Dinner-Size Texas Chili Cheese Fries

Bart had fun cooking today. He made us this fabulous dinner. A couple of weeks ago he made something similar to this using canned products. This recipe is worth the little bit of extra time it takes over using frozen French fries and canned chili! The salad was a refreshing side dish. This meal is from Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book (in the chapter entitled “A Little More than 30 Minutes…but Worth It”).
Fries:
4 BIG Idaho russet potatoes, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges each
2 tablespoons McCormick’s Montreal Steak grill seasoning
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Chili:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 to 2 ½ pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Hot sauce (we used a dash of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ cups beef or chicken stock
Cheese Sauce:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 cup milk (warm)
1 cup chicken stock (warm)
1 ½ to 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salad:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
1 seedless cucumber, chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle them with the grill seasoning and give with a good drizzle of olive oil; toss to coat. Roast the potatoes until crispy golden brown, about 40 minutes, turning them once halfway through the cooking time.

While the potatoes are roasting, place a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the ground meat to the pan and cook until brown, 6 to 7 minutes, using a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces as it cooks.

Push the meat to one side of the pan and add the onions, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, and cumin to the pot. Cook until the veggies soften, 5 to 6 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the tomato paste to the pot and cook for about 1 minute, until it smells sweet and has caramelized slightly. Add hot sauce to taste, the Worcestershire sauce, and the stock. Bring everything up to a bubble, then reduce the heat and simmer the chili until thickened, about 10 minutes.

While the chili is simmering, melt the butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and cook it for about a minute, stirring. Stir the mustard into the roux, then whisk in the warm milk and chicken stock. Continue whisking the sauce until it has thickened up, then remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cheese in a figure-eight motion until it melts. Season the cheese sauce with salt and pper and set aside.

In a large salad bowl, whisk together the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil along with the red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Add the lettuce and cucumber to the bowl and toss to combine. To serve, divide the fries among 4 plates and top each serving with some chili and some cheese sauce. Serve the salad alongside.

Serves 4 (generously).