When my children were little, I used a "Fry Daddy" to fry anything...okra, egg rolls and even frozen french fries. They were ok, but I later decided to slice my own potatoes and try frying them…they weren't much better still sometimes soggy. The children’s dad had a heart attack at 41, so that meant no more fried food at our house!
Fast forward twenty-five years…Covid-19 and being stuck at home. Remember when Christmas was known as the time when you put on an additional 10 pounds. At this point, I think Covid-19 will be known as the Covid-15 if I stay home much longer!
Last week, we were going to grill hamburgers and I really wanted to cook some crispy French Fries. Carry out fries often arrive soggy and cold so I went on the hunt for a delicious crispy fries recipe.
I have always loved The Pioneer Woman’s recipes, and found her French Fries recipe very interesting. I had never thought about soaking cut potato slices before cooking. Ree Drummond says that soaking the potatoes removes the starch on the outside. This is what prevents the fries from getting crisp. You need to plan ahead for this recipe because the potato sticks need to soak at least two to three hours before cooking. It takes a little effort with double frying, but these are delicious. Everyone loved them. Five pounds of potatoes feeds a large family.
Perfect French Fries by Pioneer Woman
PREP TIME:
3 Hours
DIFFICULTY:
Easy
COOK TIME:
30 Minutes
SERVINGS:
8 Servings
French Fries eaten with a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise are divine.
Ingredients
5 pounds Russet Potatoes
Vegetable or Peanut Oil For Frying
Sea Salt
IMPORTANT: Please be careful when frying with hot oil. Keep the pot on the back burner so little kiddos won't get hurt.
In a nutshell: Soak potatoes, dry potatoes, fry potatoes, drain potatoes, then fry again!
Peel and rinse the potatoes, then cut them into sticks by cutting the potato in four or five vertical pieces, then cutting each piece into sticks. Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water, then allow them to soak for two or three hours. (Stick them in the fridge and let them soak for several hours or overnight.)
When you're ready to make the fries, drain off the water and lay them on two baking sheets lined with paper towels. Blot them with paper towels to dry them.
Heat a few inches of oil in a heavy pot to 300 degrees. In 3 or 4 batches, cook the potatoes for about 4 to 5 minutes per batch, or until the potatoes are soft. They should not be brown at all at this point! You just want to start the cooking process. Remove each batch and drain them on new/dry paper towels.
Once all the potatoes have been fried at 300, turn up the heat until the oil reaches 400 degrees. When the oil's hot, start frying the potatoes in batches again, cooking until the fries are golden and crisp. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
Sprinkle fries with sea salt and dive in!