Anxiety permeated the air. While making these, I kept having visions of grabbing the tray without oven mitts. I have done this before. And I really do not want to do it again. It didn't happen this time, thankfully. But it will. The visions are most definitely a premonition of an upcoming kitchen accident.
There is an episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is at a job interview and gets into a discussion with the interviewer about whether grace is an all or nothing attribute or whether it is something of which you can have varying amounts Based purely on my own lived experience, I have to say all or nothing. I have none. From where I'm sitting everyone else has "all." I completely lack it. I get so caught up in my head that I run into doors, into corners, burn myself, drop things (countless dishes have been broken by me), and I have an absurd amount of bruises dotting my arms and legs. You can play "what constellation do you think these look like" with my bruises.
And this lack of general grace is, not surprisingly, mirrored in athletics. I am not an athlete. I lack all sorts of coordination skills. Watching me attempt to play a sport is like watching a drunken newborn deer just trying to figure out how to work its legs.
Perhaps because of my lack of athletic grace and ability, I don't really enjoy watching sports. I never know what is going on with them. Perhaps it is jealousy masquerading as ennui. Who knows.
But it is that time of year when a certain football game actually comes into our purview. Most times we watch, sometimes we don't. But we usually at least know when the Superbowl is being played, and we generally see it as an excuse to eat some fun food. Like some roasted sweet potatoes sticks. Dunked in a lemony blue cheese sauce. Or topped with it. Whatever floats your boat.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Fries:
2 sweet potatoes, cut into sixteenths
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup chopped chives
1-2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
Blue Cheese Dip:
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
cayenne, to taste
Instructions
Sweet Potato Fries:
Heat oven to 425. Place potatoes in large bowl, coat with 1-2 tablespoons oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet (I line mine with a Silpat) and into the oven. Get one side crispy, then flip each fry, for roughly 30 minutes total roasting time. Once cooked, sprinkle with chopped chives and blue cheese.
Blue Cheese Dip:
Mix all together, either serve on top of fries or as a dip.
