This week I'm going to share a recipe for oven fries. I made these several weeks ago and they were wonderful, but then made them again and they were pretty lackluster. I gave it one more try last night and they were back to their golden brown perfection.
Here are a few tips that I think ensures a better fry-
-for some reason "older" potatoes are better. I don't think potatoes have a "ripeness" but the 2nd batch of yucky fries were made from potatoes that were fresh from the store, but batch 1 and 3 were from bags that I had for about a week.
-be sure to weigh your potatoes. The likelihood of picking up 3 8oz potatoes is pretty rare--just make sure your potatoes have a total weight of 24 oz to ensure a proper oil to potato ratio.
The recipe is from The All-Time Best Recipes issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. We faithfully watch America's Test Kitchen on PBS every weekend which shows the extensive testing that goes into each of their recipes...this particular article details trying different potatoes, different cooking temperatures, how much oil and salt and how to apply it, etc... Needless to say, their recipes are usually divine (sometimes highly labor intensive, but divine nonetheless.)
So, this isn't your typical leave it and forget it oven fry recipe, but you won't be sorry! Also note this recipe says it serves 4....but Joel and I devour every single fry. Well, we did let Nate have one :-)
Ultimate Oven Fries
3 russet potatoes (8oz each), scrubbed, and each cut lengthwise into 10 to 12 even wedges
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. vegetable or peanut oil
Table salt and ground pepper
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Place potatoes in large bowl, cover with hot tap water, and let soak for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coat 18x12 in heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with 1/4 cup of oil and sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
2. Drain potatoes. Spread potatoes out on triple layer of paper towels and pat dry thoroughly with additional paper towels. In bowl, toss dried potatoes with remaining teaspoon oil.
3. Arrange potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove foil and continue to bake until bottoms of potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating baking sheet after 10 minutes.
4. Scrape potatoes loose from pan with metal spatula, then flip over each wedge using tongs, keeping potatoes in single layer. Continue to bake until fries are golden and crisp, 7-10 minutes longer, rotating pan as needed if fries are browning unevenly. Spread potatoes out over paper towels to drain briefly, discarding oil left on baking sheet. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
