Oven Roasted Potato Wedges

French fries  in North America refer to any elongated pieces of fried potatoes as fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of fried potatoes are sometimes called fries to distinguish them from the more thickly cut strips called chips.

French fries are served hot and generally eaten as an accompaniment with lunch or dinner, or eaten as a snack, and they are a common fixture of fast food. French fries are generally salted and served with ketchup; though in many countries they are topped instead with other condiments including vinegar, mayonnaise, or other local specialities. Fries can also be topped more elaborately, as is the case with the dishes of poutine and chili cheese fries.

Thomas Jefferson had “potatoes served in the French manner” at a White House dinner in 1802. The expression “French Fried Potatoes” first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren. In the early 20th century, the term “French fried” was being used in the sense of “deep-fried”, for other foods such as onion rings or chicken.

It is unlikely that “French fried” refers to frenching in the sense of julienning. Previously, Frenching referred only to trimming meat off the shanks of chops. Belgian journalist Jo Gérard claims that a 1781 family manuscript recounts that potatoes were deep-fried prior to 1680 in what was then the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium). Some believe that the term “French” was introduced when American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I and consequently tasted Belgian fries. They supposedly called them “French”, as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time.

Variants of French fries include thick-cut fries, steak fries, shoestring fries, jojos, crinkle fries, curly fries, hand-cut friesand tornado fries. Fries cut into rough cubes instead of sticks are called home fries. Fries cut thickly with the skin left on are called potato wedges, and fries without the skin are called steak fries, essentially the American equivalent of the British chip.

Curly fries are characterized by their spring-like shape. They are generally made from whole potatoes that are cut using a specialized spiral slicer. They are also typically characterized by the presence of additional seasonings (which give the fries a more orange appearance when compared to the more yellow appearance of standard fries), although this is not always the case. This seasoning also gives the fries a slightly spicier taste than standard fries.

Tornado fries are made by skewering the whole potato, and then cutting with a specialized spiral slicer. The potato is spread evenly along the skewer and deep fried. The cooking process fuses the potato to the skewer and holds it in place. It is then sprinkled with dry seasonings or served with dipping sauce. Tornado fries gets their name from the tornado-like shape that the potato has on the skewer.

Baked Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized Russet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons Sea salt

Scrub potatoes under running water until clean. Cut potatoes into 6 wedges each.

Place cut potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle liberally with salt.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden and crispy on the outside.

Serve with your choice of condiments.

Barbecued Pork Chops

Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated BBQ sauce) is a flavoring sauce used as a marinade, basting (cooking) or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork or beef ribs and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment and is used on many other foods as well.

The ingredients vary widely even within individual countries, but most include some variation on vinegar and/or tomato paste as a base, as well as liquid smoke, spices such as mustard and black pepper, and sweeteners such as sugar ormolasses. The most common barbecue sauce in the United States is a commercialized Kansas City-style which usestomato purée, corn syrup, molasses and vinegar and has a long shelf life. This style is less intense but similar to steak sauce, which is itself a direct relative of the ubiquitous British brown sauce. Other regional recipes elsewhere forgo the tomato sauce base in favor of a more penetrating vinegar-dominant marinade.

The precise origin of barbecue sauce is unclear. Some trace it to the end of the 15th century, when Christopher Columbusbrought a sauce back from Hispaniola, while others place it at the formation of the first American colonies in the 17th century. References to the substance start occurring in both English and French literature over the next two hundred years. South Carolina mustard sauce, a type of barbecue sauce, can be traced to German settlers in the 18th century.

Early cookbooks did not tend to include recipes for barbecue sauce. The first commercially produced barbecue sauce was made by the Georgia Barbecue Sauce Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Its sauce was advertised for sale in the Atlanta Constitution, January 31, 1909. Heinz released its barbecue sauce in 1940. Kraft Foods also started making cooking oils with bags of spices attached, supplying another market entrance of barbecue sauce.

Our recipe uses a dry rub and a barbecue sauce.

Barbecued Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• ¼ cup Paprika
• 2 tablespoons Onion Powder
• 2 tablespoons Garlic Powder
• 2 tablespoons Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tablespoons Chili Powder
• 6 Pork Chops, approximately 1 inch thick
• Barbecue Sauce of your choice

In a small mixing bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients. Mix well to thoroughly combine and then rub onto the pork chops. Place pork chops in covered dish in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Remove pork chops from refrigerator and allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

Grill over medium coals (or use a gas grill if preferred) for 6 minutes per side, or until done.