I know I promised a week ago that a recipe for Sweet Potato Fries would be "coming right up", but to be quite honest, something wasn't quite right about the fries and I kept thinking that I could come up with a way to make them better.
So I thought. A lot. I had made fries last week with a Thanksgiving frame of mind - where yams are served with fluff or brown sugar. So I topped my fries with brown sugar.
At some point over the weekend, I thought about Pretzel M&Ms and why they work so well - it's the dichotomy (wow I haven't used that word since grad school) between sweet and salty that makes my taste buds sing.
And that's when I realized ... sweet potatoes are already sweet. I need the salty.
That was my very long way of saying I fine-tuned my recipe and made a new batch last night. Did you hear the hallelujah chorus? Because I think I heard it last night when these guys came out of the oven ...
Yum. Let's begin.
Oh - by the way. This is so easy I'm almost embarrassed to call it a "recipe". But when I set out to make sweet potato fries I had no idea where to begin, so if you are in the same boat, I hope this helps!
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Large Sweet Potatoes
Vegetable Oil
Sea Salt
Start by washing your potatoes ...
Did you know that sweet potatoes are in season in Georgia in the fall? I learned that at the Botanical Garden. I don't know why I couldn't figure it out on my own (thanksgiving = yams), but it's nice to know I'm eating in season.
Peel.
Carefully cut the sweet potatoes in half. This is important because sweet potatoes are so dense that they are easier to work with if you cut them in half first.
Then cut the sweet potatoes into really thin fries.
Because sweet potatoes need to be cooked so well, you want to make sure the pieces are small enough so they can cook through without burning.
Put the fries in a bowl and toss with vegetable oil.
Then toss with sea salt. McCormick makes a nice grinder that is super easy to use and you can choose from three different grinding sizes. I chose the largest!
Sweet + Salty = Delicious. Don't skimp on the salt, trust me!
Throw in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
About halfway through the baking time, pull them out to turn them so they don't stick to the pan.
Top with a little bit of additional salt (unless you have high cholesterol) before serving. Yummmmmmm.
Bruce didn't understand the concept of sweet potato anything without something sugary added to it. In fact, he put molasses on his! But I really think the sea salt balanced out the sweetness and made for a fabulous side dish!
Enjoy!
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