Cooking With Richard

Faced with going over a week without cooking, a thought occurred to me before heading home for the holidays. Since I cook mainly using meal kits (it cuts out the shopping process, which I hate all parts of, though at the cost of surely increased prices and definitely increased packaging), I came up with the idea of having a meal kit delivered to my childhood home on Vancouver Island. I was initially worried that I wouldn't be there to pick up the delivery, but it turned out that they only delivered to my hometown on Mondays, and I'd be there for that. It arrived in a giant Budget truck, and I had sworn I had ordered 2x of only one meal, and 1x of the other meal. I had gotten 2x of both, and that would be fine, if probably more food than I could eat along with my brother and father while he had a full fridge and we wouldn't eat exclusively at that home during my visit.

That night, I made cheesy chipotle beef enchiladas. It would be the first time in many years that I cooked in my parents' kitchen, so I didn't necessarily know where everything was. I couldn't hang up the cardboard on a magnetic clip like I do at home here in Toronto. I break up meet with a wooden spoon, and my dad only had small ones, so I used a plastic spoon, which he said would be OK. And I'd have to use an oven for the first time in over a year, having switched full time to an air fryer myself (I use my oven for storage now since I would only use it for roasting and never baking). I did like that he had quite the large cutting board, that's something I'll probably invest in myself, since mine now feel a bit small.

I baked the enchiladas with the casserole dish I bought with my mother for $10 at HomeSense, which she brought back with her in her suitcase. (She liked mine so much that she wanted one, too.) She's been gone for over 3 years now, so that was a nice connection to the times we cooked together, some of my favourite memories of her.

My dad said the enchiladas were delicious, and I thanked him humbly for that. I wasn't sure that was their thing, since I don't hear him and my brother talking about Mexican food a lot.

The changed schedule would cause a little bit of chaos back at my Toronto apartment, since I changed the schedule to "Saturday" thinking I had actually postponed it until the following week since I'd be back on the Monday after that. So a package of food, which at least had an ice pack to keep it cold for a little while, sat in front of my door for two full days. I asked around in my building if I could have somebody put it in the amenities room fridge, but a volunteer said they'd do it only if the building management approved, and to this day (over a week later), they haven't gotten back to me.

Lots of lessons learned from this. I would cook the other meal, an Amalfi-inspired fish chowder, a couple of days before I left, and had at least half of it. My dad did ultimately have a bowl of it as well, and it sounds like he liked it. Finding the time to both make and consume the second meal was doable as well, so I'll know that for the next time. I cooked it myself, so maybe the next time I do it, it will be with my dad. Or maybe even my brother. Wouldn't that be something?

I celebrated Cinco de Mayo by making taquitos, a meal that’s fun to make and eat and say the name of. I put them in the air fryer, and the last batch–these two–came out the best. Some unfolded in the air fryer, so for these ones I pressed down a little bit, and they came out great! After taking the photos, I dolloped sour cream to add even more flavour. Yum!

I will try this the next time the side in a recipe is potatoes.

I HAVE THE LAST AIR FRYER FRENCH FRY RECIPE YOU WILL EVER NEED.

I am a big-ass nerd. You know this, right?

So when I was at a restaurant a few years back with a friend and they had the crunchiest fries with the fluffiest interior, I asked staff about how they got such great texture. The secret was vinegar and salt in the water when soaking to remove starch.

And one time I made potato chips where it called to soak them for 10 minutes in boiling water. Crunchiest ever.

I decided to combine the two methods.

If you don’t know, soaking potatoes before roasting or frying is how you get the starch out, because starch kills the crunchy. (But they gotta be dry after so if you’re boiling or steaming before roasting or frying, let them cool completely so the steam evaporates for a fluffier potato.)

Also, older russet potatoes are better than fresh ones, because they have less moisture so the inside gets fluffier.

ANYHOO.

Cut your potatoes like French fries. I do about 1/4” thick slices or so.

Rinse with cold water TWICE. Drain well. Put 1.5 litres of water in a kettle and bring to a boil.

Add into the potato bowl: a handful of salt and 1/4 cup of white vinegar and ONLY white vinegar. None of that other stuff.

Toss the potatoes. Pour the boiling water over them. Stir. Soak for 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Drain.

Spread on a tea towel and let dry, or dry it.

Preheat the air fryer to 360°.

Put the potatoes in a dry clean bowl and toss with 1-2 tablespoons of your chosen fat. I used guanciale — rendered pork jowl fat leftover from carbonara last night.

You could use duck fat, chicken fat, bacon, olive oil, avocado oil — anything works. Personally I think bacon and chicken are too heavy and I would stick to guanciale, olive, duck, and other rich oils that won’t overtake the flavour profile.

Toss with salt. Add to air fryer. Cook for 20-25 minutes at 360° shaking basket often.

Coming up to 20 minutes, taste a smaller fry to see how it’s seasoned. Salt won’t stick once you take it out, so if it needs more salt, spritz lightly with some oil and sprinkle generous salt on. A lot of it will shake off, remember! Finish cooking. Serve! Enjoy!

I had mine with mayo that I added lemon zest and garlic to.

Check out the video in the comments for how loud the crunch is. Turn the sound on!

This may be the most colourful meal I’ve made: Cuban-style black beans and rice with air fried sweet potatoes and peppers, topped with guacamole, sour cream, and cheese.