Cuisses de Grenouille aux Fines Herbes, aka Fried Frogs' Legs

I took a photo similar to this (or one of the photos below, I forget) with my dumb-phone and sent it to a friend. She laughed and said I was going to be eating frog asses. True, it's not for everyone.

Direct from the tome of cooking knowledge known as Larousse Gastronomique, here's how the recipe is printed:

Season the prepared frogs' legs with salt and pepper and dip them in flour (or in egg and breadcrumbs). Saute them in butter or olive oil in a shallow frying pan (skillet) for 7-10 minutes over a brisk heat. Drain, and arrange in a heated serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and lemon juice. If they were cooked in butter, pour it over them; otherwise use maitre de butter. Serve with boiled potatoes.

And now my take on it:

Cuisses de Grenouille aux Fines Herbes
adapted from Larousse Gastronomique

click to print

1.5 lbs frog legs
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 c flour for dredging
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
lemon, cut into wedges

Season the prepared frog legs with salt and pepper and dredge them in flour.

Saute them in butter in a skillet for 7-10 minutes over medium-high heat.

Drain, and arrange place on a dish plate. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and lemon juice. If you used enough butter that there'd be any left in the skillet, as in more than what I used, pour the butter over the legs.

Serve with steamed rice and broccoli.

And kimchi if you have it.

While the legs looked pretty, they turned out rubbery. Had many of the calf muscles not detached from their respective shin bones indicating overcooking, I'd have blamed the texture on the length of time the legs were in my freezer: a long time. The rice, broccoli, and kimchi were tip-top though, much better than any boiled potatoes would be.

Would I do this again? Oh yes, definitely, though with a reduced cook-time and certainly fresher legs. Why mess around? I've had excellent, crave-inducing frog legs in the past and to be conquer that here would be quite satisfying, in more way than one.

Cost:

• frog legs: $7.73

I'm going with a lazy out on that one, stopping there.

Frog Legs

I picked up this package of frog legs many moons ago. And because I didn't find a recipe I really thought would wow me, I put them in the freezer and forgot about them completely. The new directive to myself, to rotate frozen items, caused me to remove the legs from my freezer to thaw in the refrigerator a couple days.

I was shocked to see how old these "flog" legs were. Flipping through my grocery lists, I see I bought them at the end of November last year. Anyone know how long the frog legs stay good when frozen? I certainly do not.

After removing the plastic wrap and the container lid, I was surprised to see that the leg pairs were individually bagged.

I rinsed them and put them on paper towel to drain. They were quite white meat-ish in appearance and fortunately, I didn't see signs of freezer burn.

Hopefully, the legs are still good. Only one way to find out. The Cook is goin' guinea pig.

Frog legs available at your local Korean market, such as HMart, for $4.99/lb.

If you're interested, here's a couple of excerpts from Larousse Gastronomique. But first, "frog" in French is "grenouille." Just an FYI.

Certain species are edible, but only the leg meat. Frogs' legs were regarded as a tasty dish in the Middle Ages, particularly during Lent.

The delicate flavour of the meat is enhanced by seasoning, and frogs' legs are often prepared with herbs, garlic, and chopped parsley. They are also made into blanquettes, soups, omelettes, and mousselines and can be found fried or sauteed.

Well, la dee da. I found my recipe.