GP's Hot Chips and Homemade Ketchup

These hot chips were EASY and delicious!  I found the recipe on Pinterest ... they are out of Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook.  I didn't follow the measurements at all and reading through the recipe again now, I realize I skipped a couple of steps too ... like peeling and drying the potatoes.  

Here's how I did mine.  I just cut up as many potatoes as fit on my two big baking trays.  I put them in a big bowl of cold water and let them soak for an hour or so. 

Ten minutes before I wanted to cook them, I turned the oven on to 230C/450F

Then I drained the water, added a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a good sprinkle of coarse sea salt.  I shook that around in the bowl, then transferred the potatoes to my baking trays that I had lined with baking paper. 

I baked them in the pre-heated oven until they were golden and cooked through.  The first time it took about 40 minutes, the second time it only took about 30 ... I set my time for 20, stir them and then check them every few minutes after that.

When they come out of the oven, I sprinkle with a bit more coarse sea salt.

  

I've been trying to make some more things from scratch.  You know, eliminating additives and preservatives one at a time.  Last night, I decided to tackle ketchup.  I found this one on pinterest and was pretty happy with the results, although it did have a slight honey taste.  But only very slight.  The whole family liked it.  I have a couple of other ketchup recipes pinned that I want to try though before I decide which one is the best. 

I just realized too that I didn't print (or read through) the recipe completely so I missed the bit about cooling it.  We ate it warm and it was delish. 

I won't share the recipe with you here ... the link is above.  Like I said, I want to try a few more ... probably in the end I'll adapt a few of the recipes and then print you my favorite. 

LaZy FriEs

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Well, I didn't take any pictures, so I'm opting for the long-winded thousand word approach instead!

The Problem:
Oven fries are clearly superior to their french relatives in the not making-my-bottom-expand-beyond-the-realm-of-my-pants-in-an-alarmingly-rapid-fashion category. However, the advantage of deep frying potatoes, as opposed to baking them, is that they need never be turned. I HATE trying to turn over a hundred strips of potatoes so I can get a nice even crisp. It takes forever as I slowly melt in the ferocious heat of my oven.

Question:
How does one make oven fries that are uniformly crispy and golden on the outside and soft on the inside, without an unwanted pile of effort?

Solution:
Lazy Fries.

I thought to myself, what if I made potato slabs instead of continuing to cut them into fries? Would they be too big to adequately dispatch my need for fries? The answer, of course, was no - they were fantastic! And waaaaaaay easier than traditional oven fries.

Here's what I did:

3 Large or 7 Small Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise
4 T vegetable oil*
Salt
Pepper

*it's important to use vegetable oil because olive oil can overwhelm the potato-y flavor, which is an essential part of wonderful fries.

Soak the potatoes in hot tap water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coat a heavy bottomed cookie sheet with 3 T of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dry potatoes thoroughly and place in pan (be very careful not to overcrowd!).

Cover pan tightly with foil and bake at 475 degrees F for 5 minutes. Take off the foil and continue baking for 10-15 minutes, rotating pan after 10 minutes. Flip potatoes over once they are browned on the pan side. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes until the other side is similarly done.

Season with additional salt, as desired. Serve hot.



So there you go! Lazy Fries. And it only took me 330 words to get there!