Tag Archives: french fries

French Fries…A War Story 2

The culinary history of the United States has been greatly impacted by what soldiers brought back from war. From WWI the soldiers brought back French fries. From WWII they brought back pizza (and many other items). Funny how they didn’t bring back real Kimchi from Korea(?).

My grandfather fought in the First World War. I remember his story about he and his buddies getting potatoes and bringing them to a French farmhouse where the farmer’s wife would make them Pommes Frites. Gramps brought back a love for French Fries from the war. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring back his leg. Gramps got shot in the leg during the battle for the Argonne forest. He told the story about the wound not being so bad, but because of triage, he didn’t get treatment right away and the wound led to gangrene and eventually the loss of his leg.

My Grandmother and Grandfather at their engagement party before Gramps left for World War I

Gramps was a hero. He received the Purple Heart, but his biggest accomplishment was how he dealt with adversity and went on to to live a full life. Gramps had gotten engaged to my grandmother before the war. After losing his leg he wrote, telling her that the engagement was off, as he wasn’t the same man. Of course, she wrote back telling him it didn’t matter. When I was in college, I went to visit Gramps and he took me to the Historic Richmond Town site on Staten Island NY. My grandmother’s house is part of the site. We sat in the car in front of the house and Gramps told me about how when he came home from the war, he arrived on Staten Island late at night. He walked across the island on one leg with crutches and arrived at the house at 4 in the morning and sat quietly on the porch afraid to wake anyone and afraid that the family wouldn’t accept him. I cry every time I tell this story. Gramps will always be my hero.

My Grandmother’s Home where my gramps was afraid they wouldn’t welcome him as a wounded veteran

My grandfather’s Purse Heart, Helmet and Dog Tags from World War I

Ironically, French fries became a favorite of our family growing up. My mom made French fries in a small fryer on the stove top for years. There were two problems:

  1. The fries were never crispy enough.
  2. She could never make enough fries to keep a family of five happy.

The key to making the fries crispy is to do what the French farmers wife did. The French know that to get a crispy fry you need to cook them twice. The answer is to precook the fries and then finish them off with a second cooking in really hot oil (over 300 degrees). This also helps my mother’s second problem because when you precook the fries it only takes a few minutes in hot oil to get them to the perfect crispiness and you can churn out a targeted quantity pretty quick. It is no coincidence that precooking the fries is the key to McDonalds success with fries. I’ll never forget my first trip to France and having fries and thinking: “These are even better than McDonalds!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

The “Freshman 15” Now The “Covid -19”

Remember when you went off to college and pretty quickly put on 15 pounds from the dorm food and regular beer drinking? Now, many of us are “Sheltered in place” and eating pretty well with threat of the coronavirus and Covid-19. Hopefully, we can avoid getting sick and all we get is a few extra pounds (AKA “The Quarantine 15) from eating well.

Last night we splurged a little with:

  • New York Strip grilled to a perfect medium rare
  • French Fries
  • Chopped “Three Hour” Salad
  • Pan Roasted Shishito Peppers
  • Caramelized Onion
  • Phelps Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Talk about all the food groups!

Steak

We don’t eat a lot of red meat. When I get the green light to grill a steak, I like to work with a thicker cut of New York Strip. We bought a whole loin from Costco with our bulk shopping at the start of the lock down. I cut it into steaks that were 2 inches thick. The added thickness widens the window to get it cooked to the perfect medium rare.

French Fries

What is not to like about homemade French fries. The French really know how to make them. I will never forget my first trip to Paris and getting fries at a Bistro and thinking: These are better than McDonald’s. Growing up in the states, my gold standard for French fries were found under the Golden Arches. After working with a French chef, I learned that the Bistro in Paris and McDonalds both know the magic secret to a crispy fry. YOU HAVE TO COOK THEM TWICE. The key is to pre-cook them, let them cool and then finish them quickly in hot oil. It works every time.

