To those of you who know me in person, you are most likely well-aware of the crazy cravings I’ve been having. Spring fever, maybe? Yes, I’ll blame it on that. It’s been what, like three weeks since I first began to avoir tellement envie de pommes frites. Not the actual deep-fried fries, but the baked ones, because I like my fries to be on the dry side and beyond crispy – to the point of being crunchy.
Oven fries do that.
That’s why I’ve been meaning to make them for twenty-one days now. PTL, I finally had time yesterday! *insert happy dance here*
Potatoes, like steak, are almost impossible to over-salt, in fact, I prefer to be able to bite into a fry and actually feel the grains of sea salt get crushed between my teeth. It just adds to the whole textural experience. I seasoned mine with taco seasoning, since it gives them a nice smoky kick as well as a really bright, warm shot of color – be generous with this as well.
But then nothing’s absolutely perfect, right? Pretty much, while these are absolutely easy, comforting, and scrumptious, they also happen to be dangerously addictive, so please, self control y’all.
Ingredients for the oven steak fries:
2 russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed clean
2 tbsp grape seed oil (it has a high smoking point, hence has a cleaner flavour)
1 generous tbsp taco seasoning
few rounds of fine sea salt, plus more because fries are better that way
To make the oven fries, cut the potatoes into thin wedges, with the thickest part about 1 cm thick. Plunge them into a big bowl of cold water and let the sit for 20 minutes. This helps rinse out some of the starch, which makes them crunchier in the end. Drain the potatoes, and let them dry out for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, with the rack in the middle of the oven.
Toss the potatoes with the oil, seasoning and sea salt, making sure that every piece is well coated. Spread them, in a single layer, onto a metal baking sheet.
Bake them, for 25~30 minutes, flipping them over every 5 minutes, or until done to your own perception of perfection!
Serve with, yes, more sea salt, and old-school ketchup.
Enjoy!
coco et cocoa 