Apologies to those who want me to get straight to the food commentary. (Although it’s becoming apparent that I’m always kind of long-winded when it comes to writing about food, isn’t it?) Feel free to jump past this section, of course.
To all you others, lately I’ve been loving…
- Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, lemon and blueberry fro-yo to be exact. I had the pleasure of trying the salted caramel flavor this weekend, and while it was delicious and pleasantly salty, the lemon was stunning. Luckily the recipe can be found online.
- Niagara grapes, a replacement to the Muscats I can’t get on this coast.
- The perfect wedding ring has been found. It was love at first sight; I was mesmerized by the shine and didn’t want to take it off.
- The Book Thief may fall in the YA category, but it was so creative and lovingly written. Apparently, 1,249 people agreed, yowza.
- Fashion Week street style. I can’t help loving the grand display those fashion insiders put on twice a year.
- Jeanne Damas. Specifically, I love her hair. So much so, I was inspired to carve out a set of bangs for myself the other day. It soon became clear that I’m rusty in the bangs-cutting department. They turned out shorter than I would’ve liked. A LOT shorter, and crooked too. This is why there are professionals to do this sort of thing—but surely I’m not the only person in the world staunchly opposed to forking over money simply to get my bangs cut?
And the latest Pinterest love:
- This photo pretty much captures love, don’t you think?
- The perfect wedding takes place in the forests of Northern California. (I want a forest wedding!)
- This wedding veil is utterly romantic. I must get it.
- One of my favorite food photos as of late. It is so moody and evocative.
On to today’s recipe. Chris and I got home famished, after an afternoon rummaging through the Brooklyn Flea. I remembered that we had been given a bunch of potatoes, big dusty Idahos, that had been sitting on the counter for awhile. We hardly ever have potatoes in the house, because neither of us really like them except when they’re deep-fried.
So that’s what I decided to do. I whipped up a batch of these matchstick fries in no time, doused them in salt, pulled out a couple beers from the fridge, and suddenly, happy hour had been transported home with us. Minus the lack of seats.
MATCHSTICK FRIES
Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil
1 Idaho potato, peeled
Salt
Directions:
Slice the potato into matchsticks of about 1/8″ thick. You can use a mandoline, but I just hand-slicked without too much difficulty.
Heat about 1/2-inch of oil on medium heat in a medium saucepan with steep sides.
When the oil starts to shimmer, gently drop enough potatoes in the pan so it’s full but not overcrowded (overcrowding will cause the potatoes to stick together). Cook until they turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. Continue cooking batches until you run out of potatoes.
Serve with your favorite condiments. Chris likes them as simple as can be, amply salted, and I like them with ketchup.
Homemade fries are the best- especially because you get to enjoy them piping hot.
I love it when fries are piping hot, especially steak fries (which I realize are the opposite of matchsticks, but no matter).
Look at those teeny crunchy guys! I would love to throw a handful of these beautiful fries on top of a big bowl of soup. The perfect garnish1
You know, that is a REALLY good idea.
Wow! What a beautiful wedding ring. I’ve never seen anything like it. Good choice with that one. And I saw that picture of “love” when you pinned it… so nice. Pinterest is great for those kinds of things–the things that have just that right sort of mood and feeling.
And matchstick fries! I really only prefer my potato deep-fried, too, (although Waylon has turned me on to pan-fried potatoes heavy with spices) but I’ve never tried them at home. Now I’ve got a new project to try one day!
The ring is GORGEOUS. But I later realized I would feel silly wearing it and my engagement ring together, so I’d have to choose one or the other, and it would be a disservice to both. These kinds of considerations are very important, haha.
So are you not going to go with it then?! I want to see what your engagement ring looks like! And yes ha, this is a dangerously important consideration.
Will describing it work? Okay, let’s see… there’s a round diamond perched high atop a white gold band, held in place by six prongs. (pretty standard-sounding so far). The part I love about it is the band, which is hand-engraved on top and on the sides—it’s gorgeous! Kind of a vintage-inspired look, and very me. Anyway, I feel like any wedding ring I get should be flat so it doesn’t compete with the stone, do you know what I mean?
I love these little fries. They are the main reason I frequent the Steak and Shake restaurant. Might have to try them at home.
I’ve never heard of Steak and Shake before, but I agree! Good french fries are totally a reason to repeatedly frequent a restaurant.
Can I use some of the content from your site on mine? I will make sure to link back to it
Thanks for asking Stacy. Yes, totally fine but please do link back.
Try cooking these up in duck fat. Absolutely wonderful!
Hi, I tried making these fries a few days ago and they were a hit! I didn’t cut them as narrow as yours but they cooked up great anyway, thanks for the recipe!
Ooh, your fries turned out wonderfully! Glad you found inspiration from my recipe, Li.