Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Oven Fries

This is a fantastic, easy-to-make recipe that is actually not too bad for you. These fries are easily customized (just add your favorite spice combo), and make a great side dish for...well, just about anything. Hot dogs? Check. Hamburgers? Check. Steaks, fish, chicken...check. Sometimes, I like to bake a tray and eat them by themselves. They're that good.

Recipe: Oven Fries
Ingredients:
-4-6 medium-sized potatoes
-Spices of choice (see Variations below for suggestions)
-Oil of choice
-Cooking spray

Variations!
Traditional: Just the salt, ma'am.
Beach: Salt. Sprinkle with vinegar post-bakage.
Crabby: Old Bay and salt.
The Kerri: Garlic, basil, and salt.
The Cinnabon: Cinnamon and sugar.
The Italian: Garlic, oregano, and parsley. Serve with tomato sauce.
Taco taco: Cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt.
The Aladdin: Garlic, cumin, and red pepper. Serve with hummus.
Something fishy this way comes: Lemon pepper.
Easy-peasy-Japanesy: Wasabi powder and ginger. 

1. Prep for baking. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and apply cooking spray liberally. 

2. Prep the seasoning mixture. Grab a decent-sized bowl (i.e. not a cereal bowl, folks). Pour in about 1/3 cup of oil. Add in whatever spices you like. Don't be shy...you want a solid tablespoon of spices in that oil. More, if you want more flavor.

3. Cut the taters. First, rinse the dirt off your potatoes. Using a large chef's knife, cut the potato length-wise into 1/2"-thick slices. From there, cut each slice into however many fries you want. I enjoy large fries, about 1" or so across. But these are your fries, so it's up to you!

5. Season the fries. Toss a handful of your potato pieces into the bowl with the seasoning mixture. Use a fork (or your hands) to stir the pieces around until they are good and covered with the mixture. When one batch is done, throw them on the cookie sheet so they are close, but not touching. Keep seasoning one handful of fries at a time until you run out of potato pieces. If you run out of seasoning, mix up some more (duh).

6. Bake. Bake those puppies at about 400 degrees. After 10-15 minutes, flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Done! Wasn't that easy? Oh, one more step...

7. Wait 5-7 minutes until cool before eating. I know it's hard...but if you burn your tongue, you won't taste the fries at all! Go play with the cat or something!

Calories: Each potato-worth of fries is about 300 calories.

2 comments:

  1. We like to do sweet potato fries with cinnamon on them. Yum!

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  2. Good idea, Caroline! Those would be great with turkey and green beans...mmm...

    ReplyDelete