. Get off any excess egg and place the avocado into the bread crumbs. Coat in bread crumbs and pat to get rid of excess. Repeat this for all avocado wedges. Put on a paper bowl or plate while oil heats. 
• 4. In a small sauce pan put in enough canola oil to be about 1 1/2 inch thick layer of oil. Put the pan on medium high heat until it reaches 350 degrees. (You can test it by throwing a small pinch of bread crumbs into the oil, when they start to fry you know you have the right temp). 
• 5. Fry the avocados in small batches until the outside is crispy and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Place the fried avocado on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil and season while warm with a sprinkle of salt. These are best served warm or at room temp. Put your dipping sauce of choice in a small bowl and serve with avocados!