Fried Frog Legs with Prosciutto Red-Eyed Gravy

A Fusion Experiment

Today on Cooking with Vinny we’re going to do a sort of Southern, French, Italian fusion dish. I’m going to make Chicken Fried Frog Legs with a Prosciutto Red-eyed gravy. I may have lost some of you at Frog Legs but this recipe can be used for anything you want to fry, chicken, steak or zucchini.

Charred frog leg bones were found at an archaeological site in the Czech Republic dating from about 2900 B.C – So why do we think of the French when it comes to eating frog legs? I read this account in several articles on the internet so it must be true. From the Guardian.

During one of those all too frequent periods when monks were deemed to be growing too fat, the church authorities apparently ordered them not to eat meat on a certain number of days a year. Cunningly, the monks got frogs qualified as fish, which didn’t count as meat. Religiously observant but hungry French peasants duly followed their example, and a national delicacy was born.
Read the full article:

New Orleans was settled by the French and it’s no surprise that Louisianna is the largest producer and consumer of frog legs in the US. But I’m sure that given the swamps around New Orleans the people would have gotten around to eating them soon enough.

Frog gigging is popular in the swamps and creeks in the South but I’d put money on the fact that no one goes frog gigging in any of the 5 boroughs of New York, because if they did, it would be a reality TV show.

When I first moved to the South I made the mistate of putting sugar on my grits because it looked like cream of wheat to me. I’d never, as my Cousin Vinny said, “seen a grit,” let alone eat one. If looks could kill. So when I saw Chicken Fried Steak on a menu, I was not about to order it. Was it chicken? Was it steak? I figured it was fried, but didn’t want to look stupid… again.

Turns out it is steak (usually a cheap cut that has had the crap pounded out of it to make it more tender) then breaded and fried like chicken.

Some say it’s because the steak is fried in the same grease that chicken was fried in. And that may have been at one time but why not call it Green Tomato Fried Steak or Catfish Fired Steak. In a restaurant with a fryer, anything thing fried goes into it the same grease. Animal or vegetable, it doesn’t matter. Food these days is what you call it. You can make anything and call it anything. Just like any drink served in a cocktail glass is a martini. Don’t get me started. Or read my post on National Dry Martini Day.

Traditionally Chicken Fried Steak or Country Fried Steak is served with some type of gravy. I like to use a red-eye gravy. Again you’ll see YouTube video where coffee is added to the pan drippings and that’s it. If it splashes it’s not gravy, it’s juice. The South did not invent gravy they just put in on everything. Gravy needs to at least coat a spoon. So the Red-eyed gravy I make is a little more complex and tastes a lot better than ham fat and coffee.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED. (serves 4)

For the Gravy
1 cup chopped prosciutto
5 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons of flour
1 small onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cup half and half or milk
1 cup brewed strong coffee
1 cup beef broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Frog Legs
8-10 pairs of frog legs depending on their size.
2 ½ cups Flour
1 cup Fine Corn Meal
2 Large eggs beaten
Salt
Pepper
Smoked Paprika (optional)
Oil for frying

Start by making the red-eyed gravy.

Prosciutto is leaner than bacon or even country ham, the pork of choice in the South. So I place the chopped prosciutto in a fry pan with a couple of tablespoons of butter and cook for about 10 minutes over a medium heat. Remove the prosciutto and set aside. Add butter into the pan to bring the amount of fat up to 3 Tablespoons. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the 3 tablespoons of flour to the pan and stir to make a roux. Cook until a golden brown. Now add the coffee and the half and half. Stir to blend all the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil stirring often. Return the cooked prosciutto to the pan, reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes. Using half and half and cooking this long is going to make a very thick gravy. I used a cup of beef broth to thin it somewhat. It was still thick. Using milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2 and cooking less time will make a thinner sauce. Give the gravy a taste and add additional salt of pepper if needed. Remember the Prosciutto is very salty so don’t add salt before after cooking the gravy.

While the sauce is simmering you can prepare the frog legs. The Legs will usually come in pairs so separate them and pat dry with paper towel. Set out 3 pans or bowels. One for 1 cup of plain flour, one for the 2 beaten eggs, and one for the rest of the flour mixed with the cornmeal and seasoned with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.

Roll the Frog legs in the plain flour then dip into the beaten egg … let the excess drip off then dredge them in the seasoned flour and corn meal and place on a rack to dry. Depending on how much of the seasoned flour coats the legs you may notice that they look moist. You can double dip if you like. In the South people like to double dip, double batter anything that’s fried. You end up with more breading than meat. Of course this is one way to stretch your meal as flour and corn meal is cheaper than meat.

Put about 2 inches of cooking oil in a cast iron skillet and heat to a temperature of 350. Put the Frog Legs into the grease and cook about 6 minutes turning occasionally making sure not to burn them.

Transfer the cooked legs to a rack while you finish cooking the rest of the legs.

Allow 4 legs (2 pair) per person.

NOTE: A cast iron skillet is the best for frying. Oil temperature is best between 350 – 370 degrees. If the oil is not hot enough the breading will absorb too much grease and if it’s too hot you’ll have nice crispy coating with under cooked meat underneath. Also do not crowd the frying pan, this too will make for a soggy coating. How do you know when the oil is hot enough? I’ll place a wooden skewer or wooden chopstick in the oil. If the oil is hot enough bubbles will show up around the wood and rise to the surface. If the wood burns it’s too hot, if the bubbles aren’t rising it’s not hot enough. I’ve also heard that putting in a kernel of popcorn into the oil. When the temperature is 350 degrees the kernel will pop.

CAUTION: I can’t stress enough not to look into the skillet or even stand close to it as HOT oil will fly out of the pan when the kernel pops. This is also true when frying the frog legs. Sometimes moisture is released from the meat and the water will create a pop and a splatter.

Note: A really fancy way to make fried frog legs (but wasteful) is “Frenching the Legs.” No really, that’s what they call it. Check out this video. How to French a Frog leg: 

Ciao For Now
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