Tag Archives: potatoes

Perfect Oven Fries

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Julie • 14 Comments

It feels a little misleading to call these fries, because they aren’t fried. But wrap these puppies in paper and serve them up with ketchup, and no one will ever be the wiser. Plus, calling them “oven baked potatoes” sounds incredibly dull and doesn’t do justice to a baked french fry that is crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, and could pass as its traditional deep-fried cousin any day of the week.

I started making these on burger nights a few years ago for a few reasons – first, because I’m not a big fan of deep-frying. Second, there’s no arguing that baking isn’t far, far healthier than frying, and it always seemed odd to pair a veggie burger chock full of nutritional value with potatoes straight out of the oil vat. Keep in mind that I have also used the veggie burger argument to justify “real” fries (“well, the burger is so healthy it cancels out the fries!”) – isn’t it great how you can make that work either way? Regardless of whether you’re cutting calories or avoiding the mess of the fryer, these oven fries will definitely do the trick.

Perfect Oven Fries
Print
Category: Sides
Yield: 4 servings
Oven-baked French fries – all of the flavor, none of the grease.
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs Russet potatoes
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tinfoil (if using foil, spray lightly with cooking spray).
  2. Scrub potatoes thoroughly and peel if desired (I leave the skins on). Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then slice into 1/2-inch strips. Combine potatoes, olive oil, paprika, parsley, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and toss until thoroughly combined. Pour into a single layer on the baking sheet.
  3. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip potatoes and bake for another 15 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through. If the potatoes brown too quickly, lower the oven temperature to 375 and increase cooking time by a few extra minutes. Serve hot with ketchup or other dipping sauce.

 

Filed Under: Quick & Easy, Side Dishes, Vegan

Crispy Potato Roast

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Julie • 2 Comments

Martha, Martha, Martha.

I tend to shy away from anything Martha Stewart. I steer clear of her products after being given a serviceable-looking dutch oven that I had to return after it was recalled due to a minor flaw (it exploded in people’s ovens, no biggie). And I’ve always backed slowly away from her recipes because, early on in my baking days, I attempted an uncomplicated-seeming vanilla cake recipe no less than four times, with every attempt ending in spectacular failure. Rather than blame my own fledgling kitchen skills, I of course blamed Martha. Clearly, she was trying to sabotage me – I felt entirely certain that I had uncovered a diabolical plot wherein Martha would create the perfect recipe, and then tweak the proportions just enough so that nobody would ever be able to successfully recreate the dish. It would be genius, really – with the wannabe chef now drowning in a sea of her own woeful inadequacy, where to turn but back to Martha? Who better to lift you back up than the one who dragged you down? I told myself after that first cupcake calamity that I wouldn’t fall for it, and the subsequent Martha Moratorium lived on for several years. During that time I actually learned to cook and bake, and realized that I probably should stop blaming Martha for my early on kitchen fiascos.

It was right around this time that I stumbled across this recipe, and it was a perfect storm: I had made peace with Martha, I had gotten a mandoline for Christmas, and I had a five-pound bag of organic russet potatoes that were starting to show serious signs of wear from sitting in my vegetable basket for the better part of two weeks. In addition, when I googled to reassure myself that someone other than Martha had successfully cooked and eaten this, I found that someone had – and when Deb says something is easy and good, I believe her.

Pretty even before it's cooked. Mmm, raw potatoes.

I’m not going to tell you this isn’t time-consuming. It is, a little bit, even with a mandoline. If you don’t have one, I honestly don’t know if it’s worth it – it’s a lot of slicing, and these potatoes really need to be wafer-thin. But if you’ve got one and you’re not utterly terrified of it (I have a Kevlar glove for mine – seriously), this is a great way to get some use out of it. This dish has the benefit of not only tasting good, but looking good – really good. The potatoes are browned and crispy, almost potato chippy, on top, and perfectly cooked through on the bottom. I made it on a lazy Saturday afternoon to serve alongside pistachio crusted tofu, and it kind of stole the show because it’s so ridiculously pretty. To be 100% honest, that’s really the main reason I made it – the fact that it tastes so good is just icing on the cake. More icing on the cake? The leftovers make unbelievable home fries the morning after.

Crispy Potato Roast
Print
Category: Side Dish
A beautiful and unique way to serve potatoes – great for holidays, or to make a regular day feel like one.
Ingredients
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 3 lbs russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 4 shallots, thinly sliced lengthwise
  • Sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • Several whole sprigs of thyme
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine butter and olive oil in a small bowl. Brush the bottom of a baking dish with about half of the mixture. Sprinkle with sea salt and red pepper flakes.
  2. Peel the potatoes. Using a mandoline slicer (or a sharp knife, tons of patience, and a bunch of elbow grease), slice the potatoes very thinly crosswise. Arrange vertically in the baking dish. Wedge the shallot slices between potatoes throughout the dish. Brush with the rest of the oil and butter mixture and season with more salt.
  3. Bake for 1 1/4 hours (yeah, I know – put on a movie as soon as you put these in the oven). Lay the thyme sprigs atop the potatoes and bake for another 35-45 minutes, until potatoes are crispy and browned on top (cover with foil for the last leg of this marathon baking time if you notice the top browning too much). Serve immediately.
Notes

You may need to play around a bit with dishes for this. The original recipe calls for four pounds of potatoes, but I found that I didn’t have a baking dish big enough to fit all of them. Three pounds just fit into a 1.5 quart oval casserole dish).

Source: Martha Stewart

Filed Under: Side Dishes