How To Make Oven-Fried French Fries

I'm of the firm belief that just about anything you want to eat can be made a bunch of different ways.

I also don't believe in giving up everything in the world that you love to eat!

Culinary basics as applied to oven-frying versus traditional frying is a case in point.

You can have your French fries and eat them, too!

You don't have to give up many foods if you apply oven-frying cooking techniques. In the long run, it makes your food healthier and still satisfies your appetite.

Who doesn't love French fries? Consider that giving up deep frying and switching to oven-frying will save you roughly about 230 calories and 20 grams of fat per serving!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt if desired
• 2-3 tablespoons oil
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Coat baking sheet with oil and set aside.
3. Clean potatoes - dry. You can leave either unpeeled or peel them.
4. Cut into 1/4-inch French fry strips. Place in medium bowl.
5. On stove or in the microwave, melt butter. Stir in parsley and garlic. Pour over the potatoes, coating well.
6. Spread onto the baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned and tender.
7. Turn after 10 minutes to brown on all sides.
8. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and drain on paper towels.

This recipe is from Cooks.com and is one way that you can cook French fries in the oven.

Going still further, my ways to cut even more calories and fat:

• My ingredients are the same - however, I do not use butter
• I spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray
• I leave the potatoes peeled - I use Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes a lot but Russets will do
• I cut the potatoes the same - or sometimes if I'm doing a chicken dish and I want larger fries I cut the potatoes into thicker fries
• I don't use the garlic powder but sometimes I will substitute other herbs - sometimes just kosher salt
• I use olive oil - about 1 tablespoon max
• I put the potatoes into a zip-lock bag and sprinkle with salt and herbs in the bag and then add in the olive oil
• After sealing the bag, I literally toss the potatoes all around and get them coated with the oil and herbs/salt
• I then turn them out onto the cookie sheet and bake as above - turning at least once and cook until they are crisp and golden
• I don't usually put cheese on my fries as I like just plain old French fries!
• I have also used salad dressings such as a vinaigrette by Paul Newman and have just added 1-2 tablespoons of that to the bag. I toss and spread on the cookie sheet and bake that way - delicious - and gives it a bit of a tang with the vinegar added in

• Basically any recipe that you can do deep-fried you can do oven-fried
• There are thousands of recipes on the internet and in cookbooks to back this up - just type in what you want to have fried and you can find a recipe to convert it to oven-fried
• Oven frying is similar to baking or roasting except that a little bit of fat is added
• Foods that are oven-fried may be breaded or just plain
• You will get a deep-fried result without all the fat (and calories)
• Copying the 'fried' crispiness sometimes will involve dipping in egg white or a mixture of egg white and water, sometimes Dijon mustard, or buttermilk - then coating with a low calorie, low sodium, low fat coating such as panko (Japanese style bread crumbs) or traditional bread crumbs - or a mixture of part flour and panko
• Using herbs and a bit of salt will make up for the flavor created by deep frying
• Oven frying recipes sometimes use a dip in buttermilk before adding bread crumbs and/or panko and creates a delicious flavor
• You can skin chicken, dip in buttermilk, dry off a bit, dip in a mixture of flour and panko crumbs and then oven fry and you will have a delicious and healthy version of fried chicken
• Oven frying will give you a delicious (and healthier) version of potato chips, corn dogs, onion rings, fried chicken, fried catfish, fried sweet potato fries, French fries....the list goes on and on
• Anything that is coated in crumbs or flour can be oven-fried - chicken nuggets, fish sticks, crab cakes - and you will lose fat and calories to boot

Oven-frying is a great way to reduce calories and still end up with a similar product when you cook something you love but really shouldn't eat a lot of!

Applying the culinary basics to finding a 'better' way of cooking is a challenge sometimes but one that I personally find enormously intriguing. Being able to create something that is close to the 'real deal' but that is so much better for you makes me feel I've solved a puzzle of sorts. It doesn't hurt that the end result is delicious.

Oven-frying is great for potato chips and also for onion rings.

It is also how I do 'fried chicken' because it turns out with great flavor and crispiness but without all the fat from frying.

There are many vegetables you can oven-fry as well. Be creative and give oven-frying a try!