Frites!

Friday night we had ham. Saturday night featured lobster cakes, and Sunday was all out war on our bellies with a beef rib roast. Filling in between and during there was Chex mix, cookies, spiced nuts, bourbon cake, roast potatoes, various salads, gingerbread cake, boiled shrimp, Swedish meatballs, date/pecan pie, prosciutto bread, and other munchables too numerous to list. Monday night was a reprise of the previous three days in leftovers. So by Tuesday I night I was in the mood for something simple and basic. Something that had nothing to do with holidays. Something bad for me that wasn’t sweet. I made fish-n-chips.

Although I have a Delonghi deep-fryer, I don’t use it often. It does a good job of minimizing the odor of frying but clean-up is still a bear, and, too, I don’t need the calories. But, figuring I’m already over-drawn on my caloric budget as well as my monetary budget during Christmas week, it seemed like an extra 1000 calories wouldn’t make that much difference.

After checking to be sure I had enough oil, I cruised by the fish monger’s and picked up a couple of fresh cod fillets and found a good looking russet potato at the market.

At some point or another, most Americans have had those most-disappointing of French fries, the limp noodle. These are typically found at street fairs or country fairs and they look so good and yet manage to be so bad. There’s usually a post-pubescent girl taking orders. She’s not fat but still too-plump to be wearing a jersey that doesn’t cover her stomach and short jeans that really should leave more to one’s imagination. Her hair is cut short and bleached blond (or dyed blue in some areas of the country) and she’s chewing gum with her mouth open. She’s actually quite pleasant and would have been charming in an earlier time, place, and wardrobe.

Behind her is a guy in his sixties wearing a faded flannel shirt (or faded cowboy shirt in some areas of the country). He too has a paunch, but thankfully it’s covered and what little hair he has is gray. He busy running whole, fresh, unpeeled potatoes through a device that produces 1/4 inch square strips. This is a good first step. Then, sadly, those potato strips go straight into hot oil until they’re brown. The result smells good and looks good but, unfortunately that’s all empty promise. The fries are limp and oily and although they taste potatoey, just a few are all you can eat before the oil becomes overwhelming.

The sad thing is, making good fries isn’t that hard — the trick is frying them twice.

French Fries

1 lb baking potatoes (these must be high-starch potatoes)
oil

Half fill a large, heavy pot with oil. Heat to 325F. (Note: you need a candy/frying thermometer.)

Scrub potatoes and cut into strips 1/4″ square. Place strips in a bowl of ice water while oil heats. (Soaking removes starch from the surface of the strips, which keeps them from browning on the first pass).

Dry potatoes and then fry in two batches for about 3 minutes per batch until limp and golden. Drain potatoes on a wire rack and allow to cool. At this point the second frying can be delayed by as much as a couple of hours.

Heat oven to 200F. Heat oil to 375F and fry potatoes in two batches until lightly browned and puffed — about 5 minutes. Drain on a wire rack, season with salt, and keep warm in the oven while remaining frys are cooked. Serves 2.

The ice water treatment and second frying is what makes the difference between the limp strips found at country fairs and the marvelously light and crunchy frites found throughout Europe.

Technorati: Food | recipe | side dish | potatoes

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