Saturday, February 19, 2011

Springtime...

The weather broke in Charlotte. Not that we've had weather anything LIKE the rest of the country. During the winters here, the weather "breaks" every 24 to 48 hours, leaving us never too weary of "winter."

But it was chilly. I know I did a run or two when the temps were in the teens, and, frankly? That was cold.

But now, there's that soft air everywhere. And what did I see when I pulled up to the farmers' market today? Herbs.

And since my window box, the only garden I get in this apartment, got pushed to the side and relatively forgotten (hm. Not relatively. Let's just go with forgotten.), I knew what I had to do.

I bought chives, oregano, dill, basil, thyme, rosemary and mint.

It's a good start.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Fries Done Right


So. One of the things I don't eat often is French fries. Fried food in general. But I've entered the world of fry snobbery because NOW I will eat fries, but only if they are hand cut from potatoes IN the restaurant and fried. It's been one way of cutting down, because frozen-then-fried fries just don't cut it any longer.

It's one of the reason I love Five Guys. Those FRIES.

So recently, I figured, I'd make my own. It is SO not hard, guys, and it is SO inexpensive. I may have only cut up one, maybe two big Idaho potatoes. I peeled these, but man, you don't even have to do that.

Here's what you do. Cut potatoes into strips. I used my plastic mandolin (SO ready for an upgrade, btw) to get them pretty uniformly cut.

I happen to own a fryer, which I bought when I cooked for Guy Fieri's segment at the Super Bowl last year (had to name drop)...Just a Fry Daddy. Plug in, let heat up.

Lay cut potatoes out on paper toweling or dish towels and blot as dry as possible. Then fry in batches (because you'll overflow the oil if you don't. Just trust me on that one.) until they are just past the white color--taking a bit--a bit--of gold onto them. Remove, drain. Repeat for all cut fries.

Let oil heat up fully again. Then fry each batch a second time until they are golden and crunchy and delicious. Salt. Eat. In fact, eat these guilt free, because 1)You, too, should be ruined for life and give up all other fries except "real" fries, as I call them...and 2)It isn't like you're going to haul out a fryer every day or two to make these. (Okay, you shouldn't, because you just shouldn't eat fries every day or two!)

I am pretty sure Sam thought they were some of the best fries ever.
I know I think they are.

Now go indulge. And give up all other fries, because they are just not worth it. These? These ARE.