Category: Recipes

Oven Baked Spicy Crispy French Fries

Tom

crispy spicy oven friesEveryone loves french fries, but deep frying at home is messy and the clean up sucks. These oven baked fries are just as tasty, a little bit healthier and way easier to make and clean up after than the deep-fried variety. The secret is the pre-soak that removes some of the starch and helps the fries to crisp up on the outside while staying tender and moist on the inside. Pair these with my Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings and you have a great finger-licking good, faux deep-fried, quasi-healthy meal that everyone will love. If you prefer thinner, crispier garlicky oven baked fries, please click here.

Please click here for the printable recipe.

Tip of the Day – Freeze Tomato Paste for the Sauce of the Future

Tom

Frozen tomato paste ballsI use tomato paste quite often in recipes to thicken up and give great flavor to pasta sauces, chili and soups, but seldom (and by seldom, I mean never) need an entire can at once. Simple solution…take an approx. 8″ square piece of plastic wrap, drop a 1 tablespoon dollop in the center and fold up the sides and twist closed. Stick these in a freezer bag and place in the toaster (just kidding…in the freezer), and, in the future, when a recipe calls for tomato paste, unwrap what you need (each one weighs about 1/2 oz.) and drop them in…it works great and there’s no waste. And, since they look like little hearts,  they also make a somewhat disgusting Valentine’s Day gift.

Tip of the Day – Make a Great Super-Melty Cheeseburger

Tom

When making cheeseburgers (btw, always use 80/20 chopped meat for the best results), if you like your cheese really melty, when your burgers are done the way you like them, top them with the cheese of your choice, drop a tablespoon of water into the pan and cover immediately. The resulting steam will melt the cheese in seconds, and you’ll have the perfect super-melty cheeseburger. Just top it with some caramelized onions, and you’ll be in cheeseburger paradise!

Tip of the Day – Refrigerate Your Banana

Tom

Bananas can be refrigerated for several days to slow down the ripening process. Make sure the bananas are ripe before you refrigerate them. The skin will quickly turn black, but the fruit will remain firm and tasty for up to five days.  If it starts to get soft, just freeze it, and it will be perfect for making smoothies or, when defrosted, Killer Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Tip of the Day – Paper Towel Substitute for Grease Absorbtion

Tom

bacon Instead of using layers of paper towels to absorb grease from fried foods, take a few pages of newspaper and top that with one paper towel. Then put the bacon, or whatever you want to degrease, on top of the paper towel. The towel absorbs the grease, which is then sucked down and absorbed by the underlying newspaper. This not only conserves paper towels (newspapers are a lot cheaper), but it’s also is a great way to repurpose old newspaper…Eat bacon, Save a Tree!

Crispy Baked Kale Chips – Another Simply Delicious Healthy Snack

Tom

Another simple, healthy snack that you’re guaranteed to love – a great alternative to potato chips (although they’re really good, too!)

  • Tear the kale leaves into approx. 2″ bite size pieces (discard any thick stems)
  • Wash and dry the pieces thoroughly (a salad spinner is best for this)
  • Toss the dried leaves with the ¼ cup olive oil and ¾ tsp of kosher salt, coating all pieces well
  • Place them on a baking sheet and bake in a 350Ëš oven for about 10-13 minutes ’til crumbly and crisp
  • Let cool and serve…

If you like, when you remove them from the oven, you can also sprinkle the crispy kale chips with some lime zest, cayenne, lemon pepper, Parmesan, chile powder, garlic powder or just about any other flavor or mix of spices, to add a personal touch.

Crispy Roasted Garbanzo Beans – A Simply Delicious Healthy Snack

Tom

Crispy Roasted Garbanzo BeansThese are addictive…healthy, crunchy and deliciously addictive…and very easy to make. All you do is:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • Drain one 15 oz can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
  • Rinse with water and dry thoroughly with paper towels
  • Toss the dried garbanzos with 1½ Tbsps of olive oil
  • Roast on a sheet pan for 25-35 minutes until the beans are golden brown and crunchy (start checking at 20 minutes)
  • Sprinkle with salt and whatever spices you like (try a little cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder…Spicy!)
  • Let cool and serve…Simply delicious!

Sharp Kitchen Knives and How to Keep Them That Way for FREE!

Tom
Click on photo for a closer look

We have previously discussed how important a sharp knife is, and the best and cheapest way to sharpen your knives (with the Accusharp Knife and Tool Sharpener)…now here is the best and cheapest way to keep them sharp. Every time you put an unprotected knife in a drawer you run the risk of ruining the edge. It just takes a little bump to bend or roll the delicate edge of a sharp knife, and although honing can straighten it out, it doesn’t sharpen the edge, and over time the knife will start to dull, until one day it slips off the food and slices off your thumb (ok…that’s a little dramatic, but I’m trying to make a point here). Of course, you can buy knife guards, but it’s exceptionally easy to make them at home. All you do is take some cardboard (the thin kind from a gift box works great, but any cardboard will do), cut a long strip that’s the length of the knife’s blade and a little more then twice as wide as the blade,  fold it in half length-wise to fit the knife, and just staple evenly down the open edge. Slip this on whenever you store your knives, and they’ll stay sharp no matter how much they rattle around in that overstuffed drawer.

Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew with Kale

Tom

Winter’s almost here, so it’s time to break out the recipe for one of my favorite cold weather meals…this Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew from Cook’s Illustrated. I think it’s best when made with kale (pictured here), but a mixture of greens is also great. This is one of those simple, inexpensive, healthy, pretty much foolproof recipes that seems to come out perfect every time …the secret is cooking it in a good (yet inexpensive), heavy duty dutch oven. If you’re more into soups then stews, just add another cup of chicken broth and 3/4 cup of water when you add the greens. A big bowl of stew, topped with grated Parmesan cheese and served with a toasted piece of crusty garlic bread makes an amazing meal. I also always add a couple of squirts of Sriracha sauce for a little spicy, garlicky kick.

Another great thing about this stew is that it freezes perfectly. Just divide it into serving size portions, freeze, and on a cold winter’s night, when you get a craving, just pop it into the microwave on high, and in a few minutes you’ll have a steaming bowl of stew that  tastes as good as (or, I think) even better than the day it was made.

Please click here for a printable copy of the Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew recipe.