Herb & Parmesan French Fries

by kitchenrunway // July 17, 2011 // 6 Comments

Our third trial for the Alexia Food’s“Reinvent a Classic” challenge takes us to the south of France where the flavors are simple, refined and bold all at the same time. The key ingredient for these fries is the herb de Provence, which is a mixture usually comprised of rosemary, lavender, basil, fennel, marjoram, savory and thyme. Herb de Provence is a staple in our kitchen. I use it on oven roasted potatoes, in pasta sauces, and to season steaks and chicken. The wonderful mixture of herbs is complex and flavorful. It often can take your dish from good to great. Once you start using it – it’s hard to be without it.

These fries are aromatic and savory with a touch of saltiness from the sea salt & parmesan cheese. These French fries would be great with a juicy burger or a sophisticated steak or chicken dish. It’s a classy European take on an American classic.

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Sweet Mesquite BBQ French Fries

by kitchenrunway // July 15, 2011 // 10 Comments

This is our 2nd Alexia Foods“Reinvent a Classic” French fry trial. It’s a combination of sweet and savory. I truly love to eat foods that have complex or contrasting flavors – kind of like the ying and yang of foods. I love hot and sour soup, sweet and sour pork, and even the sweet saltiness of kettle corn. The sweet and salty flavor has me grabbing for one after another like they are going out of style. Take the already addicting flavors of a smokey barbecue rub, add the sweetness of brown sugar, and the slight saltiness from the coarse sea salt and we have an addicting little treat in front of us. The fun thing is that the spices and sugar coats the fries pretty well so after you pop one in your mouth you’re left licking the spices off your fingers. So good!

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French Fries with Roasted Black Sesame Seeds, Sea Salt and Yuzu

by kitchenrunway // July 14, 2011 // 8 Comments

roasted black sesame, sea salt & yuzu fries

We are currently testing out recipes for Alexia Foods’ “Reinvent a Classic” challenge. Quyen and I spent a great deal of time brainstorming to come up with some epic fry flavors and we are excited to start unveiling some of the best of them. Thank you everyone for sharing your French fry flavor ideas with us! As we played with the flavor profiles for the fries, we actually have become quite good at getting a nice French fry with a crispy outside and soft tender inside. The key is soaking your potatoes to help remove some of the starch and double frying your fries. We have been putting our deep fryer to use these days!

This past weekend we invited a few friends over to be our official taste testers. We were thrilled to have our friends give us feed back and suggestions. We experimented with adding some Asian flavors to a classic American treat and we’re happy to report that it was a success. Both adults and children enjoyed the East meets West flavor combination.

The first concept that emerged from our “test kitchen” was a Russet potato French fry tossed with roasted black sesame seeds, coarse sea salt and drizzled with yuzu. What is yuzu you ask? It’s an Asian equivalent of a lemon that has is rumored to be a cross between a mandarin and a grapefruit. The flavor is fresh and bright and the rind is very fragrant. This is the citrus that is used to make the very popular Japanese ponzu sauce. Fresh yuzu may be hard to find here n the United States, but you can pick up a bottle of yuzu juice at most Japanese grocery stores. The roasted black sesame seeds provide a nice contrasting color to the fries and the subtle nutty flavor melds perfectly with the sea salt and yuzu flavor. We might end up trying one more run at this one using a mortar and pestle to grind the roasted sesames to a powder-like consistency to integrate the flavor more evenly across the fries. After you try it, you will want more! We found that the sesame seeds didn’t stick to the fries as much as we would have liked, so grinding the sesame might help the sesame flavor adhere better to the French fry.

These fries are taking another dip into the deep fryer to ensure that they come out extra crispy and golden brown. Yum!

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Greek Yogurt Fruit Cups

by kitchenrunway // July 12, 2011 // 8 Comments

A couple months ago, Priscilla of She’s Cookin made Wonton Fruit Cups for a FBLA meeting. It was a simple, refreshing wonton and Greek yogurt dessert that showcased the fruit. I was inspired by Priscilla’s beautiful creation and created my own fruit cups to serve to my friends this weekend. We had a small BBQ to welcome summer… so these were perfect for a casual gathering. They’re small, portable and light. I think they look super cute and it’s so easy to put together!

I topped these Greek yogurt fruit cups with Angelcots and strawberries. Have you ever heard of an Angelcot? It’s a hybrid of a Moroccan and Iranian apricot variety and it’s been considered the “perfect” apricot. The skin is pale yellow and it’s juicy and sweet. The texture is firmer than an apricot. I like the firmer texture; it’s not mushy or mealy. Frieda’s Specialty Produce sent us a box to sample and soon as I opened the box I could smell the sweet fragrance of the fruit. I couldn’t wait to try it! It’s simply delicious as is so I knew I wanted to serve them up fresh and raw to showcase the delicate yet flavorful fruit.

Of course you can substitute the fruit for whatever you have on hand… peaches and blueberries, strawberries and mangoes, etc. The wonton skins adds a crunchy element to the fruit cups, the vanilla Greek yogurt is slightly sweet and tangy and pairs well with the sweet fruit and honey. It’s a healthy and balanced fruit cup. Continue reading →

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4th of July Marshmallow Pops

by kitchenrunway // July 1, 2011 // 9 Comments

We are so excited to do a guest post for our dear friends, Hong and Kim of The Ravenous Couple. Hong and Kim write a beautiful blog that centers around Vietnamese recipes. They share great stories, recipes and photos on their blog. They are getting married at the end of July and the month leading up to the wedding can be tremedously stressful. So we are sharing a recipe on their blog so that we can help free up some of their time so that they can focus on the big day. Marshmallow pops are a fun and easy treat to whip up in little time. Kids simply adore these treats and it’s a fun recipe to make together with your child. You can dip the marshmallow and the kids can decorate. It’s a great red, white and blue treat for 4th of July!