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.

RAM Restaurant and Brewery

RAM Restaurant and Brewery
709 East Park Boulevard
Boise, ID 83712
+1-208-345-2929

The downtown Boise outpost of a family-run chain of about 20 sports bar/restaurant/brewpubs (currently in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and Indiana). Lots of TVs for viewing games from the bar or restaurant seating.

The Big Horn Blonde ale is light and clean with just a hint of hops. The 71 Pale Ale is fairly mild at first, but has lots of hop at the very end. A "Short" beer is 18 oz. but looks far bigger. The sodas are similarly generous.

The menu includes salads, sandwiches, and lots of burger creations, some of which seem overly complicated. I didn't see any build-your-own choice on the burgers, but also did not ask.  The burgers are flame grilled, which gives them a good classic taste, are very generous (1/2 lb probably), and relatively sloppy given their complexity.  Medium rare ended up closer to rare, but medium well came out just right.

The Border burger had lots of sliced Jalapeños (including seeds and ribs), which provided some decent heat, but the salsa wasn't realy memorable and the cheese was virtually absent.

The sweet potato fries are passable but not stellar - could be a little crisper, and they seemed to be significantly flavored by the cooking oil.

The decor is a somewhat upscaled Marie Calender's, with brickwork columns by Gaudí.

Overall a decent place for a burger and a beer, especially if you're hungry after a cold day on the slopes at Bogus Basin.

Doug's Burger Den

Doug's Burger Den
231 East State Street
Eagle, ID 83616
(208) 939-3300

A somewhat dated looking burger joint, but the food is reasonably good for what it is.  Good basic burgers and sweet potato fries (not on the permanent menu).  Choice of regular or curly fries also, but haven't tried those yet.  Will have to go back for those and perhaps one of their hot sandwiches (Philly, steak, chicken, etc).

Drive-thru service isn't terribly fast, but presumably they're making the burgers to order so can't really complain about that.  Skip the McDonalds around the corner and go to Doug's instead.