Beware of the "Fools Gold" Oven Baked Fry

My definition of a “fools gold” oven fry, is a fry that lures you in with its golden good looks and fools you into thinking its exterior is crisp. However upon your first bite you encounter it's soggy texture and feel like the fry is saying “fooled you…I can’t believe you fell for that one”.

I’ve produced enough “fools gold” fries in my time to know the feeling of being suckered in by a crappy oven baked fry. But there is hope my healthy fry cooking friends! If you use the rinse, parboil and roast technique you will produce perfect oven fries; golden crisp on the outside, fluffy inside. Of course it takes a little extra time but it’s definitely worth it. I strongly suggest listening to a tune such as The Stone’s Roses’ Fools Gold while prepping these fries. Its 9 min and 53 seconds of encouraging vibes is about all the time it will require for you to get through the preparation process. After that you can let your oven take over.


Please do your part and follow this recipe and put an end to serving soggy oven fries!

Glorious Golden Crisp Oven Fries
Instruments
2 large potatoes (russet work best), peeled and cut lengthwise into ¼ - to ½-inch sticks
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil
Salt for seasoning

Lyrics
Carefully place potato sticks in a colander and rinse under cold water. This washes away surface sugars and will help the fries crisp.

Place potato sticks in a large pot. Add enough cold water to just cover potatoes. Add salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and boil potatoes for 3 minutes. Gently drain potatoes and spread them on paper towels to dry (the potatoes can sit for up to an hour before roasting).

Lightly spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet and add oil. Gently toss to coat the potatoes, being careful not to break the sticks. Arrange potatoes on the sheet, leaving at least a ¼-inch between them, so they crisp on all sides.

In a 450ºF oven, roast potatoes for 15 minutes. Turn the fries over and roast for 6 to 8 minutes more or until fries are nicely browned and crisp. Remove fries from oven and season with salt while they are still hot. Serve.

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

Groovin’ For Life

The first thing most of us do before buying a new music cd is we read the back cover to find out what songs are contained on it. Why not apply this same strategy when buying food. Take a few seconds to scan the labels and ingredients so you know what you’re eating. Look for all the big hits such as low sugar, less saturated and trans fat and lower sodium. These are the products worth adding to your pantry collection!

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

The Sweetest Sweet Potato Chili

The video for U2's song The Sweetest Thing is one worth checking out if you have never seen it before.

It’s a clever video, especially if you know the premise behind the song. The story is, Bono wrote this song as an apology to his wife for having to work on her birthday when U2 was recording The Joshua Tree. The video reflects this story as Bono is seen doing everything he can to apologize to a lady sitting across from him in a carriage.

He offers her flowers, a serenade and even a crew of shirtless firefighters dancing on the front of a fire truck…which is hilarious! Food is also offered by a chef near the end of the video. Personally I think Bono went about the food part all wrong. He should have tossed on a cooking apron and prepared this tasty Sweet Potato Chili while serenading her with this amazing song!


The dish alone would have won her heart with its harmonious blend of sweet, spicy, salty, sour and savory ingredients! The little effort required to make it is much better than having to spend a chilly lonesome night on the couch!

The Sweetest Sweet Potato Chili
2 tsp canola oil
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp each ground cinnamon and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable stock
1 can stewed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can black beans (19 oz)
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup frozen kernel corn, thawed
1 tbsp each freshly squeezed lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro
Pinch or two salt

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and onions. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper and flour. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add vegetable stock and stir until smooth.

Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Add beans, peppers, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cook until heated through. Season with salt and serve.

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

Vegetable Asian Soup for Times Like These

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s nice to step into a kitchen that has relaxing grooves playing in the background. It's also a bonus if you have a an easy-to-make recipe up your sleeve. I often turn to the music of Jack Johnson to create a stress free cooking environment. The laid back sounds of his song “Times like These” from his On and On CD are perfect for getting into a super relaxed surfer frame of mind. Combine those vibes with an easy-to-make soup recipe, such as this one, and prepping dinner is like a day at the beach!



I found this recipe on the back of a Green Giant frozen vegetables package. I was pleasantly surprised with the results as it is full of colorful vegetables and bright flavors. I’ve adapted it slightly by omitting the meat and adding in flavorful vegetable broth. I also strained the broth because I’m not a big fan of grated ginger and tiny pieces of zest floating around in my bowl.

At first glance this may look like a recipe only adults would enjoy but my kids loved it as much as Jack Johnson enjoys catching a wave. Now that’s saying something! Give it a try and let me know if it floats your boat…I mean surfboard!

Vegetable Asian Soup

Instruments
1½ cups egg noodles
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
½ tbsp grated fresh ginger
½ tsp each grated lemon and lime zest
¼ tsp Tabasco sauce
2 cups Baby blend frozen vegetables, thawed
Chopped fresh cilantro

Lyrics
Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Drain well and set aside.

In a large saucepan combine chicken broth, vegetable broth, soy sauce, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest and Tabasco sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Strain broth through a mess sieve and return to saucepan.

Add vegetables to saucepan. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes over medium heat until vegetables are heated through.

Ladle soup into individual serving bowls. Add equal amounts of cooked noodles to each bowl and garnish with cilantro. Serve

Volume: Makes 6 servings

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

Cook-a-Palooza on TV

Here is my recent Cook-a-Palooza cooking demonstration on the Real Life show, making my mini pita pizza. My segment is about 10 min. 30 sec. into the show. You'll notice the very kind hosts bumped me up to chef status. They must of mistaken my red book for a red seal. Hey that's o.k. by me!

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

Just Between You and Me...These Fruit Chips are Easy to Make

When I was a teenager, one of my favorite albums was April Wine’s The Nature of the Beast. It contained some of the bands biggest hits like Sign of the Gypsy Queen and the power ballad Just Between You and Me. I remember listening to this album for hours. I also recall being mesmerized by the album cover that has the beast wailing on an electric guitar. I still regard it as one of the best rock album covers of all time.

Of course it’s not a real beast on the cover but someone dressed up as one. This got me thinking about how garnishes dress up everyday dishes to tantalize our eyes. Chefs use garnishes all the time. I especially love it when they use chips as a topping. I guess that’s why I got all excited when I came across a recipe on how to make chips out of pear and apple slices.



In this particular recipe I’ve used pear slices and dusted them in a mixture of cinnamon, paprika, brown sugar, salt and pepper. You can use whatever spices you like. Choose the ones that rock your world! I used my finished pear chips to dress up a couple plain scoops of frozen yogurt. You could also stack them in the middle of a bowl of thick soup or use them as a finishing touch on an appetizer (especially one that contains cheese).

Let's keep the fact that they are easy to make on the down low. It’s better if our guests think we’ve worked our butts off to create such gourmet style. This weekend I think I’ll revisit April Wine’s The Nature of the Beast while making more fruit chips so all eyes and taste buds can feast!

Pear Chips

Instruments
1 firm ripe Bartlett or Bosc pear, cored and cut into paper thin slices
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp sweet paprika
Couple pinches each salt and freshly ground pepper

Lyrics
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl combine, sugar, cinnamon, paprika, salt and pepper. Lightly sprinkle over both sides of pear slices.

Place pear slices on baking sheet in a single layer. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and set another baking sheet on top of paper to keep pears flat.

In a 275ºF oven, bake pears for 45 minutes. Remove top baking sheet and carefully peel off top piece of parchment. Bake for 10 minutes more (keep an eye on them at this point because if they brown too much they go bitter). Remove from oven and let pear slices cool on a wire rack. They will crisp upon cooling.

Volume: 10 to 15 Chips

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

Groovin' Thoughts

Sounds often heard when cooking Cook-a-Palooza style!

Sizzle, Samba, Ramble, Rock,
Crackle, Country, "That's Hip", Hop.
With a touch of...
R&B, Blues, Jazz and Pop!

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com

Hip to Be Cranberry-Apple Squares

If you host a holiday party such as Thanksgiving or Christmas you’re almost guaranteed to have leftover cranberry sauce. Once all the leftover turkey disappears it ends up being tucked away in a lonely corner in the fridge.


In the past I’ve found a home for it in a sweet and sour meatball sauce (use the cranberry sauce instead of the grape jelly) but this year Huey Lewis and The News’ song Hip to Be Square has inspired me to turn this red jelly sauce into these sweet Cranberry-Apple squares. Well that’s not entirely true. I saw the recipe in an LCBO magazine (I’ve taken a stab at making it less fattening in the version below).

Although if you are a Huey Lewis fan, I suggest you let your hair down, go ‘80s crazy and crank this ultra poppy song while making these tasty squares…or choose one of his much better tunes. Personally I would go with second option. Cook-On!

Instruments
1 large Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
½ cup leftover whole berry cranberry sauce
2/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
¾ cup each all purpose flour and large –flake oats
¼ cup each granulated sugar and brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup melted butter

Lyrics
Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl mix together apple, cranberry sauce, dried cranberries and lemon juice.

In a separate medium bowl combine, flour, both sugars, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Add butter and mix until well combined and crumbly.

Press half the oats mixture in base of baking dish. Evenly distribute fruit mixture on top. Crumble remaining oat mixture over fruit, pressing gently.

Bake in a 350ºF oven until crumble is golden brown. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Volume: Make 20 squares

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Brent Garell
The Kitchen Roadie
brent@cookapalooza.com