Revenge is a dish best served cold. And cold french fries suck.

The french fries ought to have taken at least 6 hours.

Recipe:

Fill a big ass bowl filled with ice water with a little lemon juice (1/2 per gallon is good) in it.

Peel and cut russet potatoes into even sized sticks and plop them in the water as you are cutting them. You don't need to be a freak about getting them exactly the same size, but you want to be close. Thickness of each should be approximately that of a medium-sized woman's index finger at the middle knuckle.

Put big ass bowl of ice water, lemon and potatoes in the fridge.

Wait 1-2 hours.

Dump out bowl into a big ass strainer, preferably getting most of the potatoes into the strainer and all of the water into the sink.

Prepare another big ass bowl of ice water. No lemon this time. Put potatoes from the strainer into the bowl.

Put bowl in fridge, wait 1-2 hours.

Do the straining, putting potatoes back in bowl with new ice water one more time and wait 1-2 hours.

Dump potatoes into strainer, then place them on clean dish towels. The potatoes must not be touching so they can dry out.

Heat frying oil to 300 degrees Fahrenheit while you are waiting for the potatoes to dry.

Put small batches of the potatoes into the oil and fry for 4-5 minutes. You will have to pump up the heat to get the temperature of the oil back to 300. Remove each batch from the oil and let drain.

Crank up oil to 400 degrees and fry small batches until they are golden brown. Season each batch with salt as they come out.

Not if i needed to go out find those things spend extra money and time and then come back and had to cook it in special ways taking lots of time etc. I need servants to do that for me then yes i agree i can always do a lot better. But my fries almost done wont be cold in the next 10-15 min of the meal.

Brian thanks for the potatoes process suggested. Looks lengthy and dedicated but i will try it at least once. However, man, you need a ton of patience to do all this. I hope you are not pulling a leg lol. Does the flavor really alter so much to be worth it?

Because i can easily put the potatoes in the oven (and a full chicken) with olive oil and lemon juice and spices and 1:30 h later have great tasting potatoes and also a chicken with it with 1/5th the effort. I do not enjoy cooking as a person. Only the results lol. So how long things take for me is a constraint. Otherwise i have some killer Greek recipes that do indeed take 4-5 hours like eg moussaka, spanakopita (spinach pie with cheese/filo etc ) and rice filled tomatoes/peppers/zuchinni in the oven etc all to die for.

I see a pattern of disagreement regarding what it means to "fry" foods.

It is absolutely worth it. The amount of effort is minimal since you don't have to watch the potatoes sit in the water. You can also let the potatoes soak overnight (and as long as you change the water, they can sit in the water for days). Oh, and do not fry up more than you want to eat immediately.

Anyway, it isn't about the flavor. It is about the texture. The water soaking removes the starch from the outer layer of the potatoes which helps them crisp up nicely. The 300 degree fry allows the inside to soften up to almost a fluffy texture without burning the outside and the 400 degree fry crisps up the outside (and ldo, don't use a low smoking point oil like olive oil).

I'd put the difference in experience somewhere around the difference between freshly squeezed blood orange juice and orange-flavored Metamucil.

Roasted potatoes with chicken is good. I make that a lot. It is just a different thing.

The trick to cooking pan-fried chicken is to get the skin and outside nice and crispy. I use olive oil, some garlic and rosemary and start at low heat, then plop the chicken in, first coating it. Coat the chicken (always use chicken with the skin on) with flour and poultry spices and your own secret ingredients. I have my mixture all made up in a bag and toss in the chicken pieces and coat well. Once the chicken is all in turn up the heat. Crisp both sides of the pieces until golden brown. Then turn down heat and cover (you can cover during crisping also). You can leave the pan open also and use a splatter screen over the pan. I use a large frying pan with a glass cover (that I bought at Sears). Getting the crispy/harder crust on the skin and outside of each piece is key to keeping the juice inside during the first phase and then lowering the heat and finishing the cooking process in phase II.

If you wish add some red wine to the pan during the last bit of cooking. I suggest a good red wine from the Rioja region of Spain. Never cook with crap wine.

Made some today for lunch (sans wine). See below. The chicken is almost as good cold as just out of the pan. I always do enough to have left overs so I can have cold chicken with pickles the next day.



G

I've been doing some chicken experiments starting with a sort of confit technique and then a normal fry.

Some people disdain buying off-the-shelf prepared pancake & waffle mix. But I don't think it is that bad if you just alter what the instructions are and add to it. For example, today I had hungry jack pancake mix, to which I added milk (they say water; never do that) and I also added an egg. Wisp till mixed. Then I add nutmeg power and orange extract. You can also add vanilla instead or use both. Use good vanilla, I suggest getting genuine vanilla produce in Mexico. You will be able tell it is genuine Mexican vanilla because when you take the top off you will hear circus music coming from the container.

