Fries with that? How to make restaurant-quality fries at home

In recent weeks, Canadians have been asked to step up and help consume the almost 200 million pounds (90 million kilograms) of french fry potatoes that are backing up in storage as restaurant closures halt the food service arm of the supply chain.

Similarly, Belgian farmers are asking Belgians to eat potatoes at least twice a week to help consume nearly 750,000 tons of surplus spuds.

Fries are an inexpensive and delicious way to fill restaurant plates, but aren't as commonly made at home.

Oven fries are perfectly tasty: Cut them into wedges or matchsticks, toss in oil and salt, spread out in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet and roast at 450 F (230 C) for 20-30 minutes, stirring once or twice.

But they are not quite the same as a batch of crisp restaurant fries, straight from the deep fryer.

Hot oil more effective than air

Hot oil is a more effective cooking medium than air, and comes into contact with the entire surface of the food that's being cooked, making it evenly crisp and golden.

There are a few tricks that will help you make restaurant-quality fries at home, without a deep fryer.

All you need is a sturdy pot, starchy potatoes like russets and a neutral vegetable oil like canola or peanut.

After cutting the potatoes into evenly-sized matchsticks, they are often soaked in cold water to relieve them of some starch, and keep cut potatoes from turning grey with exposure to the air.

Most often, fries are cooked twice; they're par-cooked in oil at a lower temperature in order to cook the potatoes through, then removed, cooled, and finished in hotter oil, around 375 F (190 C) to finish cooking them, and get them nicely browned and crisp this ensures a fluffy interior and a crisp exterior.

Cold oil method

Frozen fries are generally par-cooked, so they only need finishing.

Cooking them twice can be a hassle though, and there is one method that's simple, and doesn't require gently lowering cut potatoes into hot oil.

The cold oil method, which I learned years ago in Cook's Illustrated magazine, starts the cut potatoes in oil straight from the bottle.

To make them this way, cut as many fries as you like, put them into a sturdy pot, and cover them with canola, peanut, or another neutral vegetable oil.

Turn on the stove to medium-high and bring to a boil.

Don't move them around for about the first ten minutes; the slowly-rising heat will allow the spuds to cook through first, and they could break apart before they've had a chance to set.

Once the oil starts bubbling around the fries, and they begin to barely turn golden, you can move them about with tongs.

Continue cooking for about seven more minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your fries, until they're deep golden.

Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate, and shower with salt while they're still hot.

To make crispy fried crumbled potatoes, bash cold baked or roasted russet or Yukon gold potatoes into bite-sized chunks, and fry in an inch or two of hot oil typically you want the oil to be about 350 to 375 F, if you have a thermometer.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate with tongs or a slotted spoon, and sprinkle with salt or for an even more restaurant-ish experience, toss with grated parmesan and finely chopped rosemary.

Homemade falafel

• 1 19 oz (540 mL) can chickpeas, drained.
• Small chunk of purple onion, or 1-2 green onions, chopped.
• 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled.
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, use stems.
• 1 tsp cumin.
• 1/4 tsp salt.
• Pinch dried chili flakes.
• 1-2 Tbsp all-purpose flour.
• 1/4 tsp baking powder.
• Canola or other neutral vegetable oil, for frying.

Put the chickpeas, onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, salt and chili flakes in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined but still chunky, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

Add the flour and baking powder and pulse until you have a soft mixture that you can roll into balls without sticking to your hands too much.

You can make it as smooth as you want, but I like leaving a little texture.

Roll the dough into small meatball-sized balls, and flatten each slightly, making a little patty. Flatter patties cook through more quickly.

In a shallow pot or skillet, heat about an inch of canola or other mild vegetable oil until it's hot but not smoking.

Test it with a bit of falafel mixture or a scrap of bread the oil should bubble up around it.

Cook the falafel for a few minutes per side, without crowding the pan, that will cool down the oil, until they're golden and crisp.

You could get away with using just a drizzle of oil if you do this, best to leave the falafels round, so that you can roll them around in the pan to brown all sides.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve warm, with tzatziki or thick plain Greek yogurt spiked with lemon, garlic, tahini and salt.

Makes about 20 falafel patties.