Fried Foods

Grace Parisi makes brilliant use of throw-away potato peels: She deep-fries them until they're crispy, then sprinkles them with Parmesan. An utterly addictive snack, they're great with cocktails, beer or wine.

Based on a tempura batter from Seattle chef Edouardo Jordan, an F&W Best New Chef 2016, the coating for this fantastic fried broccoli gets its whisper-thin crunch from cold sparkling water and baking powder. Enjoy the broccoli with a sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lemon. 

"There's nothing better than a simple tempura of a primo vegetable," states Peter Hoffman. For this sensational version, he coats thick onion rings in an ultralight batter and quickly fries them. Hoffman says that any vegetable that slices nicely, like delicate squash, fennel or zucchini, would be great here, as long as it "takes to the batter"—meaning the batter stays on.

Sanjeev Chopra has advice for filling his delightful vegetarian samosas: "Mash the peas, but not too finely; you want little pieces, for texture." He makes his own buttery dough, but frozen empanada wrappers, widely available in supermarkets, are an excellent substitute.

Chef-owner Ginevra Iverson of Restaurant Eloise in Sonoma County, California, serves her light, crisp, sugared doughnut holes with sweet-tart raspberry jam. She won't send any imperfect doughnut holes into the dining room; misshapen ones, she says, become snacks for the kitchen crew: “They get slathered with jam and devoured by whomever gets to them first.”

Jose Garces serves seared tuna alongside cheese croquettes, which are made from a mixture of béchamel and grated Manchego and gelatin that's then rolled into balls, breaded and deep-fried. To make this great recipe easier, skip the croquettes and instead just bread and pan-fry small slices of Manchego cheese until crisp on the outside and oozing on the inside.

Borough Food & Drink consulting chef Zak Pelaccio grew up eating fried pickles in Brooklyn Heights, New York. He coats his extra-crisp version in panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and fries them in schmaltz, or chicken fat, though vegetable oil works well, too.

Classically trained chef Tomas Lee was eager to bring the Asian-taco craze to Atlanta with his new restaurant Hankook. Here, he flavors panko-breaded fried-fish tacos with hoisin mayonnaise.

Antonio Ciminelli prepares this starter year-round with whatever produce is in season. In the fall, that means apples, mushrooms and late-harvest zucchini, fried in a batter made extra-light and crisp by adding sparkling wine and whipped egg white. The fritto misto is best eaten hot from the pan, perhaps served in a paper cone.

To make this juicy and delectably crisp chicken, chef Thomas Keller soaks it in a lemony brine, then coats and fries it. The chicken, which is served every other Monday at Ad Hoc, is one of the most popular dishes at the restaurant. "Since Fried Chicken Night only happens twice a month," Keller says, "people have a wonderful sense of anticipation."

Adding a crunchy coating made with bread crumbs helps cutlets to stay moist as they're pan-fried. Here, Melissa Rubel serves veal cutlets with a deliciously fresh and tangy salad that combines watercress with parsley, tarragon and snipped chives, but any combination of herbs would be great.

To get his son Braedon to eat fish, Shea Gallante fries it in a seasoned crust. "My son's like me: He goes for strong flavors, not wimpy ones," he says.

This recipe make enough braised pork filling for both the fried tamales and one 10-inch tamal pie.

"These should look much too big to eat with your bare hands," says Alex Aguilera about his crispy fish sandwiches.

Cooks in Italy fry cauliflower to bring out its nuttiness. Here, Ethan Stowell deep-fries it for a salad with salty prosciutto and nubby farro (a variety of whole-grain wheat).

"The woman who made the diples [fried dough] was like my grandmother—she wore a bib apron 24 hours a day," Michael Psilakis says.

This is a brilliant marriage of two classics: cornmeal-dusted green tomatoes and a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Gerald Hirigoyen's airy beignets can be deep-fried a few hours in advance and recrisped in the oven just before serving.

Impossibly delicious, this dish combines the best of both worlds: pasta and fried food.

Jay Foster of San Francisco's Farmerbrown's Little Skillet does brisk business in these fried-fish sandwiches at Outside Lands music festival.

"We try to make a different menu every day, often using the same ingredients," says Pedro Miguel Schiaffino about the challenges of creating recipes for a cruise ship. Yucca, one of the most ubiquitous root vegetables in the Amazon, appears in many of his dishes. Here he turns pure yucca into a dough for fried empanadas, a typical street food in Iquitos, the largest city in the Peruvian rain forest.

Mario Batali's Edible Garden, at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, is named for two of his restaurants: the Otto Pizza Garden and the Babbo Beets, Garlic and Greens Garden. Cooking demonstrations feature recipes like Batali's fritters with zucchini and rocambole garlic.

When chef Jimmy Bradley opened the Red Cat in NYC in 1999, he wanted to combine an Italian-American sensibility with his own New England upbringing. The Red Cat Cookbook highlights the inventive, uncomplicated and always memorable recipes from Bradley's restaurant. These light, crisp fritters include bits of chopped scallops in a batter made with clam broth and pilsner—the perfect expression of Bradley's New England Tastes.

These addictive little chickpea flour morsels (called panelle in Sicily, where they’re a popular street snack) are even better when paired with the pickled shallot–flecked salsa verde in this recipe. They are the perfect post-work nosh.