Recipe

Fly and Fry Float

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This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Soda Fountain Recipe
Chef
linzarella's Notes: This is kind of a quirky recipe. But isn't it some kind of classic childhood tradition to dip french fries in your float? Or did I make that up? The sweet potato fly ("fly" means soda...
This is kind of a quirky recipe. But isn't it some kind of classic childhood tradition to dip french fries in your float? Or did I make that up?

The sweet potato fly ("fly" means soda here) recipe comes from Sandor Katz's "Wild Fermentation."

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Serves 4

Sweet potato fly:

1 teaspoon powdered mace Ask a question about this ingredient

2 large sweet potatoes Ask a question about this ingredient

2 cups sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup whey (easiest way to get it is to strain yogurt through a cheese cloth) Ask a question about this ingredient

3 limes, zested and juiced Ask a question about this ingredient

1 eggshell Ask a question about this ingredient

freshly grated nutmeg, to taste Ask a question about this ingredient

cinnamon, to taste Ask a question about this ingredient

In a small pot, boil 1 cup water with the mace. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
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Grate sweet potatoes on a box grater. Put them in a strainer and rinse under running water to remove some of the starch.
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In a large bowl, combine grated sweet potatoes, 1 gallon of water, sugar, whey, lime juice and zest, and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Clean and crush the eggshell, and add it into the mixture. Then add the cooled boiled mace mixture.
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Stir well to combine, then make an "x" over the bowl with masking tape and place a clean towel on top. Leave in a warm place for 3 days, then strain into glass bottles filled all the way to the top. Seal the bottles tightly, and return them to the warm place for another few days to build up carbonation, then transfer to the fridge. (for a more nuanced discussion of bottling methods, see my kombucha float recipe!)
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Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Sweet Potato Float:

1 sweet potato Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient

2 teaspoons sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

2 teaspoons salt Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon cinnamon Ask a question about this ingredient

sweet potato fly Ask a question about this ingredient

store-bought ginger ice cream Ask a question about this ingredient

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and put a large pan in the oven to preheat. Cut the potatoes into roughly 3" by 1/2" strips. In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes with oil and mix well to coat. Then add sugar, salt, and cinnamon and mix again.
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Take the hot pan out of the oven and spread the sweet potatoes on it in a single layer, making sure they're not too crowded. Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning all the slices after 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before using in the float.
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To make the floats, put a scoop of ice cream into four tall glasses, pour sweet potato fly into each glass, and slip a slice or two or sweet potato fry into each glass. Put the remaining fries in a bowl in the center of the table, and encourage people to dip the fries into their flies as the ice cream melts.
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1 Comment on Fly and Fry Float

Sadassa_Ulna added about 1 year ago

OK this is even cooler than your root beer float, so interesting and fun! I dipped many a fry into a chocolate shake when I was a wee ain . . . you didn't make it up, you just tapped into some collective unconscious of comfort food!