Ode to the Air Fryer

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Air Fried General Tso’s chicken, rice, and vegetables. Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

Breathing into a paper bag is the only way I know how to welcome an air fryer into my kitchen. I’m just so darned “hyperventilating excited.” Nate bought me an air fryer for my birthday last month and I. Cannot. Control. Myself. It’s like I’m in the studio audience of a daytime talk show and every chair I sit on has an air fryer under it and I’m screaming and crying and getting my flat-ironed hair all frizzy. I’m not even sure how I’ve managed to settle myself down long enough to write this post. The air fryer is just that unbelievably amazing.

This life-changing appliance is super-easy to use. Once I plugged it in and read the manufacturer’s instructions as fast as I possibly could, I got to work finding a recipe because I just didn’t trust myself going it alone in the condition I was in. As you could imagine, I had ambitious dreams of whipping up some Cornish hens, hush puppies, and “fried” pies at all once in the tiny basket—winging it on my own without any cookbooks or fire extinguishers nearby. No, those dreams would have to wait until I could just simmer down. Instead, I decided I needed calm, soothing, authoritative instructions from another person somewhere on the Internet who had a recipe for General Tso’s chicken. So, I basically followed this recipe here from: Cooking Light (Andrea Nguyen).

Then, I made some stir fry vegetables in a skillet on the stovetop. They turned out pretty good too, so I’m including my recipe here below:

–One package of frozen stir-fry vegetables

–1 tsp. chopped fresh ginger

–1 tsp. chopped garlic

–1 tsp. chopped jalapeño pepper

–1 tsp. sesame oil

–1/4 cup of honey

–1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

–1/4 cup of rice vinegar

Instructions: sauté the vegetables, garlic, and jalapeño in the sesame oil. Whisk together the honey, soy sauce, and ginger. Add it to the vegetables and cook through.

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I served those vegetables with the General Tso’s chicken recipe from Cooking Light—and some steamed rice. When we sat down at the table, I was practically bursting at the seams. I had so many questions: Would that chicken be golden? Would it be crispy? Would it be everything I hoped fried food would be, but without the indigestion?

The answer? Yes! A thousand times yes! Nate, Alex, and I were so incredibly happy. We made many, many mmmmm noises to let the air fryer know it did such a good job. We dreamed of all of the things we could put in the air fryer next time. That list included all of the frozen pizzas and burritos currently in our freezer for sure. It also included wild carnival-like fantasies of corn dogs, chicken wings, and Twinkies. We’re not sure if all of this food is supposed to go into the air fryer, but we can always dream.

I also dream that this appliance will become such a “thing” in our household that we’ll have sayings that we’ll make up to teach life lessons, like “If it fits in the air fryer, cook it.”

Here’s how that phrase might be used in an every day situation in our house:

Nate: That meeting the other day was just so boring! I could have done way more things than attend that meeting.

Me: Hey, if it fits in the air fryer, cook it.

Nate: What does that even mean?

Me: The answer to that question will come to you eventually.

Nate: I don’t think that’ll ever happen.

Me: Oooh. . . look… a crispy nugget from the air fryer!

Nate: Yes, but . . . (He gives up and eats, making “yum” sounds.)

Me: See? Now you know!

And just like that. Everything is better. The air fryer is a distraction from the perils of life. If it fits in the air fryer, cook it. Air-fry all of your troubles until they’re crispy and tasty and easy to swallow. . . .

Once we cleaned up from our meal, there was really nothing else better to do than to make up an ode to properly praise our newest and most favorite member of the appliance family in our home:

Oh, Air Fryer! Oh, Air Fryer!

You’re better than the washer/dryer.

I put food in.

I take food out.

It’s crispy and crunchy and makes me shout.

You make things golden without all the fat.

I’m a freakin’ superhero—nothing wrong with that!

I’m servin’ up food just crammed with taste,

Batterin’ up leftovers. Nothing goes to waste.

