French Fries

If anything, this recipe gives a good idea of what OreIda does to create its frozen fries. After frying up a bag of their steak fries, the chef in my head said: The Search is Over.” I prefer to leave the parboiling and parfrying to somebody with fryers the size of Olympic swimming pools.

Pshaw, sir: This fast food is a pale shadow of My Best Fries, Evah: I inject each 3/8" fry with a special truffle sauce, using a #10 needle. Time for three pounds: 12 days. THEN blanch, freeze, etc. bliss

Loved this recipe but a piece of fry caught in my teeth and I didn't have a toothpick then remembered this old family DIY: First, you will need an axe and a whittlin' knife, Second, chop down a giant Sequoia....

I have a recipe I use which I think is insanely better. I take a whole potato, thorough clean it with a plastic scrub and skin on. I then but it up in size of steak fries you get at diners. Spray or drizzle a little oil on the cut potatoes, add salt, basil, oregano and sprinkle of parmesan cheese (all to your own taste). Bake at 450 for 21 minutes...AMAZING!

OF COURSE there are easier ways to get and cook fries. But sometimes only the hardest way seems right. The whole point of this essay is that the extreme labor of making these french fries is a kind of sacrifice made to counter the horror of school shootings and to express the love the cook has for her children. Love, fear, the enormity of daily life--all of it is over-the-top. So is this recipe. Beautiful.

My wife went to school in Paris and made these twice fried pomme frites a few times with great enjoyment by all. Good food takes time, great food often a bit longer.

As a story of parental love and concern it's top notch. As a recipe I want to cook? Not so much. If I want fast food style fries I'll go to a fast food restaurant. When I take the time at home I want something better. Lately I've been following the technique documented in a Cook's Illustrated recipe for Fish and Chips - potatoes are coated with a small amount of oil and microwaved until translucent, then rinsed in cold water and left to dry for up to an hour.

Thank you for writing such a sweet, heart-wrenching article. It wasn't about the recipe for French Fries was it? You love your children.

Dear folks, this is not about the fries. It's about a mother telling us how far she would go to lighten the dark shadows in our lives and the lives of our children. I've passed the story along, with thanks to Gabrielle Hamilton for her courage in telling us, as Sam Sifton often does, "how communities come together...to fix what’s broken, to save what’s left." Yes, fries or any food you know your child or spouse or any person you care for. Best wishes, all.

My wife says I make the most awesome French fries she has ever had (except the ones from a street vendor in Cairo fifty years ago). Slice up some russets into the shape you prefer, thinner the better. Soak in cold water a few hours, drain and dry. Place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss. Bake in middle of the oven maybe thirty minutes at 450- toss a few times. Fabulously decadent.

That’s the most complicated recipe I have ever seen. I use the technique for frites in Julia Child’s first book. Easy, quick and delicious, with steak, burgers, salads, etc., been doing it for 40 years. Granted they are a bit thicker than 1/4”, but should “fast food style” be the model for today’s dishes?

To the commenters: Yes, of course there are many ways to make a decent french fry. I wont even address the Ore Ida frozen fry comments here. I'll go one step farther and say that I'll do this and then 2X fry them in duck fat for the ultimate Belgian/French fry. And you don't HAVE to do the whole 3lbs and the 3qts of oil. And yes, Oil is reusable for many rounds of frying if you filter it. The recipe is not meant for those in a hurry. Good food takes time most of the time.

A better alternative: 2 lbs of russets cut 1/4 by 1/4, chilled for an hour in cold water, drained in a colander and dried with paper towels. Then sprayed with canned canola oil and fried twice at 350-375 degrees in an AirFryer (with a 10 minute pause between) for 10 and 10 minutes. An hour and half start to finish. As good as it gets. (You can use a deep fryer if you don't have a wonderful oil-less AirFryer. The grandkids love 'em.

My mum's chips were the best. Soak the cut up potatoes in cold water for maybe 30 mins. Dry thoroughly. Fry in hot dripping or lard until barely browned. Remove then reheat fat and repeat. Drain and serve with salt and vinegar. Definitely not food police approved these days but oh that flavour.

In the mid 80s, when my six sons ranged in age from 1 to 14, I bought a 50-lb bag of russet baking potatoes for $3.50. I bought another bag the next week. Every day until I got through those bags, the routine was: Peel 5 or 6 potatoes; slice each into 3/8" fries; parboil; drain; spread them in single layers on baking sheets lined with plastic wrap; freeze, bundle them in the plastic wrap; label; store in the basement chest freezer. They made perfect fries.