Homemade French Fries

Homemade French Fries

• 4 large russet potatoes
• 1/4 c. peanut or canola oil (chosen for its high smoke point)
• generous sprinkle of salt

Preheat oven to 450.  
Cut the potatoes into 1/4” strips.  We found the thinness did a lot to prevent these from tasting like regular roasted potato chunks.
Toss the cut fries into a bowl of cold water as they are cut.  Let soak for 15 minutes, then drain away the cloudy starchy water.  Rinse very well, then dump the wet fries onto a dish towel and blot them dry.  If you were to roast too-wet fries they’d steam instead of roast, and be mushy in the end. Ew.
Toss the dried fries with the 1/4 c. oil, then spread them in a single layer – we used two large rimmed baking sheets, that we spread thinly with oil.  We’d recommend against using un-rimmed cookie sheets…you don’t want to start a grease fire!  Sprinkle generously with salt.
Roast for 15 minutes, then retrieve the baking sheets and toss the fries around with a spatula.  Return to the oven for another 15 minutes or so (you may need an extra 5 to 10 minutes -- one of our batches required more time, possibly because of the type of cookie sheet), until the fries are golden brown and blistered in spots.

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

5 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, rinsed and diced (I used red potatoes.)
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
4-5 cloves roasted garlic (Trim the pointy end off a head of garlic, place sprout-side down on a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil, fold sides of foil up to enclose the garlic completely and cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the garlic is tender; the cloves squeeze right out of their skins when they are ready.)
For the mashed potatoes, In a large pot, place the potatoes and cover with water (by at least two inches). Add the salt. Bring to a boil, and cook the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and return to the hot pot.
Begin mashing the potatoes. Add the butter and mash in to the potatoes. Add the milk, cheese, roasted garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Mash until the potatoes are smooth. Serve immediately.  (Or put in slow cooker to keep warm.)

Stir fry shredded potato

Potato is such a versatile vegetable; boiled, fried, sauted, roasted, deep fried and mashed. But stir fried? This is what attracted me to try this recipe, popular in Northern China like Beijing and Shanghai. Northern Chinese has a lovely name for potato called 'tu dou' or translated as bean of the earth.

Stir fried potato is a very simple poor man's recipe. Normally the potato is stir fried with only a bit of garlic, chilli and some spring onion. I like a more complex flavour so I added carrot and some Sichuan preserved vegetable (zha cai). The key to prepare this dish it to shred all the vegetables very very fine. I got a Japanese mandoline which saves a lot of work. The potato must be washed to remove all the starch and soaked till crunchy.

I really like this recipe, the flavour is light yet fragrant with the spices. The vegetables are crunchy and delicious. Thoroughly recommended if you like a cheap vegetarian dish.



For the recipe (enough for 4 as part of mixed dishes meal)

400 - 450 g large potatoes (I used 2 baking potatoes), cut into very fine strips
1 medium carrot, cut into very fine strips
120 - 130 g Sichuan preserved vegetable (zha chai) 榨菜, cut into very fine strips
1/2 to 1 red chilli, sliced or cut into matchstick
2 - 3 stalks spring onion, sliced into long strips
2 fat cloves of garlic, chopped
2 - 3 tsp of Sichuan peppercorns
1 - 2 dried chillies, roughly chopped or cut into small pieces (or 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes)
about 1 tbsp of ChinKiang black rice vinegar (can sub with balsamic vinegar*)
dash of light soy (to your taste)
pinch of sugar to taste
2 - 3 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Shred the vegetable into very fine strips, you can use mandoline for the potato and the carrot. For the shredded potato, rinse several times to remove the starch then leave to soak in cold water for about 20 -30 minutes, then drain.
You need to hand cut the Sichuan preserved vegetable, don't work with the mandoline. After cutting, rinse with water to remove some of the saltiness then squeeze dry and leave aside.
Prepare the red chill, garlic and spring onion
In a pan or wok, heat some oil and add the Sichuan peppercorns and fry till you can smell the fragrance of peppercorns. Use a slotted spoon and remove all the peppercorns and discard.
Add in the dry chillies and garlic, fry till fragrant.
Turn the heat right up and add the vegetables and fresh chilli, stir fry for a minute or two add vinegar, soy sauce and sugar to taste. Continue to stir fry for another minute or two till all the vegetables are very hot and tender but still quite crunchy.
Stir in the spring onion and the dish is ready to eat.

If you don't have any Sichaun preserved vegetable (榨菜), you can sub with any chinese pickled vegetables like snow vegetable (雪菜) or pickled mustard (鹹酸菜).

Old granny's potato - Yunnan style bubble and squeak

I often find similarities between western and oriental food like this stir fried potato which is similar to rustic English bubble and squeak (not the cake shaped type). Here to introduce to you a classic home cooking from Yunnan called lao nai yang yu 老奶洋芋 or old granny's potato. The reason why old granny or lao nai 老奶 is named after this is because this potato dish is soft suitable for grannies with no teeth.

