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Homemade Fast Food French Fries

Author: Jeanne via Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Optional step if you remember to start ahead of time (to make them even healthier):  Here's a way to ferment potatoes to reduce the starch content and reduce the formation of acrylamides.  Just slice them and soak the night before with about 1/2 cup of whey or vegetable starter culture and enough filtered water to cover. The next day, drain and continue with recipe.  It's easy but just takes thinking ahead a little, which I actually rarely do!  So if you don't start the night before, just continue with the next step...
  • Slice potatoes for frying — I usually leave the skins on after cleaning well.   (***I use my Bosch with the attachment that cuts them into perfectly shaped fries in a matter of moments!)  Dissolve 1/3 cup sugar in 2 cup warm water.  Place potato strips in water for 15 – 30 minutes.  (This reduces cancer-causing acrylamide formation at least some, even if you didn't soak them overnight.)
  • Heat tallow or lard to 350*.  (I like this kitchen thermometer.)  Drain and dry potato strips.  When thoroughly dry place in oil for 1 minute. Remove from oil. Bring oil back up to 350*. (It will have cooled down when cooking the first batch.)  Place potatoes back into the oil and cook until golden brown.  Remove from oil, drain and add sea salt to taste.
  • Note that nowadays we use deep fryers instead of a pan on the stove (it's safer and makes me feel better, especially since we had a kitchen grease fire when I was a kid and the sound of bubbling grease still freaks me out), read more in this post:  Recipe for Deep Fried Heaven.  There are links there for beer battered fish, onion rings, homemade chicken nuggets, and more!  These are the fryers I wish I had.  But I see they're out of stock, so then I found this bigger fryer with a stainless steel interior!  It also has a nice temperature control and a handy basket -- whatever you do, don't get one with Teflon.  (Read about when I ditched my Teflon electric frying pan too.)

Notes