Not fried & just as good as french fries!

I went through a season when french fries became my go-to starch when I hadn’t properly planned for a meal. It was happening too often, and deep fried food is really not my thing — oh they taste great! I totally agree, and I would have them everyday if it wasn’t so bad for health. So I make a conscious decision to avoid them as much as possible, especially when eating at home. We eat enough of them when we go out…

soft, moist, tasty, as good as fried but better!
soft, moist, tasty, as good as fried but better!

But when the french fries started happening too often in that season I started looking for another way to get the same yumminess. As I started thinking about it I recalled something I had eaten in a restaurant a few years ago that was served on a lovely tasty thin slice of baked potato. That one was obviously buttered heavily but you only got one with the meal. So I thought, why not bake some thin slices in the oven? I did, and they turned out great!   

All you will need is potatoes, as many as you usually make, a bit of olive oil or whichever oil you prefer to use, and salt to taste. Wash and peel the potatoes then cut them like this…

cut the potatoes into thin slices, preferably lengthwise that these long ones you see upfront (they just look nicer to me, a little different)
cut the potatoes into thin slices, preferably lengthwise that these long ones you see upfront (they just look nicer to me, a little different)

Cut thick-ish slices, not too thick not too thin, just right, mine are about 3-4 mm thick. Use a sharp knife knife, it will go faster and more easily. Make sure the peeled potato is stable before starting. You can cut off a slice from one side to create a flat surface to stabilise it. I didn’t take any photos of how I did it (^.^) but here’s a video that explains it better…

But I wasn’t cutting the traditional french fry so my slices are thinner. Feel free to keep the skin on though, they’ll look lovely.

next, toss in a bowl with oil and salt. Just a little bit of oil, don't need much at all
next, toss in a bowl with oil and salt. Just a little bit of oil, don’t need much at all
the arrange them for baking
then arrange them for baking, in a single layer. I highly recommend that you use parchment paper too, so easy to pull them out after they’re done cooking. Anything else will stick.
in a single layer. you may have to use up all your large baking dishes depending on how much you need to make
you may have to use up all your large baking dishes depending on how much you need to make

Place in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 min or till you get that lovely colour around the edges that you like. They’re usually done cooking between 20 and 30 min so after that it’s up to you. Don’t leave them on there too long though, they will dry out too much.

and there they are, fresh out of the oven
and there they are, fresh out of the oven
text
lovely specimens of perfectly salted roasted potatoes that taste just like french fries
mkfdm
served them at a gathering recently and everyone thought they had to have been deep fried, they loved them!
sdfv
experiment with different cuts too if you’d like, as long as they’re always laid flat to cook in the oven they should be fine.

I’ve thought about using cookie cutters to to make stars and heart shapes for kids. Yes it would be more work but just focus on those sweet happy faces!

xvdv
serve as a side with meals as you always do!

It’s that simple! Do make them, and enjoy them just like french fries but without the “fry!”

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

About aika

Making, eating and sharing good food are a splendid way to start, brake and end a day! I post good eats on www.pendolamama.co.ke. Life is a feast, eat up!

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