Friday Dinner: Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries

Here was our attempt at being healthy and bad at the same time. Fries, being made of potato, which is all starch, are never really "good" for you. But there's bad, and then there's slightly less bad. That's what we had on Friday.



They were good -- I made half the recipe, which called for 1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, and I ate every last one. But were they just like regular french fries? Not so much. Frying gives fries the texture that makes them fries; baking them is an OK substitute, but in the end you're really just roasting potatoes in the shape of french fries. And hey, that's OK too. It's certainly easier to bake them -- there are more steps involved -- but not having to deal with large amounts of frying oil is a reward in itself. At the end of the day, I'll say that both methods of making fries have their strong and weak points, and really, when you get to eat potatoes at the end of it, there's not much to complain about.

Making fries isn't new to me... after all, I've fried them properly and tried baking them as well. But this was a slight twist on the latter method. It required first baking the fries, then tossing them with butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, and parsley. It took the full 50 minutes of baking time to get my fries as brown as they look, and they didn't even start remotely looking brown until about 41 minutes. Alas for Trix, whose oven must not run as hot as mine, never got hers to be even half as brown after 60 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may find that you need to keep your fries in longer (or take them out earlier).

As usual I kept the skin of the potatoes on, as I like how they look, they don't taste any different to me, and they add what minimal nutritional value there is to fries.



Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 lbs russet potatoes (about 4 medium-sized ones), peeled or not
• cooking oil spray
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Layer a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil.
2. Using a knife or mandolin, slice potatoes into fries about 1/4" thick. Blot away moisture as best as you can. (If you're a slow chopper or are doubling the recipe, you may want to immerse your potatoes in water as you cut them so they don't oxidize. Be sure to dry them thoroughly before baking.)
3. Place the fries into a gallon-sized plastic bag along with the canola oil and salt. Seal the bag and massage the contents so that all the potatoes are well coated.
4. Layer the fries onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading them out into a single layer as best as you can.
5. Place the sheet into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn the fries (I just kind of give them all a toss). Put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes or until golden brown.
6. During the last minute or two of baking, heat the butter in a large pan. Saute the garlic for 30-45 seconds, making sure that they don't brown. The garlic should remain soft for best flavor. Turn off the heat.
7. Add the baked fries to the garlic and butter. Using tongs or a spatula, carefully move the fries around (they're more delicate than their fried counterparts) so that they're coated. Top with parmesan and parsley. Give everything a quick toss, place on a dish, and serve.

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!

Hand-Cut Garlic Fries

I was going to make matchstick fries again today, because I had an extra Idaho potato lying around, the fries were so delicious last night, and I had leftover frying oil that I didn't want to toss out just yet.



But today someone on LJ's Food Porn community posted his hand-cut fries, and I decided that it was time to try doing that. He didn't post directions, but since the fries last night had turned out so well just by dropping them in oil, I decided I wouldn't complicate matters and just try doing the same thing. Previously, I'd seen a post about making homemade fries and it involved boiling the potatoes and extra work that I didn't feel like going through.



I now know: you don't need to boil them beforehand. The potato cooks through perfectly. Maybe that's because I made thinner fries rather than, say, steak fries, but still -- a very good thing to know.

The first thing I did was brown the remaining duck that I had (the less meaty pieces, as well as the head and the feet!) in order to render the fat, so I could use it for the fries. If I hadn't done this I would have just thrown all of the duck into my stockpot for soup, and the fat would have rendered out that way, anyway, so I don't feel that this was an extraneous, indulgent step. I am making a stock from the remaining duck, but I tossed the pieces into the water (along with half an onion, a carrot, and two celery ribs) after they were browned. I had a nice pool of duck fat after I was done, and to this I added the duck fat/peanut oil from last night.



I sliced up my potato (a large one) into the fry size that I prefer -- this only took a couple of minutes. When the oil was heated and ready, I dropped the fries in and cooked for about 6-8 minutes, until they turned a nice shade of brown. Learning my lesson from last night, I didn't drop them all in at once; I made the fries in 3 batches, draining them on paper towels in between.



I sprinkled the fries with salt and minced garlic (two cloves), and used last night's leftover pomegranate sauce as a dip instead of ketchup. Ahhh bliss!! Now that I know how easy it is to make great fries at home, I won't crave them so much when I'm out.



The one caveat I have to this is that many of the fries were limp after I put them all into my container (a clean Starbucks cup). Now, I am one of those strange people who like limp fries, so this made it even better to me. But I'm not sure what would need to happen to make them crispier. Leave them in the oil longer, maybe, but they were already a nice shade of brown -- doing that would have overcooked the outsides. Higher heat, perhaps. Will have to experiment for my friends and family who prefer crispy fries.

Bis on Main

One of my favorite places to go for lunch is Bis on Main, in the heart of downtown Bellevue. The food is exceptional -- fresh, high quality, superbly prepared; the portions are generous; the prices are reasonable; and the service is good. As an added bonus, parking near the restaurant is fairly easy to come by. I've always been able to find parking on the street, and even if I can't, they have a complimentary valet service. (Parking is one of those personal nits that determine whether or not I go to a place. The stress of trying to find parking often counters any relaxation or enjoyment I might have gotten from the meal.)

Before your meal begins, the server will bring you a basket of fresh bread and butter. You can almost always tell whether a restaurant will be good by the quality of the bread and butter they serve -- and Bis on Main's is wonderful. The crust is slightly crunchy, while the crumb is soft and moist. The butter is quite good as well.



The pomme frites here are fantastic -- I think the trick is that they're lightly seasoned with truffle oil. Many of their lunch entrees come with them; if you order one that doesn't, order the fries on the side or substitute ... it's totally worth it. The flavor of these french fries is unmatched. Seriously -- I once went with a large group and everyone kept devouring the fries, muttering to ourselves, "What is in these?"



My favorite thing to get is the steak frites for $18. You get a decent-sized hangar steak, the aforementioned pomme frites, and some kind of vegetable (today it was asparagus), along with two sauces: ketchup and garlic aioli (which is divine when you use it to dip your fries).



The steak is very flavorful and cooked to order -- which is so important. There's nothing worse than ordering a rare steak and getting it well done (or vice versa). I prefer mine medium rare, which should be completely pink inside and a warm red in the center of the meat.



I also recommend the kobe beef burger, which is $14.75 and also comes with a generous portion of pomme frites. Add a soup or quiche du jour for only $2.50. If you prefer lighter fare, try the Peppercrusted Ahi Tuna Nicoise Plate from the appetizer section -- the tuna is unbelievably fresh and gorgeous (I wish I had a picture), and the portion is so large that it works well as an entree.

I'm not a big wine drinker but many of the restaurant's patrons seem to order it, so I assume they have a well-stocked cellar. I'm usually so satisfied with my lunch (and stuffed with pomme frites), that I haven't yet even ordered dessert here. Today I overheard a table request ice cream, and when the server brought it I saw that there were 3 scoops and a bit of a waffle crisp as well. It almost made me order my own. Almost.