Hey friends! This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of Macy’s, however as usual all thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are 100% my own.
If you’ve been following along with my instagram , you’ve seen that both my sisters are in New Orleans this week and we are just eating up a storm. The culinary scene here in NOLA is absolutely amazing- and trying to give my sisters the opportunity to eat all the yummy foods here has definitely been a marathon for our stomachs and our wallets. To take a little break and save some money, I hopped over to browse some of the amazing (and super doable!) recipes created by master chefs like Marcus Samuelsson and Rick Bayless over at Macy’s Culinary Council. There are so many recipes perfect for an amateur like myself in a college apartment kit
chen, but there are also some really fancy meals for if you’re feeling like being a top chef. (Like this Shoyu Ramen from master chef Takashi Yagihashi- YUM!) I decided to go for something simple that I could use local Louisiana ingredients for, so I picked Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Sweet Potato Fries and Marc Burger Sauce because any recipe with sweet potatoes sounds like a winner to me!
Macy’s Culinary Council
Cooking for myself made me even more excited to check out the FREE (!!!) master chef demo at my local Macy’s here at the Lakeside Mall this Friday! I can’t wait to see what Ch
ef Bryan Caswell from Houston’s Reef is going to cook up, and hopefully I’ll learn even more skills so I can eat and cook more like an adult (college probs). Chef Caswell was Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef in 2009 and was also a James Beard finalist so he’s definitely going to be cooking up something incredible. Watch his demo and join me this Friday the 17th at 2pm at the Macy’s kitchenware section in Lakeside, LA and we can all learn together! Plus, if you RSVP to the event, you’ll receive a $10 Macy’s gift card so you can pick up some kitchen gadgets of your own like the Joseph Joseph ones I used today! See you there! 🙂
Sweet Potato Fries
So, Chef Marcus’s recipe serves four, but I was just making it for myself so I divided each ingredient by 4 and used just a half of a sweet potato. It ended up being the perfect portion for a tasty snack! As per his recipe, you’ll need canola or vegetable oil, salt, and sweet potatoes of course!
First, you’ll want to fill a deep pan about halfway with the oil and set the temp to 325 degrees fahrenheit. While the oil is heating, wash and scrub your sweet potato, then peel and cut the potato into thick fries (they will shrink in the oil). Chef Marcus recommends a french fry cutter for uniform sticks- but a kitchen knife works well too.
Next, as per the recipe, place the sweet potato pieces in ice water to release some starch. Once the oil is hot, dry the pieces thoroughly with a paper towel to prevent splattering (eek!). One by one, carefully place the sweet potato pieces with tongs in the hot oil and let fry for 3 minutes.
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oil and place on a brown paper bag (I used a grocery bag), then heat the oil to 375 degrees fahrenheit and fry for another four minutes. Since my stove is gas and I don’t have a cooking thermometer, I used the halfway and 3/4 knob turns as markers for oil heat. Once the four minutes is over, place the sweet potato fries on a paper bag again, dab dry with a paper towel, and lightly salt!
Chef Marc Burger Sauce
This sauce was sooo tasty oh my goodness! Bless you Marcus Samuelsson for sharing your burger sauce recipe with us because sweet potato fries will never be the same again. The recipe serves four, so I cut the ingredients in quarters (as best as I could) for a single serving. That means I used:
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 drops hot sauce
- pinch of lemon pepper
I added all my ingredients to a bowl, mixed it together with a fork, and placed the sauce in my fancy little cup for aesthetic.
Finally, I added the sweet potato fries to my little sauce cup and BAM! Perfect little snack! Thanks so much to Macy’s Culinary Council and Chef Marcus Samuelsson for sharing the culinary love, hope to see you this Friday at Macy’s Lakeside for our own local demo with Chef Bryan Caswell!
xo,
ohh caroline
Have you tried recipes from Macy’s Culinary Council? Let me know your favorites in the comments below!
ohh caroline 