Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Oven Fries for Two

This is a recipe we found online and have enjoyed ever since.  We've tweaked the recipe slightly to better suit our personal tastes (and to make clean-up easier), but it's essentially the same recipe.

These are my favorite homemade fries.  They're lighter than fried potatoes and very tasty.  They're spicy enough that they don't even need ketchup, and you can alter the spices to please your own palette.


Oven Fries for Two

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 medium potatoes (Any kind will do, but I prefer red potatoes.)
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ paprika
¼ garlic powder (or onion powder-- or a combination of the two)
¼ parsley


Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Spray baking sheet with PAM (or other cooking spray).

Slice potatoes thinly into French fry strips.  (I always leave the peels on and usually slice them very thinly to be sure they cook all the way through.)

Combine the dry ingredients in a gallon-size plastic bag.  (I use the cheaper, zipperless bags.)
Scrunch the bag to mix the spices with the Parmesan cheese.

Put the sliced potatoes into the bag, twist and pinch closed with one hand, and gently toss/manipulate the bag to coat the potatoes evenly with spices.

Open the bag and pour in the tablespoon of oil.  Twist the bag closed again and repeat tossing to distribute the oil evenly.

Dump the potatoes onto the baking sheet and even them out into a single layer (or as close as possible).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are thoroughly cooked, turning/stirring once.


Note:
For an easy "fast food at home" meal, I like to bake these at the same time as frozen fish fillets or fish sticks.  Though the fish package usually suggests a slightly different (lower) temperature, it's close enough that we can split the difference or simply adjust cooking times.  The fries usually need to go into the oven a little before the fish, but it all works out.