Everyone loves French fries. If we make fries at home, we usually grab that bag of frozen, pre-cut fries from the store and drop them in our deep fryer, and enjoy. But what if you could make some restaurant quality fries that would put those frozen spuds to shame? Well, it’s not very complicated, and doesn’t require much more work than you would be doing with the frozen fries. Let me walk you through it.
French Fries
Equipment
- Deep Fryer
Ingredients
- 5 pounds Idaho potatoes
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut your potatoes into 1/4"-1/2" thick fries.
- Rinse thoroughly with cold water. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, submerged in water.
- Preheat deep fryer to 300 F.
- Remove 1/3 of the potatoes from the water and blanch in the fryer for 10 minutes.
- Layer the blanched potatoes on a parchment lined sheet try. Repeat until all the potatoes are blanched.
- Allow the fries to cool completely.
- Heat fryer to 350 F.
- Fry small batches of the blanched fries, until golden brown and crispy.
- Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
First things first, we need to cut our potatoes. I am making loaded fries so I cut mine a bit thicker than you may want. So, cut your potatoes into the thickness you want them. Make sure they are close to the same thickness so they cook evenly. When all your potatoes are cut, we need to soak them in some cold water. This helps to remove any excess starch from the potatoes. This will ensure that we end up with the crispy golden brown fry that we have come to love. Cover them in water and move them around a bit until the water becomes cloudy. Then drain the water. Repeat this step a few times until the water no longer turns cloudy. Then let the potatoes sit for 15-20 minutes, submerged in water.
While the spuds are soaking, preheat your fryer/pan of oil to 300 F. We need to cook the potatoes twice. The first round of cooking is commonly called blanching the fries. This removes any excess moisture, and par cooks them to make sure we are getting a crunchy outside and a soft inside. Once your fryer is preheated, take a third of the fries and shake off any excess water. Then put them in the 300 F oil for 10 minutes. Give them a little shake every few minutes to make sure they aren’t sticking together. After the 10 minutes, remove from the oil and lay out, flat, on a parchment covered sheet tray. The fries should look partially cooked and the outside should be slightly darker than when you put them in the oil. Repeat this step with the rest of the fries. When done, allow the fries to cool in the refrigerator. Once your fries are cooled completely, you are ready to cook them the rest of the way. If you are making the loaded fries, we need to prep our bacon and cheese before we fry of the fries, or we will have vold soggy fries to eat with the yummy beer cheese and bacon. Raise the temperature of your fryer to 350 F, and drop in your fries. Make sure that you do not over fill the fry basket, this could cause the fries to stick together and not cook evenly. You should be cooking one or two orders of fries per basket, depending on the size of the basket you are working with. Cook the fries for 5-7 minutes or until they are golden brown and crispy. That is all there is to creating restaurant quality fries at home. Now if you are just after the fry technique, you can stop reading right now, but if you want to continue on with the rest of the loaded fries, keep reading.
Beer Cheese
Equipment
- 2 quart Sauce Pot
Ingredients
- 1 each yellow onion small diced
- 2 each garlic cloves minced
- 1 each full flavored beer 12 oz
- 1.5 cups heavy cream
- 1 pound cream cheese
- 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a small sauce pot over medium-high heat.
- Add onions and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes.
- Deglaze with beer. Bring to a boil and reduce by half.
- Add cream and cream cheese. Lower heat to medium.
- Add cheddar and parmesan cheeses. Stir constantly until all cheese has melted.
- Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Cut your bacon into small pieces, or small dice your bacon. Put the cut bacon in a saute pan over medium heat to allow it time to render. In a separate pot, heat your oil over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add your onions and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add a bottle of your favorite, full flavored beer. I used my own home brewed wheat. This will deglaze the pan and introduce the beer flavor into the cheese sauce. Bring it to a boil, and reduce by half. Add your cream and cream cheese. Gently stir, until the cheese has begun to melt. Add your parmesan and sharp cheddar. Stir constantly until the cheese is completely melted. Season with salt and pepper.
Drain the bacon, and keep the cheese hot over very low heat. Now is the time to fry your fries. While the fries are cooking, thinly slice the scallions and set aside. When the fries are golden brown and crispy, season well with salt and pepper and lay out on your serving platter. Pour over the beer cheese, followed by the bacon and garnish with the scallions. And there you have it, restaurant quality loaded fries, done entirely at home. If you have any questions or comments, please get in contact. And, as always, a like, follow, and share would be greatly appreciated. Until next time, cheers!