French Dip & Oven Fries

When we were married, I told my husband that I was never cooking on weekends, except for holidays. Well, we spent the entire summer of 1993 living in a hotel in Peoria, and the kids got entirely too comfortable in restaurants; it was no longer a weekend treat. Therefore, at the end of the summer, my husband declared that we would never eat out again. Damn stubborn man - I doubt we've eaten out 10 times when we were not traveling since then. Curses! I have to cook on the weekends! But I don't have to make it fancy.

This weekend, I was wracking my brain for something interesting, but not too difficult. Fortunately, on Thursday I had prepared a lovely roast beef. Naturally, I cooked 4 pounds of meat, forgetting that with most of the kids in college we just don't eat that much! Since I had at least half left over, I knew that the "French Dip, Au Jus" that we had in some restaurant somewhere, a long time ago, would be just the ticket. I also wanted fries to go with it, so here it is:
FRENCH DIP

1/2 to 1 loaf French Bread per person (I made my own)
Thinly sliced roast beef
3 cups water
5 beef bouillon cubes

Boil the water in a dutch oven with the cubes. Place the slices of beef, a few at a time, in the water for 30 to 60 seconds, until heated through; remove to a serving plate. Fold slices of beef into the bread, and serve with custard dishes of the beef broth. (Some of my family members dip their bread. Personally, I can't stand wet bread).

OVEN FRIES

1 to 2 redskinned potatoes per person, depending on size of potato and person
1/4 cup olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and paprika to taste.

Cut potatoes into wedges - about 12 wedges per potato. Place on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over them, sprinkle with spices, stir around, add more spices if necessary so that all are evenly flavored, and spread out in an even layer. Put in the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes, turning once. At the end, move to the top rack, turn on the broiler, and brown on each side for 2 to 3 minutes. Declared my youngest: "These are the best french fries ever!"