Since I made burgers in my last post, this post of course has to be all about french fries. These that we are making today are Ranch Seasoned French Fries.
For this post I went out and bought, well ordered online really, a fry slicer and a deep fryer… I know, right… it is shocking I did not already own a deep fryer! Well my cast iron has always been enough. But like my husband said when he saw the deep fryer today, “I guess you cannot have a food blog with the word Southern in it, if you do not plan on deep frying something”…. truer words have never been spoken.
The fry slicer was semi easy to use, even though I got tired and made the husband cut the last few potatoes.
The deep fryer was much easier to use, I mean it was almost like it was in my blood or something.
I (we) began by peeling and cutting the potatoes into fry pieces while the deep fryer was heating up to 365 degrees. It took the deep fryer 15 minutes to get pre-heated.
While they were being cut, I placed them in a salt water bath, so they would not start turning brown before I had a chance to get them in the fryer. That really big looking potato is Jicama, which I used to make Keto fries.
As I was ready to fry, I would take the fries about to go into the fryer, out of the water and fry them on a towel. I then transferred them to the basket and put the basket into the preheated oil.
I cooked the fries from 16-18 minutes or until golden brown.
Once I took them out I seasoned them by sprinkling Ranch Dressing Mix powder into the fries and shaking them to coat evenly.
Serve warm and enjoy.
Keto Version:
I made a keto version of fries by prepping a Jicama the same way as the potatoes. The only cooking difference was that the Jicama took longer to cook, about 20-22 minutes, and once it starts turning golden brown, it turns dark drown quickly. In my opinion, and Julye’s, they were better darker brown.
You can also cut the Jicama very thinly and make chips, which everyone in the house preferred over the fries
French Fries (with Keto Option)
- Potatoes (or Jicama for Keto)
- Frying Oil
- Deep Fryer
- Seasoning for Fries (I used a package of Ranch Dressing mix)
Directions:
- Preheat oil in deep fryer to 365 degrees. Take about 15 minutes to preheat the oil.
- Peel and slice potatoes (or Jicama).
- Place sliced potatoes/Jicama in a bowl of salt water until ready to use.
- Once oil is preheated, take potato slices out of salt water and thoroughly dry.
- Place fries in baskets, making sure to not overfill the basket. The basket should not be more that 2/3 full.
- Place basket in deep fryer and cook fries for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown. If making Jicama, cook for about 20-22 minutes instead.
- Once fries are cooked, dump them into a bowl and add the Ranch Dressing mix.
- Shake fries thoroughly to evenly coat with the mix.
- Serve hot.
Southern Fried Fusions 