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.)

I Found Them

Here is the actual recipe for the potato things. I was way off. This is what ours looked like without the vegetables. We were bad that night. Also, I forgot to dredge the chicken. But, it was good just the way we made it.

Ingredients

• Vegetable spray
• 2 large russet potatoes, roughly peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 8 muffin tins with vegetable spray. Layer potato slices, cheese, and onions into each muffin cup. Season with salt and pepper and top each gratin with 1 or 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Cover with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, removing the foil halfway through cooking time. Invert gratins onto plate and serve.

I Did It!

I think I may have had my first cooking experience. All I do is follow a recipe and that is not that difficult. But I think last night could have fallen under the category of thinking up a yummy food and then making it with almost no direction at all!

While in Colorado, I was watching an old episode of "The Next Food Network Star". This show finds a new host of their own Food Network show. It was the winner reveal, so we got to see the pilot episodes of the two finalists. I was glad I caught it because I had wanted to see Melissa's dinner again (I saw it this summer). She made her four step chicken which I then attempted last night. You fry the chicken and then saute some red onions. When they are soft, add chicken stock to make a sauce and pour it and the onions on top of the chicken. It was pretty good. The wonderfulness of this recipe is that you can substitute for any meat, veggie, and liquid. It's a good quick meal.

Where the actual cooking experience comes in was with Melissa's potato poppers. She gives a quick explanation of potatoes in a muffin tin with cheese. So I decided to try it out. Here is what I did.

Grease up a muffin tin pan

Peel and clean a potato

Cut off one end and then slice some thin circles for the bottom of your tins

Cut it in half length wise so when you cut, you get half circles

Cut this slices of potato so it can wrap around a muffin tin

Get a good layer around each tin

Put in the oven at 375 for about ten minutes

Put mozz and cheddar cheese on top and put back in oven

Take them out when potatoes are crispy around edges and cheese is cooked

They turned out okay. I would put some pepper or garlic on them next time. And I totally guessed on the timing and heat of the oven. So try at your own risk, or try to find one on the internet. I'm sure it's out there. But I was quite excited to share my first cooking experience with you.