"Perhaps the most impressive of all the cookbook blogs are the three devoted to the 2004 edition of Gourmet magazine's "The Gourmet Cookbook" -- all 5¼ pounds and 1,300-odd recipes of it. Befitting this culinary Everest, all three writers are overachievers in their professional lives."

--Lee Gomes, The Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2008
"I should have told you before how much I've been enjoying reading your thoughts. You seem like such a great cook."

--Ruth Reichl, Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet Magazine, June 8 2008, comment on "Chocolate Velvet Ice Cream".

Friday, March 16, 2007

Yuca Fries

I was intrigued by this recipe because I've never had yuca, being a New Englander and all. Our Market Basket down the road, however, sells to a diverse immigrant group, so many exotic tubers are available, not to mention the entire GOYA line.

Note to anybody shopping for yuca--it really does spoil quickly (as the helpful sidebar in Gourmet Cookbook points out) so buy it the day you want to use it. I sort of thought they might be like potatoes and keep forever. Not so.

The recipe asks you to boil it first, then deep fry, sprinkle with salt and serve with lemon wedges and BBQ sauce on the side. Huh? Now pommes frites with mayo I'm used to, but this was a new concept.

Hey, these are awesome. Just by themselves with salt. Really light, flaky and crispy all at once, and helpful hint--don't forget to cut out the woody core, otherwise some of your fries will be dense and chewy. Not bad, just not light, flaky and crisp.

The lemon and BBQ sauce...eh....they didn't need them in my opinion, but I can see how they could become an indispensable part of the flavor profile, like ketchup is with fries.

Since I have one more yuca left...tonight I'll be trying the Cuban-style yuca with Garlic Lemon Oil.

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