Crispy homemade oven fries are paired up with a delicious Harissa Ketchup for the ultimate in snacking!
Yesterday I got laid off. I started this job in grad school and it’s been my safety net for a long time.
Losing your safety net is a pretty awful feeling. As much as I’ve contemplated quitting this job over the past few months (and oh, I thought of it often!), I could never really bring myself to do it. B
Typically I make oven fries the lazy way–I cut a potato into wedges, toss them with oil, and throw them on a baking sheet. Easy peasy. The wedges never get quite as crispy as they would if they were deep-fried, but that’s kind of what you expect with oven fries. They’re not crispy! They’re a little bit limp!
But they’re healthier for you and that’s the trade-off you have to make. After seeing that Cook’s Illustrated had a recipe for crispy oven fries (which is long gone now), I thought I’d give it a try. And guess what? They were crispy! Definitely crispier than my usual method.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil or peanut or canola oil, divided
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 2 large russet potatoes cut into evenly sized wedges (I prefer leaving the skin on)
- salt and pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- 1 tsp harissa more or less depending on how much heat you can tolerate
Instructions
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Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat to 475 degrees. Place minced garlic cloves in a small bowl and pour in 2 tablespoons of oil. Set aside.
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Place potato wedges in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Let potatoes sit in water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry thoroughly with paper towels. (Very thoroughly! This is important.) Rinse and wipe out bowl.
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Grease a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with remaining tablespoon of oil. Return potato wedges to bowl. Use a fork to remove the garlic from the oil; discard garlic. Drizzle oil over potatoes and toss to coat.
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Arrange potato wedges on baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tightly cover baking sheet with foil; bake 5 minutes. Remove foil, then bake 10-15 minutes or until bottoms of fries are golden brown. Use a spatula or tongs to flip each wedge, then cook 5-10 minutes more until fries are browned.
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While fries are baking, make harissa ketchup by stirring together ketchup and harissa in a small bowl.
