grew up with potatoes.any which way : pureed, squared and sauteed, fried,boiled,soaked with roasted chicken juices, blanketing a ground meat gratin,delicately seasoned with tarragon in a summer salad...... but I cannot be French without having a love affair with fries. I don't remember who had suggested to me to dip a fry in a glass of red wine, it felt rebellious then and tasted delicious.
But I do remember the summer of my bicycle tour of Holland with G when I tasted fries with mayonnaise for the first time: now that was a true revelation/ revolution. My mom had a fryer but sort of hated the smell and mess, so it was on rare ocassions when she really wanted to make my dad happy that the fryer came down from the top cabinet. I like mine toasty brown, he liked his light and golden, so no fighting there, pure bliss.
But like my mom, I hate the smell, the oil bit, the mess, and so I will share my recipe of home baked fries. The photo is a tad blurry, the fries were cooling quickly and I had no time to spend.
use organic russets.
for 2:
pre heat oven to 450o
4 medium potatoes. first put them in cold water and bring to a boil , cook for for 12 minutes ( should be cooked but firm)
cool them and peel and cut in equal smallish wedges .
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
1tsp of smoked paprika
toss the potatoes with the other ingredients in a bowl
spread a baking sheet with alu foil, spray some olive oil and drop potatoes without overlapping them.
baked until crispy, about 15-20 minutes.
they will be tender inside and crunchy outside.
sprinkle some salt and bring out the ketchup and aioli...
