#fancy fries

[hungryhungryrealtors]

Chica at The Venetian ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Came in on a friends recommendation (he’s been in 6 times since Chica opened, three months ago). We started with the Arepa basket which had such an amazing variety of flavors (bean, cilantro, beet, and cheese). Great starter and perfect for sharing. 

 Followed by the empanadas and the Chica fries. Their empanadas had a cracker like texture and were paired with a flavorful guacasaca pico. The fries were perfectly crispy and the huancaina sauce was thick, gritty, and rich. 

The main course was the braised short rib. It was so tender, it seemed to melt in your mouth. The accompanying black eyed peas were served two ways with oil. 

Dessert was the churro ice cream pops. Three individual scoops of vanilla ice cream covered in graham style crumbs with fresh cream on top of caramel with a little churro sticking out of each one. Delicious and not too overly sweet. 

 We are already planning our trip back and we’re bringing our friends!

[realismousse]

Punk

[aspiredfoodie-blog]

Oven Baked Seasoned Fries with Spicy Mayo

I don't have an exact recipe for these fries, I really just measured everything based on three potatoes I had chillin' in the kitchen (so measures may vary). I might even make these again with sweet potatoes! UNF.

To start off, I took the three potatoes, washed, peeled, and cut them into about 1/2 inch strips. The smaller the strip, the crispier the fry! I then placed the potatoes in a large bowl and soaked them in water for 15-20 minutes in order to get rid of excess starch. After soaking, I dried them very well with a clean hand cloth. Make sure that they're dry.

For the 'seasoned' part of the fries, I, being my lazy self who didn't want to wash another bowl, resorted to the wonderful zip-lock storage bag to mix the seasoning. Super quick and easy clean up. Bam.

But anyways, for the seasoning, I used enough olive oil to cover/marinate the fries... probably 3/4 to 1 cup (this recipe is very forgiving...), and used 1/2 tsp. of each of the following: dried parsley, basil, oregano and paprika.

To that, I also added 1/2 tbsp. of Montreal steak seasoning and a generous pinch of salt and pepper, as well as two garlic cloves, minced. Put in all those ingredients in the zip-lock, and you have your very own bootleg Shake Weight (until everything's all blended together).

Then I placed the potato strips into the seasoning mix, secured the bag, and played catch with my little brother until all the potatoes were coated evenly. It was a fun time...

Before transferring the potatoes to the very hot, preheated 400 degree oven, I placed the potatoes evenly on a cooling rack that rested on top of a cookie sheet. This prevented the hassle of fries being stuck to a pan and allowed heat to circulate all over the potatoes as they were cooking.

So, onto the rack and into the oven the potatoes went for 40 minutes, or until they turn golden brown and crispayyy. For extra crispiness, I flipped the fries over half way through the cooking process. Even though it took a while, the result was definitely worth it xD

When the fries came out, I went potatopia 'em and tossed them with grated parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley. I served them hot with homemade spicy mayo (two part mayonnaise and 1 part sririacha - more or less depending on your liking).

And thus, my craving was satisfied :)

If you try this out, adjust the ingredients by your liking and quantity. Let me know how they turn out! Enjoy!