Homemade French Fries!

Sometimes I get too lazy to go out to a restaurant and buy fries, and why bother going out when I can make them at home and they are fresh and better tasting?! Its quick and easy if you use these shortcuts that both save time and add flavor to the fries in the process. The trick is to boil the fries first so you finish them in the oil to get them nice and crispy on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside.

This quantity makes enough fries for 2 people, but beware you should probably make more because they are very addictive.

Ingredients:

2 Large potatoes (I like russet)

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Sugar

Canola or other frying oil

The tools I use:

Fry cutter, potato brush, and Spider (great for scooping food from or into frying oil/water)

Time to Prep

1. Use a potato cleaning brush or other clean brush you have to scrub the potatoes under warm water until the dirt is removed. You can also cut out any sprouts or dark spots so the fries look better. If your potato is has a green tint to it, you should discard it.

2. I bought a french fry cutter because it saves a lot of time and you can use it for cutting fries, making sweet potato fries, and hash browns. If you don't have a fry cutter, you would cut the ends of the potatoes to get a flat side and slice them into 1/4 to 1/2 inch strips.

3. In a large container, combine the 1 Tbsp of salt and 1 Tbsp of sugar and whisk together until dissolved in enough water to cover the potatoes (about 6-8 cups), which is your basic brine. Once the potatoes are cut, place them in the water until you finish cutting all the potatoes. This allows the potato to start soaking in that mixture and prevents them from oxidizing (when they turn that nasty brown color, which tastes terrible.)

If they do oxidize, its OK because you can rinse it off for the most part, but don't add it to the brine water until you rinse them off.

4. Take the entire contents of your container once you have finished cutting all the potatoes and pour it all into a pot to boil. Set the heat to medium high until you get a rolling boil, and then keep it on medium for at least 5 minutes or until the potatoes become soft but don't fall apart.

5. Drain the potatoes completely and place them on some paper towels to dry and cool down. You want them to air dry so that they lose some moisture once you are ready to fry. This would be a good time to get the oil heated up.

6. Pour some canola or preferring frying oil into a deep pan or pot. You will need at least enough to go up 2-3 inches up the pot/pan you are using. Heat the oil to medium high, and once you see the oil start to shimmer, it it ready to fry!

If you see the oil start to burn and smoke, turn the heat to low and wait a minute before you add the potatoes.

Gently place the potatoes in the oil using a slotted spoon or spider if you have one until all potatoes are in the pot. The potatoes will take about 5-10 minutes to fry up. You can do them in batches so that the oil stays hotter (the more potatoes you add, the longer it takes to cook). You are looking for them to turn a golden brown color and look crispy.

Once you get them to this point, drain them on some paper towels and sprinkle with a little bit of salt. Keep in mind they fries are salted from the brine water, which the potatoes soaked up while boiling so you will need minimal salting at the end. If you would like more seasoning, you can use a mix like Cajun seasoning instead of just salt or equal parts garlic powder, cumin, paprika, and onion powder (1 tsp each).

To kick these up a notch, you can saute some finely chopped some garlic (2-3 cloves) and 1-2 Tbsp butter in a saute pan. Once you can smell the garlic, pour the mixture onto the fries with some Parmesan cheese and you can sprinkle a little bit of truffle oil of the fries if you have any.

Enjoy!