I've been making versions of these since my second kitchen job, as Tersiguel's, over two decades ago. When I made them there, we actually used a ground Arborio rice breading that I ended up incorporating into a lot of my recipes. In fact since that restaurant, I've almost always made these at some point for every restaurant I've worked in. They are fairly simple and extremely versatile. They can be used as a garnish, a component to a salad, a topping for a steak, etc. I don't generally fry at home, mainly because I don't eat that much fried food, but if you are inclined to home fry, these are stellar.
If you have a home fryer you can just set it to 350 and once heated, fry from there. If you do not have a temperature controlled fryer, it's helpful to have a high heat thermometer and bring the oil to 350 to get the proper results. The only caveat to them is they don't hold crispy too long when you make them. Like a day or two at max, so you want to make them in smaller batches rather than a lot at once. There are lots of variations that you can do with these, from the thickness you cut it to, the flavor you marinated it in, as well as the breading you make, as well as the oil you use while frying.
Ingredients
Marinade
Shallots, peeled, sliced, medium 3 ea
Buttermilk 16 oz
Avenue Spice 1 T
Hot Sauce (tapatio, tabasco, etc.) 1 T
Breading
Cornstarch 1/2 cup
Flour* 2 cups
Avenue Spice 1 T
Frying Oil, canola or other 1 Qt**
Salt to season
*if you want a gluten free version you can substitute rice flour
**when using a smaller amount of oil you need to fry in batches, you could use more and fry once, but then you would be using twice the oil.
Method of Procedure
Mix your buttermilk, avenue spice, and hot sauce together.
If you have a mandolin, that is the easiest way to get a uniform slice. If not use a sharp knife and make thin slices on the shallots.
Once the shallots are sliced, mix them up so the rings of the shallots are no longer connected and place into the marinade for at least 24 hours*.
Mix all your breading together.
Pull the amount of shallots you want to fry out of the marinade and let drain.
Toss the drained shallots with your breading to get an even coating.
Bring your frying oil to 350 degrees in a 3 qt sauce pan**.
Once the oil is hot add your breaded shallots and let fry. Make sure you don't overcrowd the pan, so a wider based pan gives you more room.
Let cook while stirring occasionally with a METAL slotted spoon. Once the shallots are golden brown pull them out with your slotted spoon and place them on a plate with a paper towel on it to absorb the oil.
Lightly season with salt.
*You can go longer but if you go over 48 hours you risk the acid in the buttermilk breaking down the shallots and they will no longer be crispy when you fry them.
**The actual size isn't important, you just want to make sure that you are giving yourself sufficient space when frying. You want to avoid splattering
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