My Market Year(s)

While traveling with Paul Hobson, I had the most amazing frites in Denver at a high end French restaurant.   They were finished with a champaign gastric and herbs de provence.   I’m not a big french fry person to start with but these were amazing.  The gastrique (a mixture of caramelized sugar and vinegar) brought a sweet and tangy flavor to the mixture.  The herbs de provence brought the floral scent of lavender, the anise-like spark of tarragon and the pine notes of rosemary to the fries.  They were wonderful.

So this is a Recipe I’m Working On post or a RIWO.   I don’t do deep fried.  I leave that to my friend across the pond to try.   He is a capable cook and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.  I’m trying to develop an oven chip version.   I make very nice oven chips – thinly sliced potatoes that are first par-boiled in salted water then tossed in oil and baked until brown and crispy.

My first attempt at these chips with white wine gastrique started by making a simple gastrique.  I weighed out 4 oz of sugar into a small sauce pan.  I melted the sugar then cooked it until it turned into a golden brown caramel.   I added 4 fluid ounces of white wine vinegar and 1 ounce of gewurztraminer.  The traditional gastrique would have no wine but I wanted a stronger wine note.

When you make a gastrique, add the liquid carefully as the sugar will pop and spatter.   You will need to put it back on the heat, covered to dissolve the caramel.  Swirl and stir until the sugar is dissolved the let cool.  You will also want to have your hood on as it will release a cloud of acetic acid fumes (vinegar fumes) that will clear out your sinuses.

The gastrique tastes wonderful.   You can use gastriques in sauces in very small portions or in dressings.  I whisked 1 Tablespoon of gastric with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil (try canola next time) and 1 Tablespoon each of finely chopped tarragon, rosemary and parsley.

I sliced 3 medium red potatoes into 1/8″ slices and put them in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes giving them a stir every couple of minutes to get the excess starch off of the surface of the potatoes.  This helps you get a crispy brown crust in the oven.  I brought a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, added my potatoes and cooked them for 2 minutes until just fork tender but still a bit crispy.  I turn them out into a colander and let the steam to dry off the surfaces.

I tossed the potatoes in the gastrique mixture then spread them out in a single layer on two foil-lined baking sheets.  I roasted at 425°F for 10 minutes.  I turned them and swapped the pans and roasted for another 10 minutes until they were golden brown.

They were nice chips, good crispy bits with soft potato centers, but they didn’t have the sweet-sour tang I was looking for.  Next time,  I’ll drizzle a little gastric over the potatoes after they have steamed in the colander and see if that flavor soaks in, then I’ll roast them.