Unfried Crispy Wedge Fries

Unfried Crispy Wedge Fries

Think great crispy potato wedges have to be deep fried? Not on your life; at our house we never do. Instead, we use the simple method we also use for making outstanding English Style Roast Potatoes. We par-boil the potato wedges for only three minutes to break up the starches on the surface, which greatly aids in getting them fantastically crispy without a lot of oil. We usually allow only one tablespoon of oil per person but I'm pretty sure that you could even cut that back a bit; as long as the wedges are all thinly coated with oil, they will be fine. You can peel the potatoes if you prefer, but we like to keep them on for extra flavor and nutrition.

As the recipe notes, you can add herbs or chili flakes to the potatoes before baking but you can also add flavor when they come out of the oven. Toss them in Cajun spice mix for a wonderful spicy version. As with roasting potatoes we often break up a head of garlic and simply throw the unpeeled cloves randomly among the wedges to infuse garlic flavor into the oil and potatoes.

Oh and one last thing, any leftover wedges can be quickly heated and re-crisped in a hot oven and even re-purposed  for brunch like in this photo of the reheated wedges in a potato bacon and cheddar omelette.

Serves 4-6

• 6 large potatoes (about 1 1/2  to 2 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
• Salt and pepper to season
• 1 small head of garlic (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Preheat the cookie sheet in the oven as well. It is important that the fries hit a hot pan because this will help ensure that they do not stick to the pan. If the potato wedges sizzle when they hit the hot pan, that's perfect. You'll want to get the pan back into the oven as quickly as possible too.

Bring 2-3 liters of salted water to a boil. Begin by washing the potatoes and cutting them in thick wedges. Drop the potato wedges in the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes exactly. Immediately drain the water off the potatoes and toss in the olive oil, salt and pepper. You can add additional seasoning at this point like herbs or chili flakes but they are great simply seasoned with salt and pepper.

Spread the potato wedges in a single layer on a large preheated cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 30 minutes. Turn the wedges over once, half way through the baking time. Remove from oven, sprinkle with kosher salt and serve.