Saturday, February 27, 2010

Fried Frog Eyes

Mmm. Frog Eyes. Okay, these aren't really frog eyes. If you can't tell from the photo, they don't even look like a frog eye. Truth be know, I had a room-mate in college named Tara (ironically not Evil Tara who we have met on several occasion here on the blog) whose family used to make a sweet dessert jello and whip cream salad that hosted this pasta, and they called it "frog eye salad". If you make frog eye salad, I would love the recipe. I've heard it is really something delightful. Y'all know I'm an all American girlie raised in Utah that is known as the Jello Capital of the USA. Yes, more jello per-ca pita than any other state in the union. I don't make it very often. I think we made it every Sunday dinner at my grandma's house. Always orange jello with shredded carrots and covered in Dream Whip. Dang. Who makes Dream Whip? As for the "frog eyes", somehow that name stuck in my head for the pasta. We don't make the salad. Our family favorite is in fact a savory side dish. Tell two boys that you are having frog eyes for dinner and watch them do a full dance of joy. You might not get that reaction from a house full of girls.
Meet my lovely Kermit peepers.

I have discovered I love it as a side dish cooked very similar to rice pilaf with some good broth, herbs and spices.
Kermit Peeper Pilaf
1 lb Acini di pepe pasta, uncooked
2T butter
1T minced garlic
2tsp Chef Tess all purpose seasoning
32 0z (4 cups) beef or vegetable broth

Directions:
In a 2 quart skillet with a tight fitting lid, saute the pasta in the butter until very well browned, about 7 minutes, stir frequently. Add garlic and seasoning the last minute or so. Carefully pour in the broth, cover and simmer 8-10 minutes until pasta is tender and absorbs all the liquid. Serve hot.

I serve it with lovely Sweet and Sour Polynesian style red beans. They make a lovely dish that my family really enjoys. Shhh. Don't tell them how budget friendly it is...they may not want to eat it any more.







Bean recipe coming up later this week. There you go my flying Kermit-peeper eaters.
*No frogs where harmed in the making of this blog post.

7 comments:

Mom2BJM(Amy) said...

Yes, we were ones who had frog eye salad, complete with mandarin oranges, coconut, and marshmallows... I will see if I can find the recipe later today. But, I have never thought of using the pasta for savory! Sounds good! I have a box somewhere, I think!

Goob said...

Acini de Pepe means "Frog Eyes", or so I've been told. I'm pretty sure that Mary Snow has the recipe for Frog Eye salad, I know I had it in Burlington, and I know it WAS yum!

Jacquee said...

recipe sounds fabulous! But just so you know, in our house "Kermit's Peeper" would refer to something else entirely... :-)

Anonymous said...

This sounds yummy! Although I am a huge fan of frog eye salad! I will have to dig out my recipe for you later.

Kathy said...

I have the recipe for frog's eye salad and I would love to share it with you. :D

Chef Tess said...

Recipes! Yes!! Lisa,wow, see, I learn something new every day! Jaquee...Kermit's Peeper...hee hee. Oh my gosh! I must be living with old folks too long. In the 50's it meant "eyes". Of course, this is the same older generation that called "information" "poop". Had to correct Mr. Putt Putt a couple of times. "Sorry Dad, you can't tell me you're out of poop...it makes me giggle."

Chef Tess said...

Coby thanks again for sending me your family recipe! I'm excited to try it out! Okay and Acini de pepe is "peppercorns" in Italian. So, not frog eyes, though I did find if you google Acini de pepe, the first few after the original Italian are frog eye salad recipes...and dang there are a ton of them. I'm using Coby's though.