"fries" news and stories

Happy Julienne Fries Day!

Despite the semi-obscure name, julienne fries are the potato strips you can expect to find in the vast majority of fast food and upscale joints in the United States. Indicating long thin strips of potato, julienne fries are also referred to as "shoestring" or "matchstick" french fries for their string-bean thickness, as opposed to wider steak fries.

We favor julienne fries for their increased crispy exterior to fluffy interior ratio -- but we'll take any variety, so long as they're abundantly peppered and salted!



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Oven-roasted fries. Photo: Gudlyf, Flickr.

And by "home" fries, we don't mean chunks of potatoes fried in butter on the stove top (though those do sound delicious). No, we mean slim, julienned slices of the root vegetable roasted in a home cook's oven.

These slivers of salty heaven are from Flickr user Gudlyf, who used three large Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced with a mandoline, tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with the simple but always satisfying combination of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. And, wrote Gudly, they are "as crunchy -- sometimes crunchier -- than the deep-fried versions at your local watering hole."

Pass a bit of ketchup and we would gladly trade a serving of soggy restaurant fries for this tray of golden goodness, stretching as far as the eye can see.

[Via Flickr]

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If you devour Terra chips and wonder why potatoes are the only veggie that gets such beloved treatment, or if you love everything fried, you must try yuca fries.

Yuca is that large, kinda scary looking vegetable that pops up all over the place now, but still isn't getting its culinary due. It's starchy, full of good calcium, and even a taste of Vitamin C -- basically a sweeter sort of potato with a slightly different flavor and texture. Unfortunately, it's not quite as easy to prepare as our ol' potatoes. The skin is much firmer, and cutting it is more like a butternut squash than a potato.

Nevertheless, when you throw it into some hot oil, then spray it with salt and seasoning, it's french fries with a twist -- familiar enough that it's almost like old-hat, with a new and fresh flavor that ups the ante. Since it's quite a firm root, yuca is often boiled first, although the above fries were just thrown raw into some oil cooking away on med-high heat until they were crunchy. And of course, like potatoes, they can be made into some rather tasty chips.

As an eating and cooking culture, we're super-glued to our potatoes, and with good reason: They're delicious, versatile, and easy to prepare. But even as great as the taters are, sometimes other roots need their time in the spotlight.

We always think of the delicious potatoes falling into the sizzling hot oil, but what about apples?

Above you can watch Chef Jason Hill make apple fries. Oh yes, he takes apples, slices 'em like fries, fries 'em up, and tops them with some cinnamon sugar. Unlike potatoes, which benefit from the double-frying technique, these guys are simple and quick -- just a coating of corn starch and into the oil they go. The simplicity and speed of this makes it perfect for that wow-treat for company. It won't take hours to make, and your guests will get a pleasantly sweet surprise.

Hill pairs the fries with a quick sauce of marshmallow and cream cheese, but I'm thinking a delicious yogurt-based dip would be perfect with this.

I understand the allure of an efficient kitchen only clogged with tools one absolutely needs. I get it. Most things can be done with a few basic tools. Yeah, I know. But unless I go psycho and decide to slice by hand, no knife is going to give me crinkle cut fries.

Just look at them. There's something immensely comforting and mouth-salivating about the crinkle cut, especially if its on a pile of fries fresh out of the oil and dusted with salt and pepper. The crinkle cut offers an air of professional talent and can make even the quickest frites look all the more carefully cut. A smooth fry is no match for the dark peaks and lighter ridges of the crinkle, like the grill marks we all love to make.

Even on the side of practicality, it makes sense. Those crinkle suckers are powerful, sliding through taters like there's no resistance at all. Once I picked up one of my own, I wished I'd had it all those years when I had crappy knives and tried to cut through tough, unwielding potatoes. Now, it's my go-to tool for taters, giving a little visual flair that makes this stomach all the happier. Don't you agree?