Fingerling 'fries' with spicy banana ketchup


 

K Kruger

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
For a mid-afternoon app I decided to make fingerling 'fries' with spicy banana ketchup. Nice with a glass of chilled Monterey chardonnay.

The 'fries' are simply fingerling potatoes, quartered, thirded, or halved, depending on size, tossed with evoo and roasted in a 425 oven, flipping after the first 10 min, then every 5 min thereafter, till cooked though and nicely browned on the surfaces.

The ketchup is very simple: 1 medium onion, finely chopped and sauteed in 2 T unsalted butter with a good pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, and a pinch of salt, stirring occasionally, till golden brown all over, about 10-12 minutes.

Then, to that, add .5 t each of ground allspice, ground cinnamon, and ground coriander, a pinch of ground clove, plus 1.5 t of ground ginger, 1 t of ground sumac*, and several turns of the white peppermill. Saute the spices till fragrant, about 1 min, stirring constantly, then add 3 t of granulated garlic and 2 t granulated onion. Stir, then immediately deglaze with 1/3 c white wine or white balsamic vinegar; reduce by half, stirring.

Add 1.5 c water, a hefty pinch of salt, 3 ripe (but not overripe) bananas, peeled and sliced, and 3 T Lingham's** plus 2 T ketchup. Bring to a simmer then reduce the temp to low and cook 5 min. Remove the bay leaf and puree with a handblender. Allow to cool a little while the potatoes finish. (Can be served warm, room temp or cold. Can be frozen.)



* Ground sumac is a delicious souring agent that I highly recommend for this--and for many other sauces and condiments. Alternatively, add 1 t lemon zest.

** Lingham's is much like a sweetened sriracha. Alternatively, use 2 T sriracha (or to taste) plus 2 t sugar, or use the hot sauce of your choice (in similar quantities) plus 2-3 t sugar. Or, if you lean toward a less spicy finish, start with half (or less) of the Lingham's or sriracha and add more, if desired, after puréeing.

The ketchup, while simmering, just before blending:




Fingerling 'fries' with spicy banana ketchup:

 
Clark, sumac at Penzey's:

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/results.html

Didn't I see that you just ordered some chiles? Maybe customer service will be able to tack a sumac order onto the one you just placed.

It happens to me all the time. Two days after placing a Penzey's order, I find something else that I should have ordered. ~
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My 2 cents,
Rita
 
1 t powdered lemon zest if you have any, finely grated if not. Sumac is fruity/sour rather than lemony/sour, with deeper mid- and low-range flavor notes.

Sumac will work in rubs as well as sauces. It is especially good, though, sprinkled on items at serving, particularly grilled items where one might think of lemon--like chicken, seafood, fish, or lamb. And, if a heat sprinkle is also in order, sumac mixes wonderfully with Aleppo's fruitiness and heat. Terrific on basmati, lamb kebabs, hummus, grilled or sauteed shrimp...
 
Clark, sorry, I didn't see your post until just now. I think phoning might have given you quicker results than an email. It might not be too late, tho. Hope it works for you.

Rita
 
I was to late! Not the end of the world though. I did put the recipe together with the lemon zest instead. Turned out excellent. I highly recomend to all! Thanks Kevin!

Clark
 
Clark, if it's not too late, I believe you can substitute a little tamarind for sumac if I am not mistaken. But don't add too much since tamarind is much more acidic. Kevin, can you please comment. Thanks.

Erik
 
You are not mistaken. A tamarind sub is spot-on.


This ketchup goes well with grilled meats, btw--especially grilled pork or beef.
 
I made this ketchup today and it was much thicker than I expected. More like a whipped sweet potato consistency, not really what I expected.

I got concerned when i added the white wine to deglaze and the recipe says "simmer until reduced by half" but it made more of a paste, nothing really to simmer away.

I followed it to the letter (or at least I thought I did) I know it's hard to ask for a correction for what I did wrong, but any suggestions would be helpful.

I did think the flavors were great, just too thick.

Thanks
Kev
 
After the wine reduces it should be rather thick. The 1 cup of water that goes in next (along with the bananas) thins it considerably. However, if too thick at that point - or later after the brief cooking - simply whisk in water till smooth. Adjust salt. If necessary, adjust any other seasoning; done.
 
I have not made it in some time. If you make it before I make it again, Ray, try it with 1.5 c water. It's certainly possible I put in a wrong number there.

Regardless, if too thick that's all it needs. And whatever adjustment of salt, perhaps, after it's where you want it to be in thickness terms.
 
I will let you now Kevin. I plan to try it today or tomorrow.
My Granny used to make catchup that she "canned". It was very flavorful, ans sweet with a spicy flavor that I have never seen since. Your spices remind me of the taste of her's so I am driven to try it!

Thanks again,

Ray
 
I have not made it in some time. If you make it before I make it again, Ray, try it with 1.5 c water. It's certainly possible I put in a wrong number there.

Kevin,

Made this yesterday and it definitely needed 1.5 cups of water. With only one cup, my hand blender could not do the job. Overall, this is delicious but next time I will use less sriracha as it was a bit on the "hot" side.
The kitchen smeled great after simmering this dish.
I plan to do the fingerling potatoes tonight and serve the catchup with them.
On another note, I think this catchup would be fantastic in a meatloaf so will try that down the road.
Thanks Kevin,

Ray
 
Thanks Ray (and thank you Kev for the original heads-up). I'll edit the recipe.

Yes, it's spicy.

It's quite good, imo, with grilled, roasted or smoked meats - especially pork.
 
Had your fingerling potatoes last night. Great way to have "fries" without all the oil. My wife wants these a lot in the future. So easy and so good.
Also, the banana ketchup was much milder after being in the refrig.
Thanks again K.
Ray
 
Made some tonight. The ketchup and the fingerling "fries".

The original recipe for the ketchup is great as is. I need to apologize to Kevin in that I did go by taste while making up the ketchup and added my own tweaks.

The original recipe in the pot was fine. Only thing is that I added notes that I thought Marianne and I would like. I cook a lot and I have a handle on what she and I like, so did some mods.

Bottom line is the standard recipe is just fine as I tasted it during the cook. I stepped back from the finished ketchup recipe and was so pleased. I talked to the pot.

I had the Lingham's and all the other stuff which I think is key (mostly the Lingham's).

All I did is tweak it more to red/tomato sweet (not just with more tomato Ketchup!)

In the end the prominent note was banana followed by the spices followed with the tomato.

Really good. The fingerling fry thing is so cool.

I preheated the large tray in the oven as it was preheating. Pulled the tray dumped on a T or so of grape seed oil and flowed it about then dumped on the fingerling cuttings that had been tossed in EVOO.

This is a cool basic recipe for "easy fries" and a ketchup that is just awesome.

BTW - I'm a fan for more than 55 years of fried banana (yes regular big grocery or plantain). So I like!! I actually prefer fried banana instead of toast with breakfast
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Thanks again for sharing Kevin. This is a keeper basic. Made me a good Valentine along with the shared dried porcini rubbed porterhouse Marianne and I shared today.
 

 

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