Oven Fries with Seasoning Salt

Let's start with something basic.

A favorite convenience side dish are oven-baked frozen french fries. These appalling little sticks of sad are baked out on a cookie sheet, giving you the fulfilling choice of textures between tooth-shattering or flaccid. Nobody should have to eat these things. You may claim you like them, but trust me, you know deep down they're not that good.

Thankfully, with a handful of humble potatoes, and access to your spice rack you'll be able to consistently make a recipe which has practically no prep time (I can get this in the oven in less than five minutes), and a relatively short cooking time. I can't really call this high nutrition. I'm sure we get enough of whatever the hell nutrients are in potatoes, but hey, these HAVE to be better than that bagged junk.

Prep Time:

- 10 or so minutes, less if you're fast with a knife

Cooking Time:

- 30 - 40 minutes

Hardware:

- A cookie sheet or two
- Tin foil (optional but really recommended)
- A really big bowl

Ingredients:

- However many potatoes you feel can be eaten.
- Few tablespoons of oil (canola is fine, use olive if you feel fancy)
- 2 T paprika
- 1 T fresh ground pepper (pre-ground pepper is flavourless and you don't save by buying it)
- 3 T kosher salt (virtues of kosher salt are another post, but just use regular if you don't have it)
- Roughly 1 t each of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, and ground mustard.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425.

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, give it a shot of cooking spray or rub some oil on the tin foil.

This recipe is, like most dishes, open to interpretation. You can add chili flakes or cayenne if you want to spice this up, coriander or turmeric to give it more of a curry taste, or remove anything you don't particularly like.

Frankly, when I make this I just eye it. Paprika forms the base flavour (plain paprika is pretty mild), and adds a wonderful colour, while most of the other spices are in small amounts due to their strong flavour. Also, if you replace the salt with brown sugar, you have created a spice rub suitable for dry roasting, pan searing, grilling, and smoking.

A Note on Buying Spices:

A properly stocked spice shelf is not a major investment provided you buy cheap. If you see bulk, go for it. If you can find something that requirse you grind it yourself, go for it - you gain much more flavour and it may be cheaper. Buy bags, not tiny little jars of spices. Then buy jam jars to keep them in. Voila, a cheap spice shelf. Honestly, one of those little jars of paprika may cost six bucks. I can get the same amount in bulk for 30 cents. Use your spices regularly, they all have uses.

Grind up any whole seed spices you have (such as cumin), pour all of these in a jar one by one, admire the pretty layers, shake it up. You now have seasoning salt. Should you like this recipe, make a big jar of the stuff for long-term use and to save time.

Oven Fries:

Wash and scrub your potatoes, leave the skins on. Potato skins have flavour and texture - so leave them on whenever you can. Otherwise you're throwing away food. Cut your potatoes once lengthwise, lay each length flat, and then cut into long, thin fries. It is important that these be on the thin side, rather than big thick wedges.

Add the fries to a bowl and then coat with a tablespoon or two of oil. Mix thoroughly to coat with oil, and then start adding seasoning salt. How much you add here is up to you - but if you're unsure don't go more than a few tablespoons. You can add more later, and over-seasoned can't be fixed while under-seasoned can.

Toss the potatoes onto the cookie sheet(s), you want most of the potatoes to be laying flat. You don't have to be perfect about this, but you don't want massive heaps of spuds. Everything needs direct contact to the air, and the cookie sheet to crisp up.

Into the oven! After fifteen minutes, remove the cookie sheet, and shake it vigorously - mix up the spuds as best you can. Rotate the cookie sheet before placing it back in for even browning. Cook for fifteen minutes more.

After half an hour, pull the fries out and taste one of them. They should have a light bit of crisp to them, and be a lovely golden brown. If the fries are all still soft, pop back in for ten more minutes.

Share, and enjoy!

Greetings, mortals!

So I’m doing another blog.

See, my other blog, Once More Into the Fridge, was actually a lot of fun to do. However, I believe I updated it around once a year - despite having several half-finished posts. In addition, I just feel outclassed when I write about food. I’m a good cook, but I don’t think I’m a blogworthy cook. My recipes aren’t works of art, our photography is loving but amateurish, and it was more just an excuse to write than an attempt to do anything productive.

However, I’ve always been proud of a skill I’ve developed over the past ten years. I’m really good at being poor. Now that might sound a little nuts, but hear me out. I’ve taught myself how to cook over the years with often just forty bucks for food between cheques to feed both myself and Tracy. This goes beyond just shopping sales. With little to no money, I’ve been able to consistently feed us healthy (not necessarily lean, but at least nutritional) meals on a regular basis with what’s approaching a pretty damn decent amount of variety.

Considering the dire straits the world is in economically, I thought these skills would be something I could share. Time and time again I’ve had people talk to me about feeding the kids Kraft Dinner or hot dogs when times are lean, and frankly – that’s not necessary.

When your budget is low, you do have to give up certain luxuries in your food, but you NEVER have to give up eating good food in general. Packaged crap is not only bland and tasteless, but it’s bad for you, and it’s not the cheapest way to eat. The only benefit of packaged food is convenience. In my experience, when you need to count every penny, convenience should not be a determining factor. Unless you’re working three jobs, there’s always time to cook – it’s just a case of making that time.

So with this in mind, I’m launching Wok of Ages. This blog is intended for beginner and intermediate cooks who are struggling to provide for themselves or their family. I intend to provide recipes, techniques, and just ideas to keep the dinner table a happy place, rather than a depressing one when the budget is strapped.