Baked Kale Chips

1 bunch curly-leafed kale
1 T olive oil
sea salt, fine to medium coarse

Preheat convection oven to 275 deg F.

Wash kale and trim stems. Cut or tear kale into chip-sized pieces (for any definition of chip size you like). Spin the kale dry in a salad spinner. Toss with the olive oil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the kale on the paper in a single layer, with the curls facing down (keeping the chips up off the paper as much as possible to maximize airflow). Bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the chips are moderately crispy and have just some hints of browning. They'll crisp up a tiny bit more as they cool.

Season to taste. If the salt is to coarse, it will mostly just fall off the chips. Flavored salts work work well (garlic is good; smoked bacon-chipotle sea salt -  yum!).

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 3/4-1 lb. total)
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp rosemary salt
pinch fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4-3/8" fries.

Toss with cornstarch, mixing well to avoid any clumps. Then toss with salt and pepper. Finally toss fries with olive oil.

Place in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet, with space between fries. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn fries over and bake for another 10-15 minutes/until crisp on the outside and cooked through. Some fries may be fairly dark.

NOTE: Fries may burn on the bottom if baked directly on a metal baking sheet.

Sprinkle with a bit of additional salt.

Idaho-local St. Partick's Day feast, featuring Baked Corned Beef

3 lbs. Porterhouse Market SRF American Wagyu ("Kobe") Corned Beef
1/4 c. Wagner's Smoky Hot mustard
1 T. Idaho Wildflower raw honey
2 T. brown sugar
10 whole cloves

Preheat oven to 350°.  Rinse corned beef to remove any whole seasonings and pat dry.  Place beef in a shallow roasting pan, fattiest side up.  Insert the cloves into the top of the beef at somewhat evenly spaced locations.

Whisk mustard, honey, and sugar together.  Coat top of beef with mustard mixture.  Cover beef loosely with foil and bake for 2 hours.

Remove foil and broil the beef until the top starts to caramelize (2-3 minutes).  The mustard mixture can burn quickly, so monitor the beef closely while broiling.

Rest the beef for 10 minutes.  Slice across the grain into 1/4" thick slices.

Serve with boiled Rice Family Farm red potatoes, sauteed cabbage, hearty wheat bread made with Idaho Gran and Flout Mill whole wheat, Cold Springs carp/ology 2006 Snake River Vally AVA Syrah, and Guinness (ok, not everything can be local).