Diner-Style French Fries

Ross really wanted to make some fish tonight for dinner - so he requested "fish and chips", but the criteria was that the "chips" had to use the deep fryer also.  I found a recipe and it was amazing!!  Not healthy at all - but the fries were truly like you went out to eat at an old school diner!  The fry sauce was really good too - and super easy to make!!

Serves 8 - OBB

Equipment

High-quality (like stainless steel or cast iron) 8-quart kettle or pot OR a deep fryer with adjustable temperature settings.
2 paper towel-lined plates (plus extra paper towels)
A wide metal slotted spoon or spatula
A large mixing bowl of ice water
A very sharp chef’s knife

Ingredients
1 lb. Russet potatoes, scrubbed clean but not peeled (try to keep them small enough to fit in the palm of your hand to make sure they’re easy to cut)
Salt / lawrys salt
48 oz canola or peanut oil

Carefully cut potatoes vertically into 1/4″ slices.  Divide stack in half with the flat surface of the potato on the cutting board and carefully cut potatoes into 1/4″ fries (you may need to remove the round top slice and then cut that part later if you find it’s slipping while you’re trying to cut the potatoes).

Toss any pieces that are too skinny–they’ll just burn when you’re cooking–and trim down any extra-large pieces. Place cut potatoes into the bowl of ice water and repeat with remaining potatoes. When finished, pour the entire bottle of oil into the pot/kettle/deep fryer and bring to 325 over medium-high heat. When the oil is about 310-315 degrees, drain the potatoes so they’ll be ready to go into the oil as soon as it’s hot enough.

When oil reaches 325, turn the heat all the way up to “high.” Place 1/2 of the potatoes into the hot oil and stir frequently for 5-6 minutes, or just until they’re starting to show signs of being cooked. Remove from the hot oil and drain on one of the paper towel-lined plates.

Bring the oil back to 325 and then fry the second batch of potatoes. You know the drill–stir frequently, remove after 5-6 minutes, drain on paper towels.

Now…this is where things get fun. Bring the oil up to 375. When you’re there, add the first batch of fries back to the oil and fry for 1-2 minutes. They’ll get brown and crispy fast, and they’ll continue to brown a little after you remove them from the oil, so as soon as they start getting brown enough, get them out of the oil and drain them on the paper towels. As soon as they’re out, give them a very liberal sprinkling of salt while they’re still very, very hot.

Bring the oil back to 375 and fry the second batch of fries, following the same directions.

Fry Sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip! Tried it once in a pinch and it was beyond horrible!)
2-3 teaspoon chopped dill pickle

Combine and serve with homemade fries or onion rings