Italian Fries

So, I know I said no posts until after I got back from Adam's graduation, but I feel bad that I have been promising these attempted and failed fries for a long time and haven't ponied up yet. So, here they are. If you remember, I made them when some friends came over for burgers, but didn't allow enough time for them to cook, and didn't have enough/the right kind of cheese. I will try them again and hope you will too.

Ingredients:
6-7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and slicked into 1/3 inch-thick French fry-style strips, soaked in cold salted water.
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon dried Italian herbs or some combo of dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, and basil
2 cups freshly grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup fresh parley leaves, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons salted butter, cut up into 6 cubes
Salt and pepper

Directions:
-Preheat the over to 400 degrees.
-Drain the potatoes and pat dry with paper towels. Spread 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil on each of 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread out the potatoes. Overlapping is fine.
-Sprinkle the dried herbs evenly over the potatoes. Liberally spread the cheese and parley on top. Drizzle the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over the cheese. Scatter the cubed butter around the pans.
-Bake until the potatoes are golden brown, rotating the pans after 30 minutes, for 45 to 50 minutes total. Use a spatula to lift off the potatoes with all the crusy cheese adhered to them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

The photo is taken from the book. Mine did not look nearly this good.

This recipe is from the cookbook Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  It's a cookbook on how to make food for a bunch of boys.  Maybe it's because I think sweater vests are the cutest thing in the world, but I've always seen myself as more of a boy mom.   Maybe I'm just kidding myself and will suck at throwing footballs and dealing with broken things.  However, Faye was nice enough to get this for me for Christmas.  It's more tips on how to make enough food for cheap and easy things your boys can cook for themselves.  With 3 boys in her house, I bet Faye would have liked this book.  I think it will get used more often once we start expanding our family.  But until then, we'll keep trying easy side dishes from the book.

To remind myself of things to post, allow me to give you a preview of things to come.
Bagels
Whole wheat pita pockets
Spanish rice
Hummus (hopefully we'll be making that soon.)