cooking @ home

Archive for the ‘Deep Fried’ Category

French fries. Another item that is so very “all-American”, yet, as with the people who populate the U.S., it came from elsewhere. We just popularized it. How can anyone not like the quintessential “fry”. It goes with everything. Like it’s cousin, the potato chip, you put it on the side of something else and it turns whatever it’s accompanying into a meal.

And name any other food in the world in which all women will say they don’t want, but when your meal comes with fries, they will eat a third of them from your plate! Admit it, ladies. Guys, you know this is true.

Different Names, Condiments, Toppings

In America, sometimes the fry replaces the potato chips (as with a sandwich or hot dog). Sometimes it’s replacing mashed or baked potatoes next to a pork chop or even a steak (as in steak fries or steak potatoes already mentioned). And sometimes we just eat them by themselves. Not to mention the endless possibilities of toppings that turns it into cheese fries, crab fries (Old Bay seasoning, not actual crab meat), chilli fries, pizza fries or Mexican fries to name a few. And there is curly, shoe-string (super thin) and steak (thicker) ones as the cuts of the potato and slightly different.

Of course there’s also the region differences. In the Northeast part of the US where I live, you eat them plain or with ketchup. And when I crossed the Mason-Dixon line a decade ago and took a trip to Baltimore, I was shocked to find my burger and fries came with brown gravy dumped on top. I quickly learned afterward, if you don’t say hold the gravy in Maryland, it comes automatically without asking for it. And if you go further South, well I know that Paula Deen the Georgian television cook likes them with mayonnaise.

And, of course, (sigh) as with any talk of food, if it’s in America, then sure enough the Brits call it and it’s relations by totally different names, totally confusing things and requiring yet another discussion of “two countries, one language” — or so they say. (Yes, I know, and if you’re British then your point of view is the exact opposite, that those Yanks always have to mess with the Queen’s English.)

Where They Came From

In the United States french fries are thin sticks of deep-fried potato. In the UK, Ireland and the various Commonwealth counties, they are called chips. Also the sizes, shapes and thicknesses vary. The US one is usually the “thin style” of roughly 1/4 inch or less widths and fairly even, though sometimes long. The UK chips tend to be thicker and often shorter. As to it’s “cousin”, in the US, thin oval slices of deep-fried potato are called potato chips, while the same in the UK are called crisps.

As to their origin, it is of course a matter of great debate. Though it seems the so-called French fry probably comes from Belgium. Among the questions though are, is it Belgium that was the Spanish Netherlands, the Belgium that was part of France or the Belgium that was, well, Belgium. And depending on which, the French and the Spanish also claim therefore that they made them first. Again, though, it’s America that both consumes the most, and who via various foreign hamburger chains, have made the thin-width, longer, skinner french fries the version the world tends to eat. What gives me a little chuckle is when an English-speaking chef refers to them as pommes frites in the title of a recipe; I always think their egos be a little flattened that day and so they want to call everyone’s attention to their classical “culinary chops”.

All of that history, names, type of cuts, condiment or food add-ons said, it comes down to deep-frying. Sort of. Deep-frying is how they should be done, though there is also oven-baked from frozen when it comes to home cooking. Today I’m talking about the deep-frying, which involves a whole totally different way of cooking. So much so, there’s no way I’m going to cram all of what is involved into one recipe or even a single article.

It’s About Oils and Deep-Frying

So, I advise you to check out my recent article on Everything You Need to Know about Cooking Oils for now. And I’ll be adding in the near future a second one on deep-frying which I suggest you look at when it’s available.

For now, I’ll say use a good cooking oil with a high-smoke point. I personally prefer canola, vegetable oil or peanut. You will need specific equipment for this if you do not have an electric deep-fryer: A big pot that is stainless steel or cast iron or otherwise “non-reactive”, a deep fry or candy thermometer is a must, and either a spider (usually stainless steel or copper and looks a bit like a spider web with lots of thin wire, sometimes called a steel strainer) or a skimmer (wide, round, many holes, see accompanying photo). You should also have a brown bag and tons of paper towels.

As you see in my photos, one of the great things about having a galley-style kitchen as I do is it makes it easy to set up a “station” where you can cut the potatoes, have them ready for the fryer, and then space to set out a ripped brown bag, on top of which are paper towels for padding the oil off, and also for placing on a baking sheet to maintain the first ones staying warm while the rest are being done.

Worth It? Maybe

Two things I have to tell you. First, yes, these were absolutely delicious fries. Among the best I’ve had. The double-fry method used makes all the difference. And it’s difficult to beat fresh and warm and just-made. That said though, (the second thing, the sound of the other shoe dropping in some ways …) I’m uncertain if I’ll make these again. At least in this way. Why? It is a lot of work. And if you don’t already know one of my big items when it comes to cooking is the taste versus time equation. If something is tremendously better the long way than the short, I’ll go that extra mile. However if something is very difficult and time-consuming and the taste difference doesn’t likewise go up a similar number of levels, then I’ll take the easy way.

With this recipe, it was reusing the oil. It took over and hour and a half to pour 8 cups of oil into a small funnel with a coffee filter in it. Even if I had a really big funnel, there was still the size of the coffee filter. I know, maybe cheese cloth will work better, that and a large funnel. Maybe a microfine coned strainer is the answer. Or maybe, tossing the oil. But then ouch, the world’s most expensive french fries! Another thing, to not crowd the pan I did the first fry in six parts (that’s 6-8 minutes per) and the second fry was three batches for about 2-3 minutes. So, prep time, plus 50-60 minutes plus another 15. The mess and paper towels everywhere, and the long long time of filtering for reuse made this not worth it to me.

Anyway you’ve been forewarned. All in all, I’d rather either buy frozen and put them in the oven or I may try figuring out an oven-only method since I did really enjoy the taste of fresh. Now, I am not flip-flopping in the least here; just presenting the pros and the cons both for you to consider. One big reason you might want to do this is it is the best way to start out deep-frying. I mean if you’ve never done it before ever, or you haven’t for a quite some long time, what you rather mess up a bunch of chicken or a few potatoes? So, this is excellent “beginner training” or “refresher course” for someone getting into or back into deep-frying. And yes they will taste yummy. And if you’re willing to not reuse the oil or you have a better filtering system, go for it. Or if you doing it for a party or for four or more people. Or … it might be worth the investment and get an electric deep-fryer which is something else I myself am considering. Anyway, enjoy!

Homemade French Fries (Deep-Fried)
©2007 Harry Kenney

5 large or 7 medium potatoes (russets or Idahos)
6-8 cups of cooking oil (with a high smoke-point)
salt to taste

Place oil in a large stainless steel stock pot. Add and adjust thermometer on the side so it is not touching the bottom, 1/4 inch to 1 inch from the bottom is good. Turn heat on to high. Keep watching and if it gets past 300°F while you are still prepping/cutting, turn heat down to low.

Choose in your mind first the width you want for your fries, 1/4 inch thick or 1/3 inch. I went with the latter. With your (hopefully) starchy, large and ovalish potatoes, slice across the horizontal making several 1/3 layers. Place them down and now cut through this layer at roughly 1/3 inch apart. Let the length fall where it may. See photo. Into an ice water bath place your potato cuts as you make several. This not only preserves the color, but more importantly helps remove the starch making for a crispier potato for deep frying.

Keep an eye on the oil. If it’s under 300, leave burner on simmer, if it’s over 340°F, turn it off. For the first part you are aiming for 325°F. Continue with the next “level” you cut and the rest of your potatoes, each time you have several placing them in the ice bath. When everything is cut. Leave them in the ice another five or ten minutes, giving you time to set everything up for your stations. You need to have a place to put the potatoes and blot them dry with paper towels. Have them ready for putting in the oil. A place to put them when you take them out of the oil to drain off the excess oil, preferably using a combination of a brown bag and paper towels. And a baking sheet to place those in the oven to keep warm as you finish the rest. Turn oven on now to 200°F.

With fries dried well of moisture and oil at 325°F, place a handful or two of fries into the oil carefully. I suggest between 10 and 12 of these is a good number. You don’t want too much in. Your oil will drop with the addition of food into it. Keep an eye out and turn heat up and down to maintain close to the 325°F mark, neither too far down nor too far over. For this, time I found is a better indicator than eye-balling it for color. About 7 minutes take them out and place on bags/towels. Do not put the next batch in until your oil is once again at the target temperature.

When through with this batch, start again. This time you want your temperature to be at 375°F for your target. Be careful this time not to go over 400°F, if you do, remove the pot to a burner that’s cool, and place back in between batches. You can also add fresh oil in 1 cup increments to help cool, but this trick you probably don’t want to do more than twice as the most. For this second dip, eyeball for color more than time. Should take anywhere from 2-3 minutes (if you’re at the right temperature and over 4 minutes you have browned, tough fries). Golden brown you want.

Blot and place into baking sheet.as they come out. After a couple batches of these, place baking sheet on top rack of your 200°F oven to keep warm as the rest come out. Continue this cycle until done. Salt fries on baking sheet as desired. Serve as soon as possible. Though you can leave fries up to 30 minutes max in the warming oven. Makes about four servings.