There is an awesome foodie restaurant near me called The Butcher & Barkeep, and it’s about the only foodie restaurant around. The waits there are regularly an hour or more during dinner time, any day of the week. It’s a popular place with the locals, and for good reason – they have an excellent craft beer selection and quite an enticing menu. Their menu is somewhat seasonal; some of it changes throughout the year, but some things are always on the menu – like their Sexy Fries.
What are Sexy Fries? Ever since my brother first raved about them to me, I knew I had to try them. French fries drowned in a tangy hollandaise sauce, topped with fresh herbs, shredded parmesan, and truffle oil. I had to turn my nose up at the truffle oil, bc ew mushrooms, and almost ordered without it. But I decided to be adventurous and see if I liked it. After all, I liked everything else on the dish, and if my ridiculously picky brother liked it, then it must not be so bad!
Recreating Sexy Fries at home was no easy feat. For one thing, my standard packet of Knorr hollandaise sauce would not do for this. I would need a homemade recipe. So off I went to Pinterest to find an easy, no-fail hollandaise sauce recipe, and The View From Great Island delivered! Their recipe for a stick-blender hollandaise sauce was SO easy and SO tasty, that I knew it would be a component for my recreated Slutty Fries (didn’t want to steal the name Sexy Fries and get sued, ha!). The best part about this recipe? No clarified butter! ?? My only complaint was it was a touch salty for me, so the next time I made it I cut the salt content in half and it was absolutely perfect.
Then, I had to take several trips to The Butcher & Barkeep to eat Sexy Fries again and again (oh, darn!) and figure out what exactly the herbs were and how they were served. At first I thought the herbs were sauteed or softened in the truffle oil, because they were not super crisp. But my husband was adamant that sauteeing in truffle oil would never, ever happen. (Shows you how much I know about truffle oil!) So after determining that I saw parsley, scallions, and chives on the Sexy Fries at B&B, I knew which herbs I would need, and decided I would saute them gently in some canola oil spray (since it’s pretty flavorless).
THEN, I had to find truffle oil, out in the boondocks! This was also not very easy! But I finally found it at a nice locally-owned grocery store, so now I was ready!
If you can’t find truffle oil, don’t let it hold you back from making this dish. These fries are still amazing without the truffle oil, but as I discovered after making them at home, that truffle oil is what kicks this dish up another notch. It’s the first thing you smell when the sweet B&B waitress plops that pile of sluttiness in front of you. It’s worth it if you can find it, but don’t go crazy. Oh – and – hubby says you MUST use WHITE truffle oil. So if you can only find BLACK truffle oil, skip it!
Ingredients
1 bag extra crispy fast food-style French fries
1 bunch parsley, minced
1 bunch scallions, minced
1 bunch chives, minced
Cooking spray
Shredded Parmesan
White truffle oil
Stick Blender Hollandaise Sauce:
3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
12 tablespoons butter
Directions
1. Start by baking your fries according to package directions. Make sure they are nice and crispy and not undercooked! Whenever I bake fries, they always take longer than the package directions. So keep an eye on them, and flip them frequently so they don’t burn.
2. Next, make your hollandaise sauce. Add egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice to a wide-mouth mason jar, or other similarly-sized container that you can use for a stick blender. Melt the butter in the microwave, 10 seconds at a time, until about 75% melted. Then, remove from the microwave and stir or whisk until the remaining butter melts. You don’t want the butter to be boiling or scorching hot. Pour the completely melted butter into the same container as the egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice. Immediately begin pureeing with the stick blender. Puree until well-combined, then remove the stick blender. Fill a small saucepan about halfway full with water, and set on the stove over medium-low heat. Place the mason jar in the center of the pan to gently warm the hollandaise sauce. Whisk every so often and check the temperature by taste-testing. You don’t want it too hot, just warm.
3. Now you want to soften your fresh herbs. In a large non-stick skillet, spray generously with a mild cooking spray such as canola oil or coconut oil. Pour in all of the minced herbs. Warm over low or medium-low heat until the scallions have softened and the herbs start to shrink a little in volume. Keep warm on low heat until ready to assemble. Do not cook the herbs – if they start to sizzle or smoke, turn the heat off.
4. Now, to assemble these delicious fries! Spread baked fries on a large platter. Pour hollandaise sauce all over top (yes, all of it). Sprinkle the herbs all over top. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan all over top. Plug the top of the white truffle oil with your thumb and thinly drizzle all over top. White truffle oil is strong – a little goes a long way – do not pour freely. Then, chow down and enjoy!!