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Marinaded Frog's Legs, Fried
Cut away feet from one and a half pounds fresh frogs' legs. Place in a small stone jar and cover with half vinegar and half water, adding one branch parsley, one sliced onion, one crushed bean garlic, a sprig thyme and one bay leaf, mix well and let infuse in a cool place one hour. Drain on a cloth, roll in flour, place in a frying basket, shake a little, then plunge in boiling fat and fry eight minutes. Lift up, sprinkle half teaspoon salt over them, dress on a hot dish with a folded napkin, decorate with six quarters lemon and a little parsley greens and serve.
A straightforward French fry-up that needs only a few translations and one correction to the timing.
- Eight minutes is too longFrogs' legs are thin and cook through in about three to four minutes in properly hot fat; eight will dry the meat to cotton and darken the flour coating. Fry until the crust is pale gold and the meat pulls easily from the bone.
- Fat temperature"Boiling fat" is best read today as fat in the region of 350-375F. Much below that the flour absorbs grease; much above it the coating colours before the legs are done. Fry in two or three batches so the temperature does not crash.
- A crushed bean garlicA single clove, crushed. "Bean" is probably a literal-minded rendering of the French gousse, which covers both a pod or seed-case and a garlic clove.
- The stone jarA glazed stoneware crock, used because it does not react with vinegar. Any glass or ceramic bowl serves; avoid bare aluminium or cast iron with an acidic marinade.
- Don't extend the marinadeThe hour in half vinegar is short for a reason. Left longer, the acid can begin to firm and whiten the flesh in the way of a ceviche.
- Drying matters"Drain on a cloth" is the hinge of the recipe. Wet legs steam inside the flour and shed their coating in the fat. Pat them thoroughly dry, then flour just before frying.
- Buying themFrozen legs, usually farmed and imported, are what is generally available; thaw fully and dry well, as they carry a good deal of water. One and a half pounds of legs, bone in, serves three or four as a first course.
- The folded napkinA period service convention: a cloth napkin folded on the platter absorbs frying fat and keeps the legs from sitting in it. A rack or paper does the same job with less laundry.
Frogs' legs came to American tables with strong French associations, and this treatment — a short acidulated marinade with parsley, thyme, bay and onion, then flour and deep fat — is the standard cuisses de grenouilles frites of the professional kitchen, served with lemon and fried parsley. The phrasing is often attributed to Alexander Filippini, who spent decades at Delmonico's in New York, and the folded napkin and lemon quarters are the tell: this is service-side plating transcribed for the home. Native American bullfrogs supported a real commercial trade in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly around Louisiana and the Midwestern river country, before wild harvests declined and farmed and imported legs took over the market.