Email to Cat      

French Fries

Source of Recipe

From "See You on Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"This is one of those recipes that you can absolutely scale down to cook inside, in a heavy-bottomed pot with high sides, but if you're cooking for a crowd, it is far easier to do outside on a propane hob, with a workable set up beside it to hold your fries in stages as you cook them, serially, over time—just as if you worked at a dodgy burger stand down by the bad part of town. The double frying of the potatoes gives them a fantastic crispness and a sweet, luscious interior. You'll want a lot of potatoes and a lot of oil—probably close to 4 gallons for one of those deep turkey-frying pots that so often come with the propane hobs, though if you're just practicing with a half dozen potatoes, 6 or 8 cups of oil will do. You'll want as well: a couple deep stainless-steel bowls; a candy thermometer so you can keep track of the temperature of the oil; a wire basket or one of those wire-mesh skimmers, called spiders, to fish the fries out when they're finished; and a few baking sheets equipped with wire-mesh racks, on which you can drain the potatoes of excess oil. Finally, buying some paper food trays of the sort that dodgy burger stand would use (they're available at restaurant supply shops and, as always, online) helps to serve them to a crowd. Serve the fries as they're finished, with malt vinegar or bowls of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise as condiments, alongside a lot of grilled sausages and a giant kale salad or, as we do, with raw oysters and fried hot dogs. Cook this recipe only once and you'll hate me. Knock it down three or four times over the course of a season and you'll feel confident and proud of our relationship. Party hard, but party fair."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ Large, long Idaho potatoes
â—¦ Peanut or vegetable oil
â—¦ Kosher salt


Recipe

Fill a large bowl with ice water. Peel the potatoes and cut them into ½-inch sticks. Place the potato sticks into the water and allow to soak 30 minutes or overnight, then rinse them well with cold water.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat, using a candy thermometer to mark when the temperature registers 280° to 290° F. Cook the potatoes in batches for 5 to 9 minutes, until their color has paled and they've started almost to be semitranslucent. Remove the fries from the oil with a skimmer or wire basket and place on a sheet pan to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat the oil to 375° F. Fry the oil-blanched potatoes, in batches, for 2 to 5 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oil, shaking to remove excess oil, and dump into a large bowl. Repeat in batches until there are no more potatoes. Add salt to taste, toss, and serve with malt vinegar and condiments.