My morning routine is to stumble downstairs, make lots of coffee, check my e-mail (yes, I am obsessive), and then go on-line to read the Post and the Times. Don likes to read the paper newspaper. But I like to read the newspaper on-line because I never know where it will take me.
This morning a link from Tom Sietsema's discussion on over-hyped food trends led me to Regina Schrambling's blog on Epicurious. One recent post discusses how to preserve basil (she claims to keep basil a week by putting stems/roots in a jar with water and covering with a grocery bag). Another post discusses her take on Creamy Potato Salad, Light on the Mayo.
So, what are you doing with your potatoes?
I've been using my bigger potatoes to make homemade french fries with the Cook's Illustrated cold oil method. Slice them fry sized and squared -- a good way to do this is to shave about and 1/8th an inch off each side and the top and bottom -- then slice into rectangles about 1/2 inch thick and slice those rectangles into fries. Place these in a large, nonreactive pot (I use my big cast iron pot -- love it). Cover them with your favorite frying oil -- veg or peanut -- and cover them by a lot. Put a splatterguard on top and raise the heat to high. Let the oil come to a boil (this gets scary, and I always manage to do it when two year olds are running around the kitchen). Let it boil (but not so much that it foams over the top) for fifteen minutes -- then stir. From now on, keep an eye on the fries, stirring every once in a while. They cold cook another 15 minutes (or as little as five). When they look done, scoop out carefully and place on a tray with paper towel on it to drain. Salt right away, and eat as soon as possible. You can hold them in a warm overn (warmed, then switched off), but they are best eaten as soon as you can after they come out of the oil.
ReplyDeleteSmash potatoes are my favorite dish, I mean some rice, a steak, the smashed potatoes, and some tomatoes make the perfect meal.
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