Fried Radishes

There are so few things left to discover in the culinary world, it seems. Short of taking the Anthony Bourdain route and tasting cuisine from far off lands, Western cuisine has been pretty much tapped out. But what's amazing is that ingredients well know to us can be rearranged and prepared in endless varieties, and new discoveries abound if you think about trying different combinations.

Case in point here. Frying radishes is something that never occurred to me. But with a New Year's promise to trim the waistline, and return to a "good carb" eating style, I was looking for an accompaniment to a couple of well-marbled strip steaks that I had already decided to pan-fry. I thought about doing something with radishes as a salad. Then I ran across a couple of Internet posts by people who had fried them, and swore it was like eating fried potatoes. Since potatoes in any form is an ingredient forbidden to me by resolution, I was intrigued and decided to try them.

Absolutely amazing! They were a perfect accompaniment to a couple of pan seared steaks. Cooked a good long while, much longer than potatoes would have taken, the radishes took on a golden brown color and even the red skins added to the illusion of eating fried new potatoes. This will be the new gold standard as a substitute for all kinds of fried potato recipe: Radishes O'Brien, Hash Brown Radishes, Radish Lyonnaise....you name it.

My first venture with this was prepared in the Lyonnaise style.

Ingredients
1 pound radishes
1 small onion, diced
2 tbsp dried parsley
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

The Recipe
Cut the tops and root ends off the radishes and ensure they're well washed. Slice them thinly, about 1/8- inch thick. This means you'll get about five-six slices to a typical radish.

Melt the butter over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Heat until shimmering, then saute the onion until translucent, about five minutes. Add the radishes.

Turn the radishes frequently and cook until they take on a golden brown color, about 40 minutes, maybe longer. Add the dried parsley at the end, but stir well to incorporate into the radishes and onions.