Baked Fries

Healthy fries?

If there were such a thing, I probably wouldn't like it much. But I think these come close. Potatoes are what they are, good and bad. But this method of making fries uses olive oil and the oven, and is a lot tastier/like its fried counterpart than you might expect. It's also quite easy, but a bit time consuming. Not in terms of preparing them, but waiting for them to bake.

First what you'll want to do is get some potatoes. I usually just use russets, but you can get fancier if you like. I like to leave the skin on, because much of the potato's nutritional value (fiber, specifically) is there. Plus I like the way fries look when the skin's been left on. Either using a mandolin or with a good ol' knife, cut the fries into the shape and size you prefer. I like skinny fries. As you're cutting them, drop them into a bowl of cold water laced with salt. The water will keep the potatoes from oxidizing and turning brown, and the salt in the water will draw water out of the potatoes, enabling them to get crispier in the oven. Leave them in the salt water for about half an hour.



Dry your "fries" as best as you can. Leaving a lot of water on them will cause them to steam in the oven, which will prevent them from getting as crunchy as one might like. Line a baking tray with parchment or wax paper -- learn from my mistakes, don't use aluminum foil as I've got in my photo, as the fries will stick to it!



Arrange your fries in a single layer on the parchment. Brush the fries with a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. Try and get some oil on the other side of them too, but generally I just do that kind of willy nilly. I haven't tried brushing the baking paper with oil, that might work also. In this case, I also used a tiny bit of white truffle oil, because I wanted to be decadent. :D



Stick them in a 400°F oven for 30-45 minutes, flipping them once or twice so that they brown evenly. They're done when they're golden brown or however you like them. Sprinkle some salt on them and serve with your favorite dipping sauce!