Spicy Oven Roasted Fries
Spicy Oven Roasted Fries began as Batata Harra, a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More. I’ve prepared Batata Harra a few times, and it is delicious. I strayed from the original for reasons both personal and environmental.
Springtime in a world gone mad.
Ottolenghi and Company live and cook in rainy London, where briefly parboiling vegetables in vats of saltwater is normal culinary practice.
Your hostess, on the other hand, resides in parched California, where the above behavior is akin to sashaying into a Redwood Grove with an axe. It just ain’t done.
You will be shocked to learn Mr. and Mrs. IK haven’t any axes about, so no photographs are available. There are, however, lots of farmer’s market berries, which make much nicer pictures.
Then there’s the question of cooking oil. In the Before Time, when we all went about barefaced and never gave a second thought to baby formula, our biggest worry about cooking oil was whether or not it was polyunsaturated.
Oil.
Those were the days, my friend. And indeed, we thought they’d never end. But they have, because Ukraine was Europe’s bread basket, and one of the staples grown there was sunflower oil. Which Ottolenghi uses lavishly in his recipes, or did.
I used a blend of peanut and olive oils. Peanut oil doesn’t burn at high heat, but olive oil does. Hence the blend.
More oil. The potatoes in the first picture are John’s. These are mine. Note the cayenne.
Returning to water, or lack of. No way am I parboiling anything around here. Nor will there be any rinsing, blanching, or cold-shocking chez IK until it rains. If it rains. Instead, I pre-cooked the potatoes using the microwave. Take care not to overdo it, though, or your potatoes will crumble when you try to slice them. Take it from me.
The seasoning may be whatever you wish. Mr. IK prefers a less fiery potato than I do. I therefore prepare his n’ hers trays: his have salt, pepper, sumac, and dried oregano. Hers has the same, with an additional hit of cayenne. Garlic was added to both trays. Sometimes I add fresh lemon juice. It depends on how lazy I’m feeling.
More water was saved by lining the baking trays with a double layer of tinfoil. It’s not evident in the photographs, but it’s there.
A final note: these potatoes are delicious with catsup, but I mixed up two quick dips. The first used mint, parsley, basil, and cilantro. These herbs were desperately in need of using up. I stuffed them into my mini-processor, added a few garlic cloves, a few pinches of salt, and poured in olive oil. Nothing was measured–I just pureed and tasted.
The second sauce was yogurt mixed with Kewpie mayonnaise, Meyer lemon, garlic, and a few hot red pepper flakes. Stop shrieking. It was delicous.
Not the sauce, because I didn’t have a picture of it. Instead, I give genuine garlic mayonnaise, made by yours truly.
These spicy spuds may be eaten as a side, or they may be the meal. I personally love them as the meal, served with a nice salad–particularly at this time of year (I write in the last week of May). So long as you are careful with your sauces and accompaniments, these spicy oven roasted fries are vegan, Kosher, and can be gluten-free. Serve hot or at room temperature. The cooking is easy, and easy is what everyone needs right now.
Spicy Oven Roasted Fries
Inspired by a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More
Yield: in my house, about 2 pounds/1 kilo of potatoes feeds two with enough leftover for a lunch the next day. Scale up or down accordingly.
Prep time: about 45 minutes
Please read notes, below, before beginning to cook.
about 2 pounds/1 kilo Russet potatoes (3-4 large potatoes)
1 1/2-2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1-2 teaspoons black pepper
1/8-1/2 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut, sunflower, or canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Optional additions:
fresh lemon juice
minced fresh garlic
yogurt dipping sauce:
1/4 cup/60ml plain yogurt
lemon juice, to taste
2-4 tablespoon either home-made or best quality commercial mayonnaise; I use Kewpie.
1 small garlic clove, crushed and peeled
sprinkling hot pepper flakes (optional)
Arrange your oven shelves so they’re centered as possible.
Preheat your oven to 375F/190C.
Line two large baking sheets with tinfoil. I double-line my sheets, which saves on washing up and water use.
Only you know the size of your potatoes and how your microwave behaves. You want the potatoes partially cooked but not totally soft. Scrub them, then pierce them in a few places so they do not explode. Start with three minutes cooking.Test carefully. If they’re still rock-hard, give them another minute in the microwave.
Once they’re partially cooked, allow the potatoes to cool down. When you can handle them, peel, slice, and place slices on baking sheets.
If the potatoes fall apart, it’s okay. Just mush them back together and put them on the baking sheet.
Once all the potatoes are on the baking sheets, season with the spices. Scatter the garlic, if using, and squeeze the lemon over, if using. Pour the oils over each sheet. Or spoon them; I use a measuring spoon.
Put the baking sheets in the oven and bake the potatoes for 20-25 minutes. Check to ensure potatoes aren’t burning or undercooking. You may need to rotate the trays.
I don’t try to flip the potatoes over, as it seems to do more harm then good. Once they’re out of the oven, I give them time to cool, then carefully peel them off the foil.
To make the yogurt sauce, simply stir all the ingredients in a small bowl, tasting as you go. The herb sauce requires either a mortar and pestle or mini-processor, but it’s barely a recipe: I mixed cilantro, parsley, basil, and mint with garlic, salt, and olive to taste.
Serve spicy oven roasted fries as is, with a salad, or as a side dish. They’re delicious hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Spicy Oven Roasted Fries will keep, refrigerated, up to five days. Do not freeze.
The dipping sauces will keep for three days, covered and refrigerated.
Notes:
All manner of seasonings may be used here; chaat masala leaps to mind, as does turmeric, coriander, and fennel seed. The permutations are many.
As noted in the post, the original recipe calls for parboiling the potatoes. Living in drought country means no parboiling happens here. Instead, I pre-cook the potatoes in the microwave. Cooking time depends on potato size. Take care not to overcook, or the potatoes will crumble when you slice them. Don’t fret if this occurs; the potatoes will still be delicious. They’ll just look a little messy. Peel before or after; it matters not.
If your area of the world is watery, by all means parboil for three to four minutes in salted water. Let the potatoes cool, then peel.
I began this post before the shooting in Buffalo. Afterward, I was unable to continue for several days. Writing about potatoes felt both trivial and crass.
John pointed out that food was more important than ever before. I remained unconvinced.
We as a society need a hell of a lot more than food blogs to address the reasons 18-year-olds are opening fire in supermarkets.
The next day, a man opened fire in a Laguna Woods, California church, killing Dr. David Cheng and injuring five others. Dr. Cheng is described as “charging across the room and tackling the gunman.” He was 52 years old.
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I wrote the above on May 24th, then logged off to start dinner. Before leaving my computer, I decided to check the news. You know what happened next.
To quote National Public Radio’s Kai Ryssdal, I honestly don’t know where we go from here.
