Triumph of the Lowly Potato

Meatballs
Shredded Potato Fries
Broccoli
Wine: Les Lauzerai, Tavel Rosé, 2009
Dessert: Häagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream

When I told George that we were going to have meatballs tonight, George said: “maybe you could make some fried potatoes to go with it.”

Since I had gone marketing that morning, I went around the corner to Gristedes and bought a baking potato. Thinking the potato would be a gratin, I looked at several recipes and realized this was not what George had in mind. Also, according to the recipes, I had bought the wrong potato. I peeled it anyway and grated it. I heated some Wesson oil in the sauté pan and added the shredded potatoes, spread them out like a pancake, and salted them lightly. Once the side had browned, I turned it around and sauted the other side.

George loved it!
“What should we call them?” I asked
“Shredded fries,” he said.

The meatballs, too, met with his approval. After having experimented with a combination of meats, I went back to my old-time practice of using chuck, old bread soaked in water, goose fat, some spreadable Braunschweiger liverwurst, plus catsup, a dash of Tabasco sauce, salt and black pepper.

I am still working on the broccoli. My sister-in-law, Jane, raises broccoli to a culinary height. She confided that she uses oyster sauce for seasoning. That and using fresh instead of frozen broccoli, didn’t do the trick. Maybe I didn’t cook it long enough.

Comes the summer, I’m leaning more and more toward Rosés. I always have a slight resistance to these wines at first, but once I get into the act, I enjoy scouting for them. Stay tuned for my summer selection.