On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 2:11 PM, Karen<laurvick@charter.net> wrote:
> That is such a topic, isn't it, Heather? How most of our cultural
> get-togethers focus around food...
>
> My 4th DC prefers to eat at home as opposed to eating out; it makes her
> sick. It makes the other kids sick, too; they just won't confess, LOL!
>
> Now. Share your fry recipe, please! :-)
The food culture thing isn't just us though, it's as human as human
gets. Sharing food = we are a tribe. We have at least one shared meal
a day with the family. But we are cloistered, as a family. Not sure
what to do about that. Bringing bagels and cream cheese was one of my
"tricks" in the corporate world to bring a group together, but I'll
have to come up with something equally as yummy that we can eat!
French fries are one of those things we really missed. There are
places that have GF french fries, but these days they taste sort of
rancid. The only place we really like them from is In-n-Out burger,
which they don't have in this state! So we've tried to make them, but
they were a ton of work and rarely turned out well.
UNTIL .... Cook's magazine did a writeup on their own cheaty method,
which was so insane I had to try it. It not only worked better, it is
30% lower in grease according to their tests. So here it is, and yeah,
it sounds crazy. Like IF sounds crazy. But it works. Crisp on the
outside, creamy and wonderful on the inside.
1. Cut some potatoes into french-fry shape. I peel mine because the
solanine is close to the skin mostly. We've used russets and Yukon
golds: both work. (sweet potatoes didn't work very well though).
2. Soak the potatoes in some cold salt water, esp. if you are making
them the day before. This makes them yummier, but it's an optional
step.
3. Drain the potatoes and dry them (let them sit and dry, or pat them
with a towel, or use a salad spinner).
4. Put the potatoes in a big heavy-duty pan.
5. Pour oil over the potatoes til they are slightly covered (I go for
an inch of oil over the potatoes).
6. Turn on the heat. Finding the right temp for your stove and pan
takes some experimenting: for my stove it's just a bit hotter than
"medium". If it's too low they take forever, too hot and they bubble a
bit madly.
7. Let them cook until they are golden brown. You can stir them a bit
if they are sticking to the bottom of the pan, but otherwise just
leave them alone. Sometime in the middle of the process they get very
tender and if you stir them they will break. They'll be done in 20-40
minutes (should be closer to 20: if it's longer the heat is probably
too low). We have a wire mesh cover that covers the pan to keep the
mess down.
8. Drain them on paper towels and serve.
You can only make one batch this way: once the oil is hot it doesn't
work. But we use a big enough pan that one batch is plenty (about 5-6
potatoes). We've been just dedicating one pan to be the "fryer" and
keeping the coconut oil in it and reusing it: coconut oil doesn't
really get rancid, but you can use the oil for other cooking after the
fries are done if you want. If you don't have coconut oil, you can use
whatever your normal cooking oil is. Polyunsaturated oils aren't great
for frying though because they go rancid, and the hydrogenated ones
have the trans fats.
The magazine article also recommended adding some bacon fat to the oil
to give it a "tallow" taste. It does make the fries yummier.
Basically when we have guests coming, I cut the potatoes the day
before and soak them in salt water in the fridge. Then when I'm
cooking the rest of the meal I just let the fries bubble and then
serve it all together.
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