Crispier Roast Potatoes cooked in Animal Fat

Fresh Red potatoes will not only require less time, but are easier to prepare. 

Three pounds fresh red potatoes cut into triangular bite sized slices.

Salt

Pepper

Manteca (Mexica pork lard) to fry

White vinegar

Water for blanching the potatoes in acidulated water.

Bring water to a roiling boil. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (F).

Blanch the sliced potatoes for three to five minutes in water made mildly acid with vinegar. Drain in a collinder for 30 minutes. Do not pat dry. Spread on a glass dish that has been greased with lard.* 

When oven is preheated, put glass dish in oven to melt the lard. Remove pan with oven mitts. Add the potatoes, and toss to fully coat the potatoes adding a sprinkle of salt as you turn over potatoes. Cook for 1/2 hour, then turn potatoes with a metal spatula, and continue browning until a golden brown.

Remove from the oven and add pepper to desired amount. Run spatula to loosen the potatoes. 

Serve warm or the the desired heat. Garnish as desired, I use minced rosemary.

*The French used duck fat.

Shrimp Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Red Pepper, Garlic and Scallions

1 lb. Shrimp, peeled ( can use scallop as well or instead)
1 lb. Cremini Mushrooms 

Four or five scallions, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
A pinch of Red Pepper ( or more )

1 lb. Al dente fettuccine or thin spaghetti or wide noodles 

1 teaspoon of butter

4 teaspoon Extra virgin olive oil

1 or 2 splashes Dry White wine ( Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay)

2 tablespoons of cream or half and half (optional)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice (optional)

1 teaspoon sugar with a pinch of salt

3/4 cup of Marinara sauce to add moisture to the dish, or more

In large frying pan, over medium heat melt 1 teaspoon of butter, the optional lemon juice and heat the olive oil. When melted, sauté the mushrooms, with the sugar salt on high. When the mushrooms are caramelised, set aside in a bowl. Now fry the shrimp with the garlic and red pepper, turn as they cook until done. Turn out in same bowl as before. Spoon in cooked fettuccine and heat with a splash of dry white wine. When noodle are warmed thought, add back mushrooms, scallions, and the shrimp. Add an optional bit of cream or half and half.  If dry, add  marinara sauce.

Serve hot.

Pot-au-feu (Simmered French Coutry Soup) in process

Pot-au-feu is a slowly simmered meat and vegetable dish that appears on most home tables in France. Pot au Feu, which literally translates to ‘pot in the fire’, started its life in working-class homes as a way to make less expensive cuts of beef more tender and palatable. 

The long slow cooking resulted in 2 dishes: a clear nourishing broth and a rich meal of beef and vegetables. 

 There are as many variations of pot au feu as there are cooks. I have eaten pot-au-feu prepared with lamb, chicken, lobster.  

The broth is always served first with toasted slices of baguette crowned with morsels of fatty beef marrow, and the meat and vegetables are served second.