Home Made French Fries and Hash Browns

I've been going crazy over French food and French cooking shows lately. I'm not sure why. I think I share with them the love for simple food and BUTTER. It's orgasmic. It's fattening. But it was sooo good. With butter you can turn a simple dish into something that seems out of this world. I'm exaggerating, I know.

While watching an episode of Julia Child's cooking show (Tapioca downloaded it for me :-P) about potatoes, I suddenly had cravings for French fries. Tapioca on the other hand wanted hash browns. I'm not a fan of hash browns. McDonald's or even the frozen ones from the supermarket I don't like. But since it's going to be homemade, I thought it might prolly change my mind. We went to the nearest market and bought a bag of potatoes.

My French fries are made from 100% real potatoes with no preservatives. It was then deep fried with lots of oil until crispy. I wish I could use butter but it has a low smoke point and burns easily on high temperature.

Tapioca's hash browns. Made from real potatoes, too. He shredded the potatoes using a grater and flattened them out like a pancake. They key in making the fries and hash browns crispy is by removing all the excess moisture from the potato. You don't want an explosion when you fry these babies, do you?


The Verdict  


Nothing beats homemade French fries. It was awesome. Real pure potato goodness. If only potatoes are cheap I would make a whole bunch of them. The hash browns on the other hand were blah. Still did not like it homemade or not.

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Meatball Sandwich, Mac n' Cheese and More Surprises

Remember our experiment with meatballs (see it here)? As I've mention a long time ago, Tapioca came up with a better idea. You see, he loves meatball sandwiches. Sadly, Subway or any other deli or sandwich places here in Manila don't offer this kind of sandwich. If you do know a place though, please let us know, okay?

Here's what he did. First, he made the meatballs and steamed them in a rice cooker. Next, he made marinara sauce. You can find tons of marinara sauce recipes online or if you're too lazy to make one, you can always buy store-bought marinara sauce from the supermarket or deli shops. He also bought a baguette from French Baker.

. . . baguette from French Baker 

steamed meatballs . . .

Now it's time to assemble the sandwich.

. . . meatball sandwich baby!

Slice up the baguette and remove the insides so the meatballs will have space. Spread the marinara sauce. Topped with parmesan cheese. Voila! To make it healthier, you can opt to put fresh greens, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, etc. 

Here's the deal. I was not able to try this. It was all gone by the time I got home. The only consolation I got were the photos. I should be angry but my guy prepared something else to make it all up.

mac n' cheese . . . 

It looked instant because he used powdered cheese. Ya know, the stuff we put on french fries as flavouring. By the way, it tasted instant too. LOL!

. . . Campbell's cream of mushroom

Another instant item on the table. I'm not complaining though. I love Campbell's. Actually, I love soup. Anything with soup.

A&W root beer . . .

The original aged vanilla root beer. Our favorite :-) For dessert, we got cakes from Banapple.

. . . strawberry amaretto cheesecake

jeepers creepers pie . . .

As usual, the cakes were too sweet for my taste. Again, I'm not complaining. It's the thought that counts. At least nakabawi cya for not saving some of the meatballs. Hehehehe!

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Homemade Chili & The Amazing Things You Can Do With It

Tapioca is a self-confessed chili lover. I've lost count of the number of times I posted here on my blog about his never ending love affair with chili. Mind you, I'm not jealous. I totally understand. Just like how Tapioca understands my love affair with soups and ice creams. 

I think all the foodies out there would share the same sentiments. When I found out we were having chili for dinner, I was kinda surprised my guy actually knows how to make one. It just gave me an idea. I think I should learn how to make my own comfort food too so I can enjoy them at home. 

Hmmm, gotta start making my own soup stock and save up for an ice cream maker! LOL! O cya, let's get back to the subject - how to make chili.

1. Saute the onions and garlic on a huge heavy-bottom pot.

2. Add the ground beef and spices.

We store all sorts of spices in our pantry and Tapioca basically just dumped everything in it. Pardon me if I can't mention all of them. But I'm sure it has chili powder, oregano and cayenne pepper.

3. Once the meat turns brown, add the baked beans and stewed tomatoes. For the liquid, add a can of your favorite beer. Simmer for a few minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce. Adjust seasoning then serve.

The next question is, how do you eat chili? Well, chili is a versatile dish. You can eat it on its own or pair it with something else. Now let me show you how we enjoyed our home-made chili.

 steam the german franks and hotdog buns (not in the photo)  

Assemble the dogs and put chili on top with some mustard and Tabasco. Another option is to top your french fries with chili and melted cheese. Or you can also pair them with nachos, tacos, and eat it with rice or pasta. 

chili dogs and chili fries - yum yum!

The possibilities are endless. It's all up to you. Kumbaga eh kanya-kanyang trip. Enjoy and get full.

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Tonight's Dinner: Sausage & Mashed Potato

Hello, there! Notice how I'm trying so hard to update this blog? I still have a loooonnnnggg way to go but I'm getting there. Anyway, here's another dinner made with love from Tapioca . . .

 . . . pan fried sausage topped with caramelized onions and mashed potato with gravy

I'm also trying my darndest not just to eat but also enjoy onions. Well, it's just some silly idea of mine to introduce my palate to essential stuff like . . . onion. So far the best way to eat and enjoy onions is by caramelizing them like what Tapioca did as it lessen it's pungent smell. 

And to go with the sausage, Tapioca made his signature mashed potato. He makes the yummiest, smoothest and creamiest mashed potato ever. It's my favorite in the entire world!!! I know I'm so biased. It's like saying he's the most good looking guy in the entire world hahaha. 

Oops, I think I heard some nega reactions there.

Peace, love and a bullet-proof mashed potato to y'all!

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Tonight's Dinner: Tuna and Cheese Omelet

For dinner, Tapioca whipped out this huge tuna and cheese omelet. He used five eggs, two cans of tuna, some white onions and lots of cheez whiz. It was cooked on a 12-inch non-stick pan.

. . . twelve-inch omelet 

You know how meticulous I am on how my eggs are cooked. From what it looked like I can tell it was overcooked. But I'm being considerate. The size alone was very unusual. I understand cooking that big of an omelet was a challenge so I let it pass. 

Anyway, it's the effort and TLC that he puts on his cooking that counts, right?

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