Kathryn's post yesterday about fried green tomatoes got our taste buds all riled up for some fried food. But french fries? That's one dish we never attempt at home. Too much trouble to peel, cut, deep fry (often twice). But Bon Appétit is trying to help...
This french fry feature on the magazine's website has a recipe for twice-cooked fries but also a list of tutorials about the ingredients, tips on frying, a roundup of tools you'll need, and a video.
If you read everything and still think deep-frying potatoes at home sounds like too much trouble, there's a recipe at the end for oven fries:
We're still wary of making french fries at home. We once watched an episode of Food 911 (the Tyler Florence Food Network show), where he re-created twice-cooked French bistro fries with a woman, and the process looked interminable. Then, when her friends came over to eat, it looked like each one got about 6.2 fries before they were gone.
How about you — do you make french fries at home?
Related: Survey: Do You Deep Fry at Home?
(Image: Antonis Achilleos for Bon Appétit)
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Make Chocolate Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping with Only 2 Ingredients
Our reading list
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Candy Stripe Teaspo...
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Tina Wilson's Striking Style 
Comments (6)
I've been meaning to get a little electric fryer to put outside on my balcony. Deep frying at home can mess your things up pretty good.
Deep frying at home is way too much of a hassle for me, but I love an oven fry.
I make oven fries. You get a much better result from them if you get as much moisture off of them as possible before giving them a toss with a bit of olive oil. I usually peal them, soak them, rinse, soak again (to get off more starch), drain, dry, toss them with salt, let them sit, dry again (the salt leeches out a lot of moisture), toss in olive oil, and bake at about 375 degrees (preferably on a metal cookie sheet).
They turn out great and they aren't as bad for you. Though it sounds like a lot of steps, they're actually pretty easy things to do (seriously, soaking and draining are actions that take seconds).
I have made French Fries before on a couple of occasions; and the secret to really flavorful-on-the-inside and crispy-on-the-outside fries is to soak the cut potatoes in sugar water before you fry them. And be patient, because it takes longer for them to get done than you think it's going to.
But boy is it worth the wait!
My husband makes fries at home. No deep dryer, not a lot of oil, and only one fry. He uses Joel Robuchon's method which works perfectly every time and you get a nice crispy fry that isn't greasy.
Wow, my mouth is watering now!
Yes, these take a little time & mess but they are totally worth it. We cut our potatoes up with a mandoline and let them soak in water. You can even do this a day or two before and it will be fine.
The Balthazar cookbook has an excellent recipe to follow (and yes, you do have to cook them twice).
We actually put oil in our wok pan and go from there. We make a ton of frites and serve them with a simple pan seared steak and some homemade mayo for a great "cooler" weather treat. (We've tried the baked kinds and they are just not the same.)