Anyway, also adding blueberries will make the pancake taste oodles better. NEVER use frozen fruit. Use fresh. If you do add fruit then, depending on your tastes, leave out the nutmeg and orange extract. Adding vanilla is always good.

Cook on one side until the bubbles deflate and leave an indentation on the surface of the mix. Then flip. Other side will cook faster so watch carefully. If black smoke starts rolling off the pan then best to give that pancake to your dog or the wife, whichever is smarter and/or more affectionate. Sometimes that's hard to tell I know but use your best judgment.

Maple syrup is required, as is real butter, for topping off the flapjack. High-Class Moneyed folks use Pure Lehman's® Grade A Maple Syrup. Working class stiffs use Log Cabin syrup.

Made some baklava today. Since it was just me I used bread in lieu of phyllo dough and peanut butter and sliced bananas in lieu of the nut mixture.

I made some baklava today too. But instead of baklava, I substituted clover honey on wheat toast.

It was in honor of Sriracha winning the local elections and tanking their stock market.

Honey and lemon juice mixed with hot water tastes great. I had assumed it requires some special technique that only grandma knows about, but no, anyone can do it.

Doing a Thai curry for the first time, and I want Madras level hot. The amount of chilli to put in varies from recipe to recipe, and it's not always clear which type of chilli is being used.

How many red Bird's eye to put in put in for a Serves 4 recipe? Seeds left in or taken out?

Leave out the seeds. Unless you are planning a Borgia type meal to serve to your guests.

No more than two chilies per serving so 8 chilies. That sounds like a lot. Cut one open and place it on your tongue as a test of hotness etc. That may help you decide.

Tasty appetizers. Use fresh medallions of mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and fresh garden grown tomatoes. Add ground pepper if so desired. Also you can add small squares of good Prosciutto which really adds to the flavor. Or mix it up so the veggie people and the carnivores can have what they want.

A lighter type of red wine like a Pinot Noir goes well with this. Some like white also, say a Pinot Giorgio. Or even Champagne.

It sounds okay. I want it to be authentic and all.

Managed to **** it up, somehow. Paste wasn't right.

Every time I got interested in something, I got a job working for someone who did it full time. This might not be practical for your circumstances, but it is excellent if you can pull it off.

Soon it will be July 4; a big day in America as we celebrate our break with the ossified old world and cheer the Declaration of Independence. This is done by drinking large quantities of American Beer, eating corn on the cob, and barbequing chunks of flesh. Which brings me to the marinade to use on whatever hunk of flesh (should be beef but pork or chicken works well also) you intend to slap on the BBQ.

Recently I barbequed up some great rib-eye steaks for a family gathering and used a base marinade I really liked called Caribbean Jerk. It has a pleasant spiciness and not too sweet. I add to the marinade out of the jar with other ingredients which is just as important as the base. Proportions to add is up to taste and trial and error but as a useful hint try some: Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, a hot sauce (Tapatío, Cholula, or Louisiana hot sauce), spicy mustard, your favorite BBQ sauce, or even molasses if you like sweetness. Adding juice or a puree of say mangos is also something worth trying, again all depending on your taste.

I just barbequed up some chicken legs after soaking in my special marinade and they turned out great - Almost as great as American turned out. Accompanied by some great American Beer this made for a pleasant evening meal.







Have a great 4th of July!

I like this recipe for jerk chicken.

I love jerk. Whenever I go to my local grocer they have piles of cheap scotch bonnets, and I always get too excited and buy a big bag.

For some reason jerk seasoning is the only thing I can make with them that people aren't put off by the heat. Various curry sauces, stir fry sauces, and BBQ sauces made with the same amount always have the people I cook for huffing and hawing, and reaching for the milk.

So I thinned the beets from my garden and so have beet greens. One of my favorite greens. I cooked them by steaming. I had two servings already and have plenty more in the frig. Excellent and delicious.






Lots of butter is essential. MMM-Good.

It appears that they need a few more hours of cooking.

Zucchini from my garden just came in. Picked them when small, less than a foot. I cubed them and sautéed them with butter and fresh dill and basil from my small herb patch. Simple and absolutely delicious. I could have added some white wine but I don't have any in my rack at the moment. Can't afford it. All the rich and powerful people in the world are stealing my money. And yet I could whip up a nice plate of grub.

Squash are coming on as are the onions and peppers. Should have some shish*to peppers soon. They are very yummy. If you have never tried them do so.

Such a world class dessert.