Oh, Air Fryer! Oh, Air Fryer! You are the one

Who makes my broccoli so much fun!

Your turn: Do you have a favorite gadget/appliance in your house? Which one is it? Or, if you have an air fryer, what’s the best or worst thing you’ve put in it?

 

 

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

43 thoughts on “Ode to the Air Fryer”

  3. Now I really want an air fryer. So, obviously don’t have one. I think of the gadgets I have and can’t think of one I could live without. I use my $5 blender for my breakfast smoothies; I think it was so cheap because the blade portion twists on in the wrong direction, left instead of right. I won’t confess how long it took me to figure it out. The toaster oven is my other favorite, especially when using my stoneware toaster oven size tray to bake one or two cookies, fresh and hot. I’ve never been a fried food fan because of the grease, so the air fryer might be exactly what I need for things like donuts.

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  6. For Christmas our daughter and son-in-law got us a Sous Vide machine. We have used it a few times now, and I have been finding all kinds of great things to try in it. And for the absolute best way to cook the perfect steak to the perfect desired temperature and no further, it’s the only way to go. When it is ready, take it out, throw it on the preheated super hot BBQ, about a minute and a half on each side, and perfectly medium rare, medium, medium well … whatever you like! The air fryer does sound interesting too, though!

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  7. I love my air fryer. My latest discovery is making homemade hot pockets in there. Cut a circle of parchment for the bottom of the basket. Get those flaky cannister rolls, peel hald of one of the biscuits layers, flatten, put your filling in the center and fold the dough over to cover the filling. I used turkey sausage and cheese. spray the parchment, put the pockets on, spray those. ‘Fry’ for 5-8 minutes until brown on that side, then flip and fry for another 4-6 minutes.

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  8. Timely post! An air fryer on sale locally and I really wondered about buying one. I don’t want to hurt my slow cooker’s feelings as she is my favorite currently. Is it mainly for cooking meat? Are you starting a air fryer page for your blog now?

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    2. You can cook almost anything in it, but I’ve heard that bacon might be a bad idea because it might not be safe–but don’t quote me on that. I don’t have plans yet to start an air fryer page on the blog, but it sounds like a great idea. Cheers!

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  12. Wow, an appliance that calls for poetical tributes! I didn’t even know what these were, until a waitress recently was encouraging someone to take home leftovers, including french fries, and talked about making her own with one of these devices. You’re even more persuasive, and in poetry yet! 🙂

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    1. I almost called the post “The Air Fryer is my Favorite Child.” My true favorite (and only child) Alex thought it was hilarious and encouraged me to use that title. Nate, on the other hand, didn’t think it was so nice, so I went with the Ode–and then create one. It was fun! Thanks for the visit!

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  13. Hahahah I love your excitement for air fryers!! Reading this made me chuckle so much! I love our air fryer, but I don’t do much of anything in it that’s not potato-related. I lack the confidence (not to mention skill & knowledge) to venture out to try other things in it. Maybe I should just chuck things in and hope for the best, it makes sense to make more use of it. I love the sound of the veggies with chicken and steamed rice. So, ‘if it fits the fryer, cook it’ – I’ll take your advice and hope for the best!
    Enjoy the miraculous machine, keep us posted on what else you manage to cook in there as I’d be interested to know how you get on! 🙂
    Caz xx

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  14. I need to Google Air Fryer as I’ve never heard of one. Sounds much more fun than the Neti Pot 😉 As you included the word ‘appliance’ when throwing your question out, I’m going to sing the praises of my dishwasher. I FUCKING LOVE MY DISHWASHER! And not a day goes by when I don’t tell it, or a random stranger, just how much I love it. It has changed my life, like I always knew it would. I’ve wanted one forever. I love how excited you are about your Air Fryer, I definitely think there should be an Air Fried menu on your blog 😉

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    1. I never thought about how much I do enjoy my dishwasher! I should remember to thank all of my appliances. They’re probably very jealous and insecure now that the air fryer has moved in:) Thanks for the visit!

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