Meg’s at work which leaves me to putter the day away. While I was cleaning up some of my archived draft posts, I found this…
I was in Provence, France for five hours. I know, ‘why would anybody be in Provence for less than half a day?’ Well, I was actually in Monte Carlo. It was one of our ports of call on a Mediterranean cruise that we took several years ago. We were walking out of an unbelievably posh gourmet deli, when a public transit bus passed by with the destination header reading ‘Provence’. I ran to the bus and asked the driver, “as in Provence, France?” He smiled and said, “Oui Madame, un euro.” I almost fell over. I had read the on-shore excursions for that day and ‘lunch in Provence’ was a mere one hundred and fifty euro per person!
We hopped on the bus and had a delightful ride along the Sea made so much more wonderful knowing that we were going to have lunch in the land of lavender. I don’t remember exactly what we had but I do remember basking in the authenticity of our little bistro. We strolled the historic district, buying little keepsakes for friends and a few treasures for us. There was no way I was leaving without a tin of their famous Herbes de Provence. The one that I chose had dehydrated garlic chips. Not the classic but I thought it would be fun to play around with it. Turns out I was right. These sweet potato fries tossed in extra virgin olive oil and Herbes de Provence with garlic are perfect dipped in creme fraiche or as a side with grilled chicken or fish.
Sweet Potato Fries a la Provence
Preheat oven to 450* F.
2 to 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence – try to find a mixture containing dehydrated garlic
1 teaspoon each sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
Line a baking sheet with parchment
Cut potatoes into french fries and drop onto cookie sheet.
Coat potatoes in oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast for 20 minutes then remove from oven and sprinkle with herbes de provence
return to the oven and continue roasting for 5 more minutes
serve immediately
THE LOVE: Watch your fries closely so that they don’t get too dark. you’re looking for a lovely golden color.
one year ago: gorgonzola truffles
Thanks for reading.
