baby it's cold outside, turn on the oven and bake some lime fries

Up until yesterday I pretty much hated FOOD AND WINE magazine, sort of.  I felt like it was predominantly a magazine geared to CEOs and their trophy wives, suggesting $150 wines to compliment braised duck necks.  Then it happened:  F&W introduced me to the fabulous blogger/cooking babe Heidi Swanson, who in turn hipped me to more great food blogs, and a killer black pepper and lime oven fries. See the recipe after the jump.   

Another great food blog I should suggest, hailing from the struggling culinary behemoth, FRANCE, is written by a French woman who has lived in the States and knows her unruly subjects well.  Clotilde presents the most easily absorbed French standards that any one this side of the French Culinary Institute knows is actually the bulk of French cooking, not just the veal head and morels that give France a bad name. Recently, my new best friend Clotilde effused about a cook book that seemed to reek of me, and sure enough I stumbled over it in my travels and considered that enough of a jerk of fate to propel me to buy it, in all of it's lime green goodness. Breakfast Lunch Tea, Rose Bakery is a gorgeous book, and offers loads of tempting recipes. But it was the intro story of how the Bakery came to be that sucked me in and made me want to quit my day job and open up a food shop immediately.    I promptly made the almond and green bean soup and will test it out on my very willing subjects at the WFMU lunch table tomorrow.  SHHHH, don't let on if you talk to any of the lovely staff in between now and then.

Now back to our recipe du jour...In our very-last-minute meal tonite I steamed a dozen baby artichokes to accompany the lime fries and Trader Joe's mini chicken tacos (GASP! one of the only frozen foods that grace our table, not counting blood orange sorbet) This is the first baby choke of the season for me.  I adore these odd green creatures; all the earthy anise punch of the globe artichoke without any of the nasty prickly.  Practically the entire baby is edible except for the sharp tips, natch. Trim them, slice then in half and steam until tender.  I eat them just like that, but you could melt some butter and squeeze a lemon in there for dipping purposes if that's your style.

Black Pepper and Lime Oven Fries
1 1/2 pounds Small potatoes, cut into wedges
3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
1 lime
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, oven racks in the middle.  In a medium bowl toss the potato wedges with olive oil, a few big pinches of sea salt,(or "punches" as i first read it...) and five or six cranks of the pepper grinder.  Arrange the potatoes cut side down on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing the potatoes with a metal spatula half way through.

While the potatoes are cooking, zest the lime and cut it into a few wedges.

When the potatoes are cooked through, remove them from the oven, taste, and adjust the seasonings.  Add more salt and pepper to taste (don't skimp on the pepper!).  Arrange on a platter, drizzled with lime juice and dusted with the lime zest and Parmesan.

Comments

[mike lupica]

Mouth. Watering.Tomorrow can't come soon enough!