Wow Dish: Baked Paprika Sweet Potato Fries

As a side to the veggie pulled chicken sandwich I had for dinner, I also baked some paprika sweet potato fries.

Another Wow! As you've probably noticed, I've labeled all my hit recipes a wow, that way you'll know what's best if you come searching for recipes. Just browse or search "Wow!" Plus, that way I can access them all easily when I'm putting together my list of meals for the week.

This blog is actually quite cookbook-like for me in that I can keep all my recipes together in one place. On occasion, I have also been known to have my laptop open on the kitchen counter next to me while I cook! I just can't touch it with sticky fingers!

As for these sweet potato fries, I actually tried two options tonight. I cut up one sweet potato (which went a surprisingly long way, PLENTY of fries for two people. Could've been stretched further even). With it, I tried two different options, both from The Kitchn - I think at this point my favorite go-to site for recipes since all of their stuff is so darn good!

Option A was the spicy option with chili pepper. Option B was with paprika. Both are tossed in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Be careful with the amount of oil you use however, as they seem to absorb it pretty easily.

The chili pepper was just okay, but the paprika just really amped up the natural taste of the sweet potato. Wow that was good!

I've tried sweet potato fries in the past and not liked them, but those weren't with paprika! Do note, however, that the centers do stay pretty soft, even once the outer edges get crispy. I actually cooked mine a bit longer than the recipe required.

Visit the Kitchn for the full recipe/instructions. I'm not a huge fan of rosemary so I didn't try that option, but I'd be curious to know what you think if you do.

Wow Meal: Gourmet, hand-tossed pizza

It's no secret that I love good food, but it has to be something special for me to get really excited.

This pizza did it, and I never like pizza that I make myself. It was very satisfying. I'm full but not overly full. Yum!

Okay, enough hype, to the recipe. I posted a link to the Kitchn's homemade pizza recipe earlier this week and decided to try it tonight. It's enough for two small pizzas, or more if you prefer to cut calories. So Alex made his with ramps and pepperoni, and I did mine with ramps and mushrooms. Wow, it was good. Really it was the crust that did it, but that lovely ramp flavor helped as well.

I did have to learn a couple of things the hard way before I got my pizza to turn out just right.

First of all, this is definitely a chewy crust, so you can't overcook it at all. The edges didn't look as golden as the post described so I let Alex's keep cooking. Big mistake. Way too hard. In fact, his was inedible. Not only because we overcooked it, but also because I used wax paper instead of parchment paper underneath the pizza when cooking. Bad idea. Turns out they aren't the same thing! So the apartment smoked up and the wax paper stuck to the bottom of the pizza! Ooops!

So I learned my lesson and used no wax paper the second time and cooked it less.

When I make this again, I'll put the cheese on sooner and will put the cheese under the veg, etc. The recipe only has the cheese cooking a few minutes which wasn't quite enough.

You have to try it! See the recipe here. Remember, it's the dough that makes it special! (It was super easy...)

What *are* ramps exactly?

So ramps seem to be a big thing in the local culinary scene here in New York, but until yesterday, I'd never even heard of them.

Turns out they are what I imagine to be a cross between green onions and leeks. Mostly like small leeks from what I understand. See above.

Given that I'm so into trying new things these days, I'm going to have to head on over to the farmer's market in Union Square to find some.

Both the New York Times and The Kitchn posted about them this week. Check out their ideas about how to use them below, and let me know how you would prepare them? I need some additional inspiration on this one...

Suggested Recipes:

Ricotta gnocci with ramp pesto
Morel mushrooms and ramp pizza
Ramp risotto
Sauteed ramps

Join the Kitchn Cure

Does your freezer look like this? Or your fridge or cabinet? If yes, you need a cure. In this case, the Kitchn cure. The Kitchn blog is sponsoring a 6-week "cure" with weekly assignments to help get your kitchen in tip top shape.

This week's assignment, clean out your freezer and pantry.

Are you up for the challenge? If yes, sign up here! Since I'm spending more time in the kitchen lately, I just did...

(P.S. That *really* looks like our freezer! Except minus all the nummy ice cream. I better get to work!)