3 Hour Salad

My daughter Jennifer has renamed my Romaine Wedge Salad with Gorgonzola Aioli as the “3 Hour Salad”. The combination of:

  • Roasting homemade croutons
  • Sautéing bacon
  • Whipping together a Gorgonzola aioli
  • Prepping a combination of green onion, olives and grape tomatoes with live oil and vinegar
  • Chopped Romaine Lettuce

What takes me about 30 minutes, will take Jennifer 3 hours. There is something to be said about trying to cook while at the same time keeping an eye on three kids under the age of 6.

Shishito Peppers

These are easy to make, taste great and add a perfect amount of zip/color  to your plate. I love that they add the zip without too much heat, The funny thing is that 1 in 10 will have a real pop of heat, but that isn’t exactly a bad thing,

Caramelized Onions

These were a last minute addition. It just so happened that we have a lot of onions from our “Buying In Bulk” exercise. A wonderful offshoot is you will add something different

Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon

Talk about a little splurge. Phelps is one of our favorite vineyards that we first visited back in the 1980’s. Do their wines taste better to us because they remind us of a wonderful afternoon in an idyllic setting 40 years ago? Probably! Past that, Phelps makes a pretty tasty Cabernet.

We can’t eat the way we did last night or we will be adding and unwanted Coivd-19 POUNDS. But, we certainly had a pretty good meal last night. Tonight, may be a pan seared chicken breast with extra vegetables. Being “Sheltered in Place” doesn’t mean we cant eat well.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

 

 

 

French Fries – A War Story

The culinary history of the United States has been greatly impacted by what soldiers brought back from war. From WWI the soldiers brought back French fries. From WWII they brought back pizza (and many other items). Funny how they didn’t bring back real Kimchi from Korea(?).

My grandfather fought in the First World War. I remember his story about he and his buddies getting potatoes and bringing them to a French farmhouse where the farmer’s wife would make them Pommes Frites. Gramps brought back a love for French Fries from the war. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring back his leg. Gramps got shot in the leg during the battle for the Argonne forest. He told the story about the wound not being so bad, but because of triage, he didn’t get treatment right away and the wound led to gangrene and eventually the loss of his leg.

My Grandmother and Grandfather at their engagement party before Gramps left for World War I

Gramps was a hero. He received the Purple Heart, but his biggest accomplishment was how he dealt with adversity and went on to to live a full life. Gramps had gotten engaged to my grandmother before the war. After losing his leg he wrote, telling her that the engagement was off, as he wasn’t the same man. Of course, she wrote back telling him it didn’t matter. When I was in college, I went to visit Gramps and he took me to the Historic Richmond Town site on Staten Island NY. My grandmother’s house is part of the site. We sat in the car in front of the house and Gramps told me about how when he came home from the war, he arrived on Staten Island late at night. He walked across the island on one leg with crutches and arrived at the house at 4 in the morning and sat quietly on the porch afraid to wake anyone and afraid that the family wouldn’t accept him. I cry every time I tell this story. Gramps will always be my hero.

My Grandmother’s Home where my gramps was afraid they wouldn’t welcome him as a wounded veteran

My grandfather’s Purse Heart, Helmet and Dog Tags from World War I

Ironically, French fries became a favorite of our family growing up. My mom made French fries in a small fryer on the stove top for years. There were two problems:

  1. The fries were never crispy enough.
  2. She could never make enough fries to keep a family of five happy.

The key to making the fries crispy is to do what the French farmers wife did. The French know that to get a crispy fry you need to cook them twice. The answer is to precook the fries and then finish them off with a second cooking in really hot oil (over 300 degrees). This also helps my mother’s second problem because when you precook the fries it only takes a few minutes in hot oil to get them to the perfect crispiness and you can churn out a targeted quantity pretty quick. It is no coincidence that precooking the fries is the key to McDonalds success with fries. I’ll never forget my first trip to France and having fries and thinking: “These are even better than McDonalds!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.