How some big magazine gets it totally wrong…
Last week, on the plane from BKK to BRU, I found a copy of “Gourmet, the magazine of good living“, edition of May 2009. On the cover was something that was supposed to be a picture of Belgian Fries. The front page also mentioned the “recipe is on page 15″, so, as you can guess, I flipped over to that page instantly. But what a disappointment it was …
Pretending to be a leading food magazine and not getting a basic recipe like French BelgianFries right? Shame on them …
OK, the front cover picture does look awful. I didn’t even recognize it as a paper cone with fries!
And then I read the recipe … “Fry potatoes [... at 325F] for 1 1/2 minutes ….” … “Reheat oil to 350F” … “Refry potatoes [...] about 5 minutes”
No wonder the fries on the cover look very greasy.
So, just for the record: your first frying should be like “cooking the potatoes”, it takes some time, a minute or 4-5 depending on the potatoes. The second frying is a “flash fry”, very short time at a high temperature. Not the other way around as stated in the article above. As editors of a food magazine they should know better…
A scan of their recipe is below:
Amen Brother ! We only serve the authentic style Belgian Fries, I can’t believe how many people call the wimpy shoestring fries a Belgian Fry ! It’s too skinny to really hold the double fry technique properly.
Keep Spreading the Word ! Mike Naessens
ok i give you my favorites:
Ali Oli I do not know the exact measures, but it is roasted garlic (a lot) with mayo and little dijon mustard. Blend and enjoy
Sauce Andolaise
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped green bell pepper
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
Stir together all sauce ingredients and chill, covered, at least 1 hour to allow flavors to develop. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Fry sauce I: Usually a simple combination of one part ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. I add chipotle peppers, and a bit of lemon to reduce sweetness.
Fry sauce II: No mayo, add ketchup lemon juice and tabasco sauce… nice and spicy.
And that’s about it. Hope you enjoy them.
So, can anyone share the best recipe for cooking them? Only if you think if your recipe is the best…
Im playing around with some mixes for mayonnaise. started with some simple ingredients: garlic, dried tomato, olives, paprika. and then moved on to some exciting one: dried jalapeño peppers, salmon, oysters, surimi, cream cheese, and found some very good mixes (and some very bad ones too!). Would you share one? I promise i’ll post my top ones next monday.