Frugal Food Thursday: Sweet Potato Fries

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Last week, I had bought some sweet potatoes at my local cheap produce store.  I hadn't decided what to do with them, though.  After a few days, I figured I should use them up, so I went simple and made some sweet potato fries.  Too often, sweet potatoes are all gussied up (like in my sweet potato and pineapple casserole), but they're perfectly fine all by themselves.

I chose to fry them because I love the crispness, instead of baking them in the oven, which tends to make the outside cooked but leave the inside raw.  I fry them twice, first to cook the outside without browning.  Then while they cool and I work on another batch, the insides continue to cook.  Then they go back into the pan again, this time to become crisp on the outside.  It's not the most healtful preparation, but it's fun to eat!

SWEET POTATO FRIES

1 small sweet potato per person
Canola oil
Kosher salt to taste

Scrub the outsides of the sweet potatoes, but do not peel them.  Cut off the pointed ends of the potato.  Using a sharp, strong knife, slice the potato into 1/2 inch slices, then each slice into 1/2 inch matchsticks.  Blot the sweet potato pieces with a paper towel.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large saucepan.  You can tell whether the oil is hot enough by sticking the end of one of the sweet potato pieces in; bubbles should appear all around.  Put in some of the sweet potato pieces to fill the pan - do not crowd the pan!  Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the bright orange color seems to fade a bit.  Remove fries with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.  Repeat until all the sweet potatoes have been fried once, replacing oil as necessary.

Return the first batch of sweet potatoes to the pan.  Fry until the outsides of the sweet potatoes start to turn brown and become crisp.  Remove and place on new paper towels to drain.  Repeat until all the sweet potatoes have been fried twice.

Sprinkle the fries with kosher salt to taste.  Eat!

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