Food: Oven-Baked French Fries

I love a good french fry.  French fries might be in my top five foods, all time - under the subcategory of potato, which I don't think I've ever met one that I don't like.  Mmmm, potatoes!  I found this recipe through Pinterest - I had previously pinned it and was looking for some dinner inspiration.

We used to have a little deep fryer unit and while it was really awesome, it was unhealthy, a bit of a pain (keeping all that oil around), and didn't get a ton of use.  While owning the deep fryer, we learned how to make french fries, the secret being that they are cooked twice.  First gets them all soft on the inside and the second fry gets them all crispy on the outside.  Lots of work though.

This recipe produced really, really good french fries (in my opinion), but it was a lot more work than I anticipated, but I think that's because we made fries (sticks) instead of wedges.  I plan on trying this again with a different cut to the potatoes.

Clean up was ok, but prepared to use lots of paper towels.  The part of me that tries to be "green" in the kitchen didn't love that.
-1 large bowl
-1 sheet pan
-1 pair of tongs
-1 spatula
-2 measuring spoons
-1 knife

The recipe also mentions a pastry brush, but I didn't use this.


Oven-Baked Fries

INGREDIENTS
3 russet potatoes (about 24 oz. total), peeled and cut lengthwise into even sized wedges
5 tbsp. vegetable, canola or peanut oil, divided
¾ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 475˚ F. Place the potato wedges in a large mixing bowl. Cover with hot water; soak for 10-30 minutes. Put 4 tablespoons of the oil onto a heavy, rimmed baking sheet. Tilt the sheet side to side to evenly coat the pan with oil (a pastry brush can also help with this). Sprinkle the pan evenly with the salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Drain the potatoes. Spread the wedges out on layers of paper towels or on clean kitchen towels. Pat dry with additional towels. Wipe out the now empty bowl so it is dry. Return the potatoes to the bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.

3.  Arrange the potato wedges on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the bottoms of the potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula and tongs, flip each potato wedge keeping them in a single layer. Continue baking until the fries are golden and crisp, 5 -15
minutes. Rotate the pan as needed to ensure even browning.

4. When the fries are finished baking, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain some of the grease. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Source: Annie's Eats

I dressed mine up with some cajun seasoning and parmesan cheese. :)