First, the rosemary. I instagrammed a photo of our new herbs a couple weeks back and here’s a more flattering portrait of one of our new beauties. We’ve had basil for a while, which was a gift from friends that I use quite often in Thai and Italian dishes. But you can’t go wrong with more herbs. So when John and I were in our local Fresh Market a couple weeks back we saw an amazing deal: 2 herb plants for $5! I couldn’t believe it, and they looked so fresh. We instantly snagged a mint and rosemary and proceeded to the checkout to claim our prizes. The rest, as they say, is history. The second part of this recipe is the inspiration behind it. We discovered this new restaurant in Wichita called Public that’s so rad we’ve literally been there three times already, purchased two Groupons for meals, and are going there tonight after we finish Christmas shopping. Though I could say a lot about it, we love that they are committed to using fresh, local ingredients (a rarity in Kansas); serving creative and inspired dishes; and have daily $2 beer specials. Also, the owner used to live in Seattle, a city we’re quite fond of, and follows us on Twitter and totally RECOGNIZED us on our first visit. John and I have NEVER been recognized in public for Minimalist Baker, being that we’re such a young site (born just in June 2012). Needless to say we were flattered, impressed and are now hooked on this amazing new place. On our first night there we invited a couple friends down and we split the rosemary garlic fries. I honestly wasn’t expecting anything amazing but one bite in and I was literally having a slow-motion intimate moment with that french fry. It was clearly hand cut, perfectly salted and studded with fresh pieces of minced garlic and rosemary. How very creative and delicious. So delicious, in fact, that once the fries were gone I was literally picking the rosemary out of the bottom of the bowl and putting it directly in my mouth. It was all over from there. I set off to recreate the recipe that very next day. See how it all comes together? We discovered Public which led us to the rosemary which led us to this very recipe: a crispy baked french fry seasoned with fresh garlic and rosemary that’s casual enough to serve with a burger and sophisticated enough to serve to the snobbiest of foodies in your social circle. Trust us, we tried it and it was a winner on both accounts. Happy french-frying.
