Restaurant Style Oven Fries

Restaurant Style Oven Fries
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This method for making fries in the oven works so well, your Russets may never take a swim in your deep fryer again!

Russet potatoes

What Kind of Potatoes Do I Use For Oven Fries?

Start with either Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. Normally the former is more popular, but when making fries in the oven the latter is often better. Generally, one potato per person is a good way to know how many to make. In this recipe I used 3 small to medium sized potatoes, which was perfect for 2 people.

Cut fries

I prefer to leave the skins on when I make these oven fries, and if you do too, scrub them under water until they are as clean as possible. Leaving the skins on keeps more flavour and nutrients. I cut my fries into 1 cm thick batons. A uniform size ensures they cook evenly.

Rinsing fries

Rinse the fries thoroughly once they are cut or the excess starch prevents them from getting crispy.

adding salt

Place the rinsed fries in a pot and cover them completely with cold water and add a teaspoon of salt.

Blanching fries

Turn the heat on high. As soon as they come to a boil (when you see the first bubble!), turn off the heat and let them sit in almost boiling water (covered) for exactly 5 minutes.

Draining fries

Drain them immediately and allow them to cool completely without rinsing them. This only makes them wet, which would prevent the coating from sticking to them.

Cooling on pan

Cool Down

Spread them out onto a baking sheet to cool completely. This is very important—proceeding while they are still hot can yield a gummy French fry, and who wants that? Once they cool they will be mostly dry. Evaporation is our friend here, and they will be perfectly blanched.

seasoning

Make a simple coating mixture with some flour, salt, sugar, pepper and dried herbs. Be creative here…how about some Cajun spice or curry powder? I usually use oregano, but use any herb you like—as long as it’s dried.

Greasing pan

After transferring the fries into a bowl (remember, they are cooled!), take the same baking sheet and oil it. You don’t need a lot, only about 2 teaspoons. Then preheat the oven to 400F using the convection setting. This produces the best browning, but if your oven doesn’t have this, don’t worry they will still turn out. Then pop the oiled baking sheet in to get hot. This prevents the fries from sticking to it.

Grating garlic

How Do I Season These Oven Fries?

Before coating the fries with the dry mixture, coat them with 2 wet ingredients—oil and garlic. Grate the garlic with a rasp so it’s practically mush. In the end, there is no evidence that it is there except for the awesome flavour it will give the fries.

Seasoning fries

Then add the dry mixture.

Tossing fries

And when the oven comes to temperature (mine beeps), remove the hot baking sheet and spread your coated fries onto it. It should sizzle! Spread them out in a nice even layer—if they are too crowded, they will actually steam more than they will bake. If this is the case, then I can promise you they will not be crispy.

Fries on hot pan

The fries take 30-40 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them. Halfway through the cooking time, give them a stir so they can brown as evenly as possible. I stir them twice—once after 15 minutes, a second time after 10 minutes with a total of 40 minutes.

Stirring oven fries

And that’s it! These fries are, in my opinion, better than deep fried. They are garlicky, herby and plain addictive. They are easily restaurant quality and get crispier as they sit—it doesn’t get much better than that now, does it?

Watch a video demo here!


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