Weekly Menu Plan: French Fried and Properly Seasoned

One of the things we strive for when planning our menus is making everything fit together into one nice, neat little package. We look to use ingredients in different ways throughout the week so that we’re benefiting from the ability of do-aheads and being able to buy in bulk. We also benefit from a well-stocked pantry.

We have something we’d like to share with you. The little man here is pretty excited about it.


We’ve been asked by the folks at Alexia Foods to participate in their “Reinvent a Classic” Fry Challenge, where we’ll be coming up with our own french fry recipe. French fry flavor creation. It’s a rough job, for sure. Along with 25 other food bloggers, we’ll be tasting and testing and mixing and tasting again. I told you it was a rough job. The top four fry flavors will be sent to San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Festival, where those potatoes will be tasted. The winning potato will show up on shelves in 2012!
So, as the first order of business, I need to decide what type of potato to use. Are we looking at a traditional russet, a creamy Yukon Gold, perhaps the trendy sweet potato? Covered in herbs or good and spicy? With cheese or without?
You can follow along as we develop our very own french fry creation on Twitter using the hashtag #AlexiaFoods or by watching for updates on the Alexia Foods Facebook page. It’s a fantastic group of people, and you should be checking them out anyway.

So tell me, what are your favorite fries like? Do you have any words of wisdom or bits of knowledge to share as I embark on the flavor creation process? I’d love to hear your thoughts. While you think about it, I went on a french fry inspiration finding trip and paired up several different kinds of fries with different meals. Not all are your typical potato variety either.

Monday – Oven Baked Fries with Herbes de Provence and Burger Night

Tuesday – Avocado Fries and Miso Ramen

Wednesday – Eggplant Fries with Kebabs

Thursday – Sweet Potato Fries with Cranberry Pecan Salad and Homemade Croutons

Friday – Grilled Potato Wedges and Grilled Pizza

The Preparation Shortcuts:

1. Pat burgers beforehand, and while you’re dealing with meat, chop the meat for later in the week so it’s ready to go and you aren’t worried about cross-contamination with cutting boards and such. Just pull it out and cook.
2. Use leftover hamburger buns to make croutons!
3. Prep your salad by putting washed and cut lettuce in a jar.
4. All the leftovers hit the pizza and the grill, as usual.

The Shopping List:

1 pound ground beef (for burgers)
2 pounds top round lamb
2 pounds sweet potatoes
3 pounds russet potatoes
4 avocados
1 large eggplant
2 lemons
1 can bamboo shoots
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
6-8 hamburger buns
10 ounces ramen noodles
4 ounces blue cheese
2 cups plain yogurt

Pantry Items:
eggs
milk
butter
olive oil
grapeseed oil
chicken broth
miso paste
chili oil
dashi
soy sauce
cranberries
panko
mayonnaise
salt and pepper
Herbes de Provence

Garden or Farmers Market

fresh herbs
tomatoes
red onions
green onions
romaine

Last week from Food for My Family: