When we got to our favorite food a to z letter f I knew I wanted to share homemade French Fries with everyone. I love when David makes me Pan Fried Fries which he calls the French Fries he make me.
When I was growing up my grandmother Dorie would make Hamburger Steaks with Onions inside them for me and French Fries for my brother. With Brown Gravy for me. Gerald and I would share our food.
When it was just my grandmother and I Dorie would cut the potatoes in circles instead of slicing them. Sometimes she didn’t peel the potatoes which I liked but my family doesn’t they prefer to have the potatoes peeled.
Recipe for French Fries
Ingredients
5 pounds russet Potatoes
Vegetable or Peanut Oil, for frying I’m trying to eat better and now I use Canola Oil although my grandmother would use Crisco. Did your parents use Lard or Crisco as well?
- Peel and rinse the potatoes. Then cut them into sticks by cutting the potato in 4 or 5 vertical pieces, and cut those into sticks. David likes to cute the Potatoes into Cubes. I tell David all the time that isn’t French Fries. But like all men he doesn’t listen to me. Does your husband listen to you
- Place the Potatoes in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Allow them to soak, 2 to 3 hours. (You can also stick them in the fridge and let them soak overnight.) Although usually we just cook them as soon as they are peeled as I don’t want to wait.
- When you’re ready to make the fries, drain off the water and lay the potatoes on 2 baking sheets lined with paper towels. Blot with paper towels to dry them. Again I don’t do this step but when taking Home Ec our teacher would have use do this and it’s what Charlie learned in his cooking class.
- Heat a few inches of oil in a heavy pot to 300 degrees F. In 3 or 4 batches, cook the potatoes until soft, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. They should not be brown at this point! You just want to start the cooking process. Remove each batch and drain on new/dry paper towels. Again, I don’t always does this as we don’t have the time sometimes so we just cook them until they are brown and ready to eat.
- Once all the potatoes have been fried at 300 degrees F, turn up the heat until the oil reaches 400 degrees F. When the oil’s hot, start frying the potatoes in batches again, cooking until the fries are golden and crisp. Remove the potatoes from the oil and drain on paper towels. Not, me I put my French Fries on a paper plate and begin to eat right away.
You can top the French Fries with Seasonings of your choice. Salt or Pepper or even Cheese and Chili. The skis the limit. Or dink them in Ketchup. Most of the time I eat them straight out of the pan.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
