French Fries...as French as French Toast or French Dressing. That is to say, completely Pas D'Origine Française -- about as French as Sauerkraut or Swedish Meatballs.
However, just about EVERYONE loves French
Fries. Or, as we will refer to them for the rest of this blog post,
simply "Fries". They’re a
staple at fast food restaurants from coast to coast and a regular compliment to
any hamburger plate anywhere. Yet,
making truly great fries at home – from scratch – has evaded me for years. They’d turn out fairly tasty, but would end
up lacking of those qualities that almost any drive-thru fry could possess…a
firm exterior, fluffy interior and wondrous flavor without sogginess or
greasiness. How infuriating to someone
like myself who almost always prefers home-made to mass-produced when it comes
to food!
I even know of one famous hamburger chain who prides themselves on
making homemade fries and even displays bags of potatoes around the restaurant
and a sign saying who’s farm the spuds were grown on…who’s fries suffer from
the same soggy, greasy results as my own did.
True, I could go half-way and buy a bag of frozen fries and fry
them myself, and that was slightly more satisfying, but still…it really wasn’t
the same as a good and proper fry.
So one day, with nothing better to do than ponder the mysteries of the Fast Food Fry, I began my internet search on how to make proper fries like that Famous Chain With The Arches does.
This search led me to one very over-the-top individual who went
into extreme research, scientific study and detail on the subject (and quite a
lot of other burger-related subjects) who finally cracked the code on how to
make a decent fry at home. I’ll spare
you all the background detail (though you can read about it along with other burger science geekdom here). and cut right to the recipe. To do it absolutely the best way takes an
additional step and some planning, but the ‘short version’ works very well
also. So without further ado, here’s how
to make AMAZING fries at home.
You need:
5 or 6 nicely sized Russet potatoes
2 quarts Water
3 T Vinegar
2 T Salt
Oil for frying
Candy or Deep Frying Thermometer
7 to 10” diameter pot with fairly high sides
Firstly, you need to slice the potatoes into fries that are about ¼”
X ¼”. You can buy a fry cutter or just
do this with a very sharp knife (be careful!).
You can peel them first or leave the skins on, your choice. Immediately toss them in a bowl of water as
you cut them, so they don’t turn bluish.
Next, put the Water, Vinegar and Salt in a large pot on the stove
and bring to a violent boil. Gently add
the fries and boil in this mixture for 9 minutes. Remove carefully and drain in a colander, then
lay out on paper towels to cool and dry.
Now take the 7” to 10” diameter pot with high sides and put 3 to 4
inches of oil in the pot. Make sure
that you have enough oil in the pot to deep fry, but not so much that it could
boil over and start a fire. If you have
an actual deep fryer, that would be preferable to use, set it to 375 degrees. Else, you’ll have to experiment with your
stove and use the candy / deep frying thermometer til you can get a steady temp
of the oil at 375 degrees.
Working in small batches, add fries to the oil and fry each small
batch for ONE MINUTE. Then remove and
drain on paper towels. Do this til you’ve
gone through all of the fries that you plan to make.
Now, here comes the really weird part. Take all of the fries and put them in a bag
and freeze them.
When you’re ready to make the fries to serve (presumably at least
12 hours later), again heat your oil up to 375 but this time deep fry the fries
til they are golden brown. After each
batch, put the fries on a paper-towel lined cookie sheet and keep on “warm” in
the oven. Lightly salt the whole works
when done and serve.
You and your guests will be amazed at how well these turn out!
In a hurry? Skip the
freezing step. Just drain and cool all
the fries after the one minute fry session, then start over, frying till golden
brown. They’ll be about 85% as good as
the ‘long’ way, but still amazing!
What I like to do is work with several bags of Russet potatoes,
changing the water/vinegar/salt mixture every 2 batches, and make up a whole
bunch of fries to freeze at once. I then
pack them away in meal-sized bags…they should keep for 2 or 3 months that way.
