Loaded Fries
Last week I was put on a group challenge of making some kind of loaded fries. I wasn’t thinking too outside the box. Sometimes traditional is best. I don’t always mind experimenting but sometimes I’d rather not waste ingredients if I’m not totally sure it’ll work out. So I ended up with taco fries since I had leftover taco ingredients and cheesey bacon fries.
The cheese and bacon were my favorite. So simple and delicious. There is no way to beat that tasty combination. How can you go wrong with either ingredient? Cheese – good. Bacon – good. Put them together and you get pure deliciousness.
The taco fries are something you really have to be in the mood for but are a nice alternative to leftover tacos or turning the leftovers into nachos even. You could also very easily make a halved baked potato and fill it with taco fixings and eat it that way. I considered it but it went out of the spectrum of the task a bit. Maybe another time.
This also gave me an opportunity to try making fries in a new way. I always bake my fries or wedges, really any kind of potatoes except for mashed. I decided to give it a go at frying the potatoes. It’s quick, easy and really good. You get a more even coloring throughout your batch of fries. The other plus this method gives is warm soft insides with a range of options for how done the outside crust gets. They can go from just done to crispy and the timing will still be much less than baking. Of course you do have the issue of drying or draining the oil soaked fries once cooked, but baked fries usually have some kind of a greasy coating as well after cooking if you are making from scratch especially.
Loaded Fries
Ingredients
- 2-3 large potatoes
- oil for frying
- salt
Instructions
- Heat oil to 365F° approximately. Slice potatoes into nice even pieces. Thickness is a personal preference. Know that the smaller you slice, less time will be needed to cook completely. And of course the larger your slices, the longer you'll need to cook. When your oil is heated, cook in small batches. I fried one potatoes worth of fries at a time. Bake time will vary but roughly 5-8 minutes should give you perfect fries. Drain on paper towels and immediately sprinkle with salt or other seasoning. I chose to use a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Taco Fries:
- Top fries with cooked and seasoned meat, cheese, lettuce, jalapeno slices and sour cream. Bake at 450F° in an oven safe bowl until cheese is fully melted.
Cheesey Bacon Fries:
- Top off fries with shredded cheese and cooked bacon crumbles or chunks. Bake at 450F° in an oven safe bowl until cheese is fully melted.
- Eat warm.
