Perfectly Simple French Fries at Home

By: Pam Anderson

Homemade french fries don't have to be messy or high in calories, and they don't need to be fried twice in a gallon of oil, as most recipes suggest.

For perfectly simple home-cooked fries for four to six people, pour 2 1/2 cups of peanut oil into a large skillet, but--this is important--do not turn on the heat. Stir in 2 pounds of raw potatoes cut into strips. Now turn the heat to medium-high and cook until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

These slow-cooked fries absorb only about 1 tablespoon of fat per serving--much less than most people slather on a baked potato via butter or sour cream.

Comments

Add a comment

SpiritSweet

Jul. 1, 2009 4:51 pm

I've never deep fried ANYTHING. Reason? What in the world do you do to get rid of all that oil? Is it reusable? How? Do you strain it somehow to clean it? If so, then how many times is it usable? It seems quite an expensive way to cook; all the oils I've seen are too expensive to buy in quantity or often. Thanks for any help!

martha

Jul. 4, 2009 8:52 am

Depending on what your cooking, if you cook with oil in a deep pan, you can always use your oil 2 or three times before you throw it away. Fish on the other hand is a different story, you really can't use that but once.

JShree

Jul. 11, 2009 9:07 am

I don't like to reuse oil because of cholesterol issues. It is supposed to be unhealthy to reuse oil in large quantities especially.

painterdee

Jul. 23, 2009 5:28 pm

if you do a lot of frying, you can find someone using it for fuel and donate it

Valerie

Aug. 9, 2009 9:47 am

My Italian gourmet cook friend told me she learned from her mother to strain used cooking oil, store in a glass jar with lid in a dark corner of a cabinet and it can be used several times(except for fish). I tried it and it was just fine. I had always told her I hated to waste so much oil each time I fried so I did it very rarely. But her suggestion has worked and I finally bought a small deep fryer. PS - I only buy extra virgin olive oil except for baking.

CHEFL49

Aug. 27, 2009 1:08 pm

There are many oils available for frying these days. I use canola, however, peanut oil withstands a much higher temperature. Oil can be refrigerated and lasts quite a long time. Many oils are low in saturated fats. Read the labels.

Scotty

Nov. 2, 2009 10:04 am

I just tried this method and it out shines double frying, sugar water soaks, cold water soaks,or any type of baking. It's amazing starting them in oil with no heat but they are actually less greasy than any fries's I have ever tried. In my opinion there is no other way to make frie's. 5 *'s plus

Add a comment