Playing With Our European Food

This summer, my husband and I took the trip of a lifetime and toured around Europe.  We did the Railpass thing with our backpacks, and even stayed in a few hostels along the way.  But the main thing that really stood out to us was the food.  We had a great time trying all the local specialties and enjoying the sometimes novel presentation of favorite foods.  Take a look at a few snapshots from our trip:

These flower shaped ice cream cones came from Amorino.  We loved the fun presentation.

This was a delicious meal in Austria that we ate on a terrace.  You will have to imagine the accordion players in the background.

This was me trying the (surprisingly tasty) lentils cooked in bacon lard.  In my hand is a glass of new wine.  We were in a wine garden outside Vienna.

Here is the special cake the folks at Princess Cruises made us for our anniversary dinner.  Happy 7 years of marriage to us!

This is a waffle that Bryan got at one of the Greek isles.  He said it was delicious.

Here we are outside the vatican with our tremendous ice cream cones.

Pizza was a must in Italy.

We also had sandwiches.

And big sandwiches on crusty baguettes.  This and the next two dishes were in Carcassonne, France.

Bryan's artfully arranged salad.

 My more down to earth cassoulet.

And of course, we had to try the local wine.

And Bryan even got to BBQ for us while we were away.

Hope you enjoyed this little "taste" of our trip to Europe!

Crispy Homemade French Fries

So, I wanted to make up some homemade french fries for my friends the other day.  I went to my trusty blog (which mostly functions as a handy recipe book, these days) and searched "fries."  Unfortunately for me, it turns out I never did that post I meant to about how to make the perfect, crispy, delicious batch of homemade fries like I thought I had.  So here it is now, for all of you (and me, next time I want it -lol).

First take the potato of your choosing.  Yes, the humble spud.  My husband is partial to Yukon Golds, so that is what I will be using in this post.

Cut up your potatoes into thin strips.  (Leave the peels on.)  Put them in cold water, and rinse them until the water runs clear. 

Pat them dry with a paper towel.

Heat your oil to 350 degrees, and lower a small amount of potato slices in.  Make sure they are fully covered.  Stir them, if using the stove.  If using a basket and a deep fryer, give the basket a shake occasionally so they don't stick together.  Fry them for five minutes.

Bring them up and try to dismiss the visions of McMinamin's greasy, floppy fries from your mind.  We aren't done here.

Let the oil drain a bit, and then put them on a baking tray and put them in an oven heated to 200 degrees to keep them warm, while you fry up other small batches of fries.  

If you are only making 20 or so fries, you can skip this step.  But don't overfill your fry basket in order to not have to heat the oven.  You want your fries to have hot oil on all sides, not other potato pieces slapped up against them! 

Continue frying small patches of up and adding them to the tray.  Then heat your oil up some more.  Preferably 425 degrees, or if your fryer only goes to 375 degrees like mine, just crank it all the way up. Dip them in there for two more minutes.

Dab them off again with paper towels.  Add salt.

Maybe not quite this much salt:

But look how crunchy and divine these look!

A little ketchup, and you are good to go.

If you are the skeptical or scientific type, take a look at The Burger Lab's post about why we double fry them.  Also, the recipe is from the same guys, and can be found here.

Enjoy!

101st Bento Bite - Featuring Garden Spuds

Here is bento 101:

Contents:

• PB&J
• pasta salad
• oven-roasted potatoes (that I grew in my own garden!)

A word about the spuds: I dug them out of the ground a few days ago so that I could get ready to plant my veggie garden for this year. This is what I would call procrastination at its best!

Oh, and I made a little flower out of sliced almonds and a bit of raisin:

That's all.

Happy bento!

Oven-roasted Red Potatoes

Potatoes. Is there anyone that doesn't like them?

They are a staple at our dinner table, that's for sure. So when I saw the Spuds-We-Like post over at Passionate About Baking I was happy to see a new recipe for a beloved ingredient. I was surprised to find that 2008 had been named the "International Year of the Potato" by none other than the United Nations. Amused by the Ode to Potato event going on over at Monsoon Spice, I decided to do my part and spread the spud love.

I chose red potatoes prepared our favorite way... oven-roasted.

First start with a generous amount of red potatoes (I usually prepare about three per person, depending on the size - of the potato, not the person) rinsed. Place them in a microwave-safe bowl.

Slice them up...

...into bite-sized chunks.

Place them back in the bowl. Stick them in the microwave for 6-9 minutes, and gather your favorite spices. These are what I use:

And parsley. But if you've run out of parsley from the shaker, just run out to your garden and cut some off. That's what I had to do. (Crazy that a fresh herb in my mind is a substitution rather than "the real thing.")

Chop it up.

Now add a little olive oil and toss the potatoes in it until they are coated.

I added the parsley at this point too. But you can wait if you want.

Spray your baking sheet with non-stick spray, and put the taters on there in one even layer.

Pick up one of your favorite spices and start shaking.

Starting to look good, but they need more. Grab another spice and go for it!

How about some onion flavor, yum! (Just don't tell Bryan I'm adding onion.)

Now we're talkin'!

Now, stop staring at your spuds, and preheat the oven to 375* or something.

Put your tray of potatoes in there and be prepared to be patient. The microwaving will have softened the middle a bit, so if you are in a hurry you can rush them a bit by using the broiler after they've only baked for 10 minutes or so. But if you have the time, leave them in there 20 or 30 minutes.

When they are hot and crispy-brown like this, they are ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Bunny Bento

"What is that?" one of the boys from the table next to me in the cafeteria asked, watching, with furrowed brows as I raised the chopsticks to my mouth.

"What?" I glanced up to see a handful of pre-teen boys looking at me.

"That purple stuff... what is it?"

"Garlic mashed potatoes." I answered, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to be eating potatoes the hue of my utensils in the center of a middle school cafeteria.


I'm beginning to think that I may be developing an unhealthy bento obsession. I was almost late today because I felt I should add whiskers to my lunch bunny. I literally looked at the clock and thought, "It would be okay to be a little late... Wait, what am I thinking? I can make another bunny (with whiskers) some other day; I better get going!"

So here is a close-up of my bunny, sans whiskers:

Contents of bento #38:

• 3 rice onigiri hand formed into head and two ears.
• Nori eyes and nose
• "Hot Shot" seasoning mouth
• Garlic mashed potatoes tinted purple
• carrot made of, um... carrot
• carrot stem made of broccoli
• 3 ham slices, skewered on a toothpick

I have entered this bento in Feisty Bento's contest: Does this make my lunch look phat?