Before I come across this recipe I never know yang yu 洋芋 is potato. These are different names all mean the same as good old potato:
ma ling su
馬鈴薯 direct translation is horse bell potato (I have no idea why and where this name came from), this term is more commonly used outside China, like in S E Asia.
shi zai
薯仔 common name in Cantonese, loosely means little potato
tu dou
土豆 translated as earth bean (because it comes from the soil or earth), this is the common name widely used in most parts of China
yang yu
洋芋 direct translation is western yam or foreign taro, a term more common in some areas of China like Yunnan

In Chinese nai 奶 usually means milk. When we say nai as milk the tone is lower. A double word nai nai 奶奶 (in a higher tone, spoken in Mandarin) refers to paternal grandma or a general term for old lady or granny.

Enough of Chinese lessons, back to this lao nai yang yu. It is quite a simple home cooking. Cooked potato is mashed or crushed then stir fried.  Garlic, spring onion, dried chilli/chilli flakes and ground Sichuan pepper are commonly added to flavour the potato. Fresh and pickled vegetables can be added to add texture, colour and flavour like pickled mustard, pickled cabbage, Sichuan preserved vegetable (zha chai), carrot, celery, onion, sweet pepper, fresh chilli etc..... For a more luxurious touch, Yunnan air dried ham*  can be added if available for the meat eaters, if not normal chopped ham can be added too.

For this recipe I boiled 3 potatoes (about 350g), leave it to cool then crushed.
Chop a small handful (about 50g) of Sichuan preserved vegetable or zha cai, rinse to remove the salt then squeeze dry.
Chop a cup of different colour sweet pepper. I used red, yellow and green.
Chop a fat clove of garlic, 1 stalk of spring onion and some coriander (cilantro)
Heat the wok with some oil, fry the garlic then add Sichuan preserved vegetable. Stir and add the chopped pepper. Add the crushed potato. Keep stirring till heated through. Then add just a little light soy, not too much the preserved vegetable can be very salty. Sprinkle on a little ground sichuan pepper and chill powder. Stir and add the spring onion and coriander. Ready to dish up. Sprinkle on a little more chilli powder if wish. Serve hot.

Note: I find freshly boiled potatoes can be a bit sticky to stir fry. I prefer to use boiled potatoes that has been chilled, drier and less like to stick to the wok.

* Yunnan ham 宣威火腿 is a famous air dried Chinese ham from Yunnan region. This ham is similar to Parma ham or Serrano ham. Lovely fragrant ham, normally eaten steamed or flavoured soups. This is another example of similarity between Chinese and Western food. Yunnan ham is available in most Chinese dominated S E Asia countries especially around Chinese New Year but alas it is banned in the west due to meat import regulations.

Japanese style potato salad

I haven't posted any Japanese recipes. This recipe today isn't traditional Japanese it's western influenced potato salad. I love this, it has so many bits added giving it interesting texture and colourful. It's a meal on its own. Great for a hungry munchy anytime of the day or night. Lovely as filling for crunchy baguette or serve with BBQ.

Here is how I make this tasty potato salad.




Ingredients: Makes about 5 - 6 cups of salad

500 - 600g potato (I like to use waxy new potatoes, you can use any type you like)
2 medium carrot
1/2 large or 1 whole small red bell pepper
1/2 cucumber
2 large hardboiled eggs
100g ham, whole piece or sliced
1 cup mayonnaise (Japanese mayo if you have some if not use std mayo)
3 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (if not use any plain colourless rice vinegar or lemon juice)
1/2 tsp salt (more if you preferred)
1 - 2 tsp sugar
good pinch of ground pepper
some milk or water


Method:
Boil or steam potatoes with skin. When cooled peel and crush. Better lumpy than smoothly mashed.
Dice carrot. Steam (or simmer with few tbsp of water for about 10 minutes till water has evaporated) till carrot softened. Leave aside to cool.
Dice red pepper.
Dice cucumber. Remove centre soft core
Chop or dice ham.
Chop eggs
Put crushed potato into large mixing bowl, mix with mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar, ground pepper.
Then add remaining ingredients. Mix. If the salad looks dry add enough milk or water to soften the texture. I normally add up to 1/3 - 1/2 cup milk or water.
Can eat right away or chill. Ok to keep in the fridge for couple of days.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe

INGREDIENTS
• 50 pounds unpeeled red potatoes, quartered
• 8 pounds butter, room temperature
• 3 pounds Romano cheese, grated
• 3 cups chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup dried oregano

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 45 minutes; drain. Stir in butter, cheese, garlic, salt and oregano. Mash with a potato masher or with an electric mixer.

Service - 100

Read Also:Cheesecake Factory Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

Potato Salad Recipe

Ingredients :
• 2 pounds russet potatoes
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
• 4 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons chopped white onion
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced celery
• 1 teaspoon minced pimento
• 1/2 teaspoon shredded carrot
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• salt to taste

How To Prepare 
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop.
2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, sugar, onion, mustard, vinegar, celery, pimentos, carrot, parsley, pepper and salt. Mix well, chill and serve.


Servings : 08