Foodie Fridays

I know, I know. You've all been starving as your diliquent blogging friend has delayed in posting a new Foodie Friday item. Well, today's is worth the wait. Truthfully, it is even worth the "weight"...you might need to restrain yourself from overeating some of these babies. :-)

In some respects, I am shocked it has taken me this long to post this one. However, I may be hesitating to let you in on this culinary secret because my knowledge in this area gives me the title "Best Mom in the Whole World!" and if I let you in on it then I need to share the title too....I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

Well, okay. Just because you asked :-)

What I am talking about today is something we call "Corks and Screws". All you need is a 10 pound bag of potatoes (if you are us!), a couple of cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, some good oil, and (this is the secret part!) YOUR APPLE PEELER/CORER!!!

What? Did she say "Apple Peeler/Corer"? Oh yes, yes I did.

You take your potatoes, stick them on the corer. Don't worry if they are wonky-shaped potatoes. If they don't get fully peeled it actually tastes better. Crank it up just like you would for apples except look at the delicious spiral cut fries you just made! But don't forget about the "core" of the potato. He is delicious too!

So the spiraly part is the "screw" and the core is the "cork".

Now toss the screws and corks, separately, in a wee bit of olive oil, lay them(screws and corks separately) in as single-a-layer as possible on your parchment lined sheets and bake in a 400F - 425F oven for 20-35 minutes or until crispy on the outside and soft in the middle and gorgeously brown all over. (It may take longer if your oven is over-full with 10 pounds of potatoes. It takes a while for the hot air to get around all 4 of my cookie sheets!

Serve with ketchup and vinegar.

To further jazz these babies up, you can toss them with your favourite spice mix. We've done an "herbes de provence mix" which was insanely good. We've also done a chili flavour, and just a good coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper. I've never tried, but I bet you could also skip the oil and spices and toss the Corks and Screws with Italian Salad Dressing. Easy Breezy. SO GOOD!!!

Do watch that you don't use too much oil when you toss, or do use a really high-smoking point oil. I've heard that some people have smoked out their kitchens on more than one occassion. :-) *ahem*

My kids ask for this so often. Yum yum yum.

Enjoy!