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175 Best Air Fryer Recipes by Camilla V. Saulsbury
175 Best Air Fryer Recipes by Camilla V. Saulsbury

Air fryers are the rage these days.

So I guess it stands to reason that air fryer cookbooks would come along for the ride, and 175 Best Air Fryer Recipes by Camilla V. Saulsbury (Robert Rose, $24.95), is a good example.

Saulsbury writes that instead of frying in hot oil, air fryers use a combination of radiant and convection heat. The radiation makes contact with the food and its energy agitates the food's molecules into a frenzy, which raises the temperature of the food. But it is the convection aspect of the fryers that yields results akin to oil frying.

Air fryers have a fan that continuously circulates air through the oven. The moving air speeds up the rate of heat transference. When the hot air converges with the radiant heat the food gets hotter and cooks more quickly. Extra-fast fans and the unique shaped fryer chamber mean that the water is moved away from the food surface more quickly, making for faster crisping, rendering finished effects close to those of oil.

Many who own air fryers would probably agree that they're great for fries, cheese sticks, chicken nuggets and other snack-type foods. But the machines are capable of so much more.

Saulsbury's cookbook starts with information on choosing an air fryer, and offers a good variety of safety and cleaning tips. There is also a section on foods to have at the ready for a variety of recipes.

As for recipes, there is everything from Top 20 Fried Favorites and Entrees to Desserts. We started with Eggrolls. The recipe used packaged coleslaw mix and chopped cooked shrimp, and was pretty easy. After you wrap the filling in basic egg roll wrappers, they get spritzed with a bit of cooking spray and cooked until golden brown.

While they weren't nice and greasy like your favorite Chinese restaurant's version, they were crispy and flavorful.

We also liked the Pecan Chicken Tenders. I substituted sliced boneless thighs for the breast meat though, which resulted in very moist, tender meat. The chicken is dredged in flour, egg and a mixture of panko bread crumbs and finely ground pecans. After cooking for about 15 minutes they were crisp and the pecan added a hint of sweetness.

Food on 05/24/2017

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