Author Notes
Pierino realizes that whatever credibility he has is now probably in tatters. But this is based on a dish I tasted at Stokes Restaurant in Monterey last year. The key technique is "frenching" frog legs. French kissing the frog will not make him turn into a prince. Don't ask me how I know that. Frenching the legs however will cause the meat to ball up at the end of the amphibious tibia like a lollipop. —pierino
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Ingredients
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1 pound
frog legs
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1 tablespoon
capers packed in salt
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1/3 cup
clarified butter or ghee
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1/4 cup
superfine flour (Wondra)
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12
basil leaves
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4
meyer lemons, cut into wedges
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sea salt
Directions
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Begin by soaking the capers in cold water to rinse the salt off. Set aside
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Using a sharp paring knife or utility knife cut through the tendons of each frog leg and scrape down the bone to completely clean them. I'd like to say "save the scraps for another use" but I can't think of one. This will leave you a knob of flesh at the top
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In a pie pan spread out your flour and add some sea salt. Give the legs a good dusting of flour
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Heat the butter in a saute pan (this would be a good time to drain the capers)
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Working in batches saute the legs in the butter until cooked through, set aside
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Roll up the basil leaves into cigarette shapes and quickly chiffonade them
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Add the capers and the basil to the butter in the pan and give it all a quick toss
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Spoon the butter onto individual serving plates and arrange the leg pieces
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Serve with lemon wedges
Standup commis flâneur, and food historian. Pierino's background is in Italian and Spanish cooking but of late he's focused on frozen desserts. He is now finishing his cookbook, MALAVIDA! Can it get worse? Yes, it can. Visit the Malavida Brass Knuckle cooking page at Facebook and your posts are welcome there.
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