Matt and I have been trying to save more money. Again. We’re often puzzled about where the money goes, but the one thing that seems to be the biggest roadblock to saving is going out to dinner. We don’t go out every night — we’re both good cooks. But we’re also dining out enthusiasts … and we’re in the mood for sushi way too often.
Fries -- pre-bake
Friday night represented a victory because even though we didn’t have plans (which usually leads to heading out) we were going food shopping and picked up steaks to make at home. Not the cheapest stay-at-home meal, but still a ton less than going out would have been. We also had russet potatoes in the fridge so we made Garlic, Salted Beer Baked French Fries as a side.
These no-fry fries are one of our favorites and we found the recipe through one of the regular emails we get from the Brewer’s Association. The best part about these fries is that they’re soaked in beer. I don’t know what it does to the final product, but there is fun to be had in soaking food in beer. The beer gets all frothy when you pour it over the potatoes and it makes it look like something must be happening. For these fries, post-soak, you drain the beer, add garlic, spices, and oil; and bake. We used Sierra Nevada celebration ale for the recipe on Friday as its one of our seasonal favorites. Also, a note on the oil: you could probably use a little less. I have found that there is quite a bit extra left in the bottom of the bowl at the end.
Fries -- ready to eat!
As an aside (this information is on the Brewer’s Association site as well), this recipe is credited to The Edible Perspective, a blog I’ve been following since we first tried these fries. This blog has a lot of good recipes … all vegetarian or vegan … and a lot of gluten-free options. Not always relevant for me from the gluten-free aspect, but I can always enjoy a vegetarian dish!
