LaZy FriEs

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Well, I didn't take any pictures, so I'm opting for the long-winded thousand word approach instead!

The Problem:
Oven fries are clearly superior to their french relatives in the not making-my-bottom-expand-beyond-the-realm-of-my-pants-in-an-alarmingly-rapid-fashion category. However, the advantage of deep frying potatoes, as opposed to baking them, is that they need never be turned. I HATE trying to turn over a hundred strips of potatoes so I can get a nice even crisp. It takes forever as I slowly melt in the ferocious heat of my oven.

Question:
How does one make oven fries that are uniformly crispy and golden on the outside and soft on the inside, without an unwanted pile of effort?

Solution:
Lazy Fries.

I thought to myself, what if I made potato slabs instead of continuing to cut them into fries? Would they be too big to adequately dispatch my need for fries? The answer, of course, was no - they were fantastic! And waaaaaaay easier than traditional oven fries.

Here's what I did:

3 Large or 7 Small Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise
4 T vegetable oil*
Salt
Pepper

*it's important to use vegetable oil because olive oil can overwhelm the potato-y flavor, which is an essential part of wonderful fries.

Soak the potatoes in hot tap water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coat a heavy bottomed cookie sheet with 3 T of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dry potatoes thoroughly and place in pan (be very careful not to overcrowd!).

Cover pan tightly with foil and bake at 475 degrees F for 5 minutes. Take off the foil and continue baking for 10-15 minutes, rotating pan after 10 minutes. Flip potatoes over once they are browned on the pan side. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes until the other side is similarly done.

Season with additional salt, as desired. Serve hot.



So there you go! Lazy Fries. And it only took me 330 words to get there!