Deep Fried Ice Cream in the Smokey Mountains

In the small town of Franklin, NC there's a restaurant call Thai Paradise with a view unlike any other.  It's surrounded by the Great Smokey Mountains but what really makes Thai Paradise unique is the dessert they serve.  For a Thai joint it's unheard of for them to serve deep fried ice cream.  

I was brought back to the kitchen to see how the deep fried ice cream is constructed.  It's very simple actually, all they do is scooped up very hard frozen ice cream then batter it and deep fry it until the batter is cooked to a golden crispy brownness.  It's then plated with any of your favorite toppings.  In this case I had it drizzled with chocolate sauce, whip cream and of course the cherry on top.  You'll get the experience of biting into something very warm and crunchy then with the gooey coldness of the ice cream on the inside.  A great seesaw combination of texture and temperature differences.

Further down the road i spotted a small bar and grill call the Cajun Connection.  Of course when you hear the word Cajun you think of alligators and crabs.  Pressed with time, I had to ordered the alligator bites and blue crab chowder to go.  The alligator bites were battered and served with a sweet spicy Cajun sauce.  For those who says alligator taste like chicken, you are dead wrong.  If it's fresh and cooked right you can taste the swamp with a hint of seafood flavor.  And of course who could resist blue crab chowder.  Just imagine yourself eating clam chowder then multiplying it by 900 times to experience that sweet, flaky, chunky and richness flavor.

Although all the food I've sample in Franklin, NC was divine, it doesn't beat the road trip to get there.  Franklin is a small town nestled west of the state below the valley of the Great Smokey Mountains.  In order to get there you must survive the famous squiggly winding road called the Dragon's Tail.  It starts far east of Tennessee then cuts it's way through the heart of the Smokey Mountains.  Over fifty winding turns, It runs along side the ever spectacular Smokies and the Ochee river which literally hugs the winding road.  The road will ascend you to a ravishing view atop the peak of the mountain where you can snap breathtaking photos of the velvet sky then descend you to a euphoric-like feeling towards the valley of Franklin, NC.  If you look carefully when you are at the peak, you can see the town of Franklin down below just like the hidden valley ranch signature logo.  We were lucky enough to reached the peak right before sunset to witness the radiant morphing of the sky.