When we go out and stop into a bar or restaurant to get a quick bite to eat, we always order French Fries because we don’t have a fryer and can’t make them at home. The Coronavirus has been saving us from our bad habit of eating French Fries since early March, and we have been missing them.
Our replacement has been wedges of potatoes baked in the oven. Months into the stay at home program, Steuart found, on our cookbook shelf, Patricia Wells recipe for Fake Frites in her book At Home in Provence.
Like usual, he cut the potatoes in wedges and prepared to lightly coat them in olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Wells suggested they bake at 500F. Steuart usually cooks his faux fries at 450F, and so set the oven at that temperature and expected they would need a good 40 minutes to get to perfect french fry simulation. But Wells said to steam them for 10 minutes – steam over boiling water as if you were steaming broccoli – just until a knife pieces them cleanly. At this point they can be stored in the fridge, or tossed in oil and baked for 15 to 20 minutes.
Their blistered surface and creamy interior were better than expected, in less time. These faux fries paired with a guacamole burger is a pleasing solution to not being able to go out to restaurants.