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Big Black Dog: Whisk Wednesday -- Cuisses de Grenouille aux Herbes

May 10, 2009

Whisk Wednesday -- Cuisses de Grenouille aux Herbes




From Wikipedia: "Frogs' legs are one of the better-known delicacies of French and Chinese cuisine. They are also eaten in other regions, such as the Caribbean, the region of Alentejo, in Portugal, northwest Greece, Spain and the Midwest southern regions of the United States. A type of frog called the edible frog is most often used for this dish. They are often said to taste like chicken[1] because of their mild flavor, with a texture most similar to chicken wings[2]. Frogs are raised commercially in certain countries, e.g. Vietnam."


I've been very bad about posting my Whisk Wednesdays recipes!!! This is a very busy time for me and frankly although I made Cuisses de Grenouille aux Herbes or Frog Legs with Herbs, the week passed so quickly and I completely forgot about posting. I did not follow the recommended recipe but used my own recipe of how I remembered my Mom making Frog Legs on a late summer's day in a little cottage on a lake.

Some people might think that associating Mother's Day with Frogs is rather odd. But when I told my Mom about my post she just laughed.


Happy Mother's Day MOM!



When I was growing up in MI we had a cottage on Sage Lake and we stayed at our cottage almost every weekend. Sage Lake was not well populated at the time, in fact it was quite desolate. The lake averaged a depth of 80' and was not for swimming and no one dared touch the bottom due to leeches...YUCK! Once I saw a huge snapping turtle swimming by and I don't think I need to tell you that that ended my swimming in Sage Lake.

I was the oldest but still not old enough to drive, so us kids basically fished all day long. We had no TV and there really was not much to do except fish, build tree forts, explore the area and pick berries. When it rained we bought out all the comic books at the closest tackle shop. It was a blast.

When we ran out of fish bait, my brother, Kevin, and cousin, Keith, would catch these large bull frogs and when I say large, I mean LARGE. My uncle set a rule that we could only keep fish, mostly Bluegills, if they were as big as our hand. But no limit was ever set on the Bull Frogs but stretched out they had to be at least 15" long. HUGE!

We always had one last fish fry for the season and cleaned out the freezer of ALL the fish we'd caught over the summer. Of course this included the Frog Leg's that my brother and cousin had caught. I have no recollection of ever cleaning frog legs but I do remember eating them.

Although it is said that Frog Legs taste like chicken, the meat is actually much sweeter then chicken and ohhhh, so tender. I lightly breaded the Frog Legs and then saute and served over Garlic infused White Rice. It was delicious!



DSCF6350-1



Frog Legs
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

4 pairs of frog legs
1/2 c. white flour
2 TBL almond meal
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
2 TBL EVOO
1 TBL Butter

Mix the flour, almond meal, salt and pepper. Place the flour mix on a plate and lightly bread the frog legs. Heat EVOO and butter in a large frying pan and saute the Frog Legs careful to not over cook. The Frog Legs cook rather quickly so saute not more then 4-5 minutes per side.


Garlic Infused White Rice
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

1 c. White Rice
2 c. water
3-4 green onion cut into coins
1/2 c. fresh parsley, minced
3 TBL EVOO
3-4 garlic cloves, whole

Cook rice as per instructions on bag. Set aside. Heat EVOO in large frying pan until warm. Put whole garlic cloves in EVOO and saute until just soft and golden brown on all sides. Remove garlic cloves and on a cutting board smash softened garlic with a fork and return to pan. Add cooked rice, onion coins and parsley and blend until oil completely covers rice. Heat through. Serve.



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8 Comments:

Blogger Shelley Kubitz Mahannah said...

Wow - I haven't had frog legs since I was a kid. I grew up near the Mississippi and my dad always ordered them when we went out to eat. :) They were pretty cha-cha.

May 10, 2009 at 1:23 PM  
Blogger Keetha Broyles said...

Those do look delightful!!!

I ordered them once in a fancy seafood restaurant - - - the ones I got tasted like algae, so nope, I did NOT like them.

Yours look A LOT better. Could you ship me a bite, please????

:-)

May 10, 2009 at 2:50 PM  
Blogger Nancy/n.o.e said...

I've had frogs legs once, and they tasted like... frog! I'm sure yours are much better, and I might get up the courage to try, but while we're waiting for that I'd love a serving of rice, please.
Nancy

May 10, 2009 at 9:02 PM  
Blogger NKP said...

Ribbit!
I am not as brave as you...
I'll just watch from here on the sidelines!!

May 11, 2009 at 7:40 AM  
Anonymous Alta said...

LOve frog legs! Yum! I can imagine being at that lake at night, listening to all those huge bull frogs croaking, that's got to be great fun!

May 13, 2009 at 3:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember listening to the bullfrogs that lived in the creek behind the house when I was a kid... I live in the same house now, so I wonder...where have all the bullfrogs gone? I did see some wee froggies on the bottom of the creek last weekend.

Your dish looks simply marvelous! Way to go Michelle!

May 13, 2009 at 6:29 PM  
Anonymous Kayte said...

These look really good...I think I could actually eat them if you cut them in half and presented them like chicken fingers...because I have to say, your version looks very tempting and very tasty...if only they were hooked together at the top. Fun hearing about your summers growing up.

May 15, 2009 at 7:37 PM  
Blogger Shari said...

Great story about your cottage life as a kid! Your version sounds great!

May 17, 2009 at 8:22 PM  

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