Friday, November 14, 2008

Potatoes 2 Ways: Fries with Black Pepper plus Italian Herbs and Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar

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I was feeling rather spuddy the other day. All I wanted was potatoes, potatoes, potatoes...yellow, orange, purple...deep fried, roasted, mashed, baked...if only I could have them all in one night! Plus...I just got myself this bitchin' slicer from the market.....

The super convincing sales lady demonstrated how the device works by gingerly using it to slice and cut various fruits and vegetables into those cute, adorable shapes!!!...and you could do all that...with just HK$30 (less than USD4)!!! WOW!!! It is idiot proof and comes with a safety holder which makes it absolutely safe! You don't have to worry about losing a nail or two in slicing catastrophes!!!...the lady said...

I was impressed...but still contemplating whether or not I should get it, as normally I don't have any luck with any magical products I've bought off street demonstrations. They generally fell apart or wouldn't work in my hands. But this time, I was wowed by those lattice cut veggies! What the heck! Wouldn't it be awesome if I could make my own lattice cut fries at home?

As if!

Fries with Black Pepper & Italian Herbs

From a whole big potato, we only managed to lattice cut these teeny tiny bowl of spud. The rest crumbled into pieces. The slicer was difficult to manouver, the detachable bit always pops out of place, it is not sharp enough, and the safety holder made it even more annoying to operate. HAHAHA!

Recipe
- 1 potato, sliced into any desired shape of fries
- oil for frying
- salt, black pepper, dried italian herb mix (rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano)
Wash and peel potato, sliced, pat dry, fry in hot oil, lay on kitchen towel to drain excess oil, sprinkle with salt, black pepper and mixed herbs.

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar

After the slicing blooper, I was not about to slice these babies into any funny shapes anymore. I just wanted the ordinary good 'ol thick chunks i can bite into.

Recipe
- 1 potato, sliced into thick chunks
- olive oil, a bit of butter
- salt, pepper, dried rosemary and oregano
- balsamic vinegar
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed, leave skin on

Preheat oven to 200C. Throw potatoes into a tray, drizzle olive oil, throw in a bit of butter, season with salt, pepper, and herbs, drizzle balsamic vinegar, scatter crushed garlic, give them a little rub, bake until golden brown and a bit charred. My whole flat was perfumed with delicious scents when I was baking these babies.

Will I stop using the slicer? Nah, I'll give it another try...
I guess it's either "practice makes perfect" or "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is" hehe

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hahah yeahh the demos for those products always look so good especially when they twirl it around the cucumber and make it into a curly spring (like the one in ur pic?)

At least your recipes are always reliable mmmm ^^!

Sharon said...

I always fall for demonstrations as well. How did she make those gorgeous vegetables?! Well, your potatoes look quite lovely themselves. Keep practicing so we can see more pretty shapes!

Jagungmanis said...

wah...wah... heboh tenan masakanmu,,,,

taste memory said...

that is too cool. I'm not into kitchen gadgetry but that looks pretty enticing! wow, she really did some interesting demos huh?!

but with spices, garlic + balsamic vinegar ~ that's a winning combo!

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I'm a total idiot when it comes to kitchen gadgets. After being burned so many times, I decided the wisest move is to refrain from buying anything else.

In any case, give me those spuds. Beautiful or ugly, as long as they're potato-goody, I'm there.

test it comm said...

Nice cute on those potatoes. I like the use of the balsamic vinegar.

Anonymous said...

I choose you Pikachuuuu!!!
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tigerfish said...

Do those slicers really work? Always thought those (esp. sold As Seen on TV) are useless!

daphne said...

I hv the exact same problem too! But she did make it look easy right?

I like potatoes any way!

Jescel said...

i always stay away from those demos.. as for your new gadget, yeah, i believe practice makes perfect.. just a bit more patience.. anyways, nice shapes or not, your potatoes look very good.

Dragon said...

Oh wow! Look at all the pretty potatoes. Great job!

Anonymous said...

Mmmm... i love spuds! Me want!

Well, i guess the gadget they use to do demonstrations is the only good one. They make it look so easy you want to buy it on the spot!

I use a simple Japanese mandoline for this, so sharp you could slice half your hand. I like to live dangerously. :-)

Beachlover said...

interesting 2 ways cooking potatoes.I love demo gadget too.Whenever they show the new product on TV ,I will go to supermarket to look for it!

Unknown said...

i love your fries... and the roasted, perfect... :)

A.G said...

potongan yg kyk gitu disini kok muuuahal je... mo beli mikir ndisik hehe... tp pling asyik meang nek buat chips jadi entuke apik