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

s
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