Sweet potato "fries" (oven baked)?

[TamiRuns]

Anyone have a good recipe/method for making something that resembles sweet potato fries? I tried last night and mine came out soft and floppy....no resemblance to a fry! If I'm gonna pass these off as fries to the kiddos, I have to come up with something better....

Ideas? Tips?

Thanks!

[Twoboos]

Buy the frozen sweet potato fries from Trader Joe's? Sorry but that's my best solution!

(Hmmm, so many of my cooking tips seem to be, "Buy the <whatever> at Trader Joe's." :rotflmao: )

[TamiRuns]

We don't have a Trader Joes in the area....I know I have seen some in the freezer section at our local grocery (Alexia...is that even a brand?!) but I'm really trying to limit frozen prepared foods....

[sunshine873]

We don't have a Trader Joes in the area....I know I have seen some in the freezer section at our local grocery (Alexia...is that even a brand?!) but I'm really trying to limit frozen prepared foods....

DH likes the Alexia ones, but I can taste the oil on them. They're still fried and not really the best option. I have a toaster oven with a convection feature and that's my best hope at getting anything crispy by baking.

[TamiRuns]

My oven is (relatively) new and has a convection feature I have never used.....so will this make my "fries" crispy? Maybe I need
to do some research....

Thanks!

[smiles33]

DH makes them all the time from scratch. I know he slices them pretty narrowly (think skinny french fries as opposed to the wider wedges), sprays with olive oil (we have a Misto), adds some spices (pepper, salt, and some herbs) and bakes. They are soooo yummy!

[TamiRuns]

DH makes them all the time from scratch. I know he slices them pretty narrowly (think skinny french fries as opposed to the wider wedges), sprays with olive oil (we have a Misto), adds some spices (pepper, salt, and some herbs) and bakes. They are soooo yummy!

I'm pretty sure I need to cut my fries thinner. I also tossed them in a touch of olive oil along with some salt.

I think I will try making the slices thinner and using the convection feature. I'll have to report back with the results....

[LMPC]

You can also try putting a little oil on the baking tray and getting it hot before you put the fries on the tray and into the oven. DH uses this technique for his roasted potatoes and they come out really crispy even though they are more thickly cut. HTH!

[ahrimie]

I put mine on high heat and bake, 425-450 (forget how long though--20ish min?). Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper, and even garlic sometimes. I do wedges and make them a little crispy on the edges but if you do thinner cuts, I'm sure they'd cook much faster and get crispier.

[fauve01]

make your oven really hot. when i make them, i use the convection feature to heat the oven (the fans get the temp up faster), then switch to regular bake when it's gets up to where i want it.

i like our potatoes sort of thin (you can also do wedges or cubes). i drizzle with olive oil, mix with my hands to distribute the oil, then sprinkle with spices you like. i do salt and pepper and garlic. you can add other spicy stuff/red pepper if you like (my dh doesn't, so i don't). make sure the potatoes aren't too crowded or they'll sort of steam and that would increase the mush factor.

my mom likes to coat the potatoes by putting them in a ziplock bag and then adding the oil in the bag and mixing.

i cook at 425-450F for about 25-30 min. you'll have to play with this, depending on how hot your oven is and how small your potatoes are.

I saw Rachel Ray making steak fries (regualr potatoes) the other day and she said to do the oven as high as it would go (for her 500F) and 25 minutes. not sure how sweet potatoes would change that.

check out these links for recipes, comments, tips:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spicy-Baked-Sweet-Potato-Fries/Detail.aspx

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-sweet-potato-fries-recipe/index.html

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/378235


HTH,
Anne

[TamiRuns]

Thanks for all the additional tips!

The links are very helpful! Now I can't wait to try again....