Air Fried French Fries

Air Fried French Fries

Happy September, friends!

You may have noticed that I have been conspicuously absent these last couple of weeks. There has been a lot going on.

First, it was my birthday, with his whirlwind of parties and cakes and friends. The week immediately after my birthday, Michael and I jumped in the car and spent a week exploring Vancouver Island. He was all about the museums, I was all about the donuts. We both won.

It was a great week, very relaxing; except for one thing. The ring finger on my right hand started to get really sore and puffy. I did my best to treat it, and then I also did my best to ignore it. I was on vacation, after all!

The morning after I got home from the island, reality crashed into my denial and I knew I had to do something about the situation. My finger was so painful and sore I couldn’t type, and I definitely couldn’t hold a knife or do much in the kitchen. So, off to the doctor I went, and he lanced it (yes, ow) and gave me antibiotics.

Long story short, my kitchen experiments have been seriously curtailed these last few weeks as I wait for my finger to return to normal.

And it’s been hard to not be in the kitchen, because, you see, I got a fantastic birthday gift this year: a Breville Smart Oven Air.

a countertop toaster oven
Shiny.

So you know how much I freaking love my kitchen gadgets. I have pretty much everything I need now; I have my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, I have my Ninja blender, I have my Nespresso, I have my Instant Pot. But deep in my heart, friends, I longed for an airfryer.

A long time ago, when I was in university, I owned a deep fryer. It was small, but hey, I was just one person. I was a broke student, so I’d make french fries, and it made me happy. A few years later, I got rid of it, and made a vow that, for health reasons, I’d never deep fry at home. I shallow fry, I eat deep fried foods when I go out, but not a home. That was the rule.

But then came the invention of the air fryer. These magical machines create a deep fried taste and texture but without immersing the food in hot oil. You can basically deep fry stuff with just a tablespoon or so of oil! I can hear choruses of angels singing!

The problem with most of those first generation air fryers is that they were massive. Big, heavy, took up a ton of counter space and a ton of cupboard space. I just didn’t have the kitchen real estate to own one.

But over the last couple of years, more and more companies have been creating multi-tools similar to the Instant Pot, but that allow you to air fry. 7-in-1 is way, way better than a tool that just does one thing, don’t you agree?

The Breville Smart Oven Air is just such a tool. This countertop toaster oven does a myriad of things: it bakes and broils and toasts, as you would expect a countertop oven to do. BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! It’s also has a proofing mode for bread, it makes pizza, it’s a dehydrator, and people, it air-fries!!!

As much as has been humanly possible with my gimpy finger, I have been playing with my air fryer over the last few weeks.

The Breville Smart Oven Air basically uses convection heat to do all the cool things it does. it’s a million times cooler (haha for a hot oven) and smarter than my regular oven, and I barely use my regular oven any more. This bad boy is big enough for pretty much everything I need, uses less power, and gets my kitchen less hot, especially during these last few hot weeks of summer.

A small cast iron frying pan filled with french fries

Okay, but enough about that. I’m sure I’ll be talking about this machine for a long time to come. On to the recipe!

If you’ve ever had a really good french fry, it’s probably because it’s fried twice. Those smarty-pants Belgians, who invented (ironically) the ol’ French Fry, would fry the potatoes twice: first at a lower temp to cook the inside, and then again at a higher temp to make them crispy on the outside.

And that’s how these work. This method creates the perfect Air Fried French Fries!

A small cast iron frying pan filled with french fries

Air Fried French Fries

Rebecca Coleman
The best! Air-Fried French Fries!
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American, French
Servings 2

Equipment

  • air fryer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 largeish russet baker potato
  • salt
  • oil
  • seasoning of your c

Instructions
 

  • Scrub your potato and if you like, you can peel it, though you don't have to. Cut the potato into french-fry size/shapes. I cut mine in half length-wise, then place the cut side down and cut in half again (length-wise). Each half gets cut 3-4 times, then place those on their side and cut into "fries." Place the cut fries in a bowl of cold water and allow to stand for about a half an hour. Soaking helps remove some of the starches that will make your potatoes gluey.
  • Drain the potatoes and spread them out on a clean kitchen towel and pat as much water as possible off of them.
  • Preheat your air fryer to 325 degrees.
  • Place the potatoes on your mesh air fryer basket, and spritz them with oil, either from a spray bottle or by using a commercially available oil spray like Pam.
  • Air fry for 7-10 minutes, or until the potatoes are floppy, indicating that they are cooked in the middle. Be sure to shake the basket halfway through.
  • Place on the counter and allow to cool down to room temperature (about 20-30 minutes).
  • Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
  • While the air fryer is heating, dump your fries into a bowl, and add 1/2 tbsp of oil and all of your seasonings. You'll need about 1 tsp of salt, and then I also used 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and some crushed rosemary. Toss well to combine. Place back on the mesh air fryer basket and spread out in a single layer.
  • Air fry for an additional 7-10 minutes, tossing or shaking half way through, until potatoes are crispy.
  • Serve immediately with ketchup, aioli, Mayochup, or my personal fave, truffled mayo.
Keyword vegan



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