Garlic Oven Fries

Hi, I'm Debby and I'm a French Fry-aholic. I love french fries.
I am standing on top of a mountain, and shouting out to "The Purple Foodie". This recipe rocks! When I saw this photo posted on Photograzing, I wanted to find out more about the recipe. We love garlic. Garlic is King in my house. I always have fresh garlic...would it be that I live about 45 minutes from the Garlic Capitol called "Gilroy, California"?

I made these, the first time on Easter Sunday. I am so used to cooking alone, so that I can concentrate on reading new recipes. I was so engaged in a wonderful conversation with my brother's lady friend, that I wasn't fully paying attention to three new recipes I was working on. The potatoes turned out delicious-- but they were more like roasted potatoes. I realized, too late, that I should not have used a glass baking dish. We loved them, but I wanted french fries.

During the night, my eyes popped open, with a start (yes, I think of recipes in bed). Duh! I should not have peeled the potatoes ! I also wish that I had used a baking sheet.

Not to worry...

Today, my husband requested one of his very favorite meals-- Sloppy Joe's (not from a can, thank you very much). I decided to make the garlic fries, again. The perfectionist in me wanted to see if I was right about using a baking sheet.

First, the ingredients:

Three russet potatoes, washed. Garlic. Lots of it. I used four colossal cloves of them-- they equal eight in total. Olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Wash and cut the spuds into fourths and then thirds, to equal 12 wedges per tater.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475F (though, I think 450F works fine for me).

In a pan, heat the olive oil and garlic on a very low heat-- we are not cooking the garlic. We are infusing the oil with the flavor of the garlic. Got that? You don't want burned garlic. It's bitter, and it's nasty.


Place the potato wedges in a bowl; then, using a sieve, separate the garlic from the oil.


Yeah, baby... garlic! The garlic, and one Tablespoon of infused olive oil gets tossed onto the potato wedges.

Reserved 5 of the 6 tablespoons of olive oil; this goes onto the baking sheet.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and microwave these for 4 minutes. They are hot, so be careful when you remove the plastic.

In the meantime, mix the cornstarch, salt, pepper and cayenne (warning, if you're a whimp, like me, you might want to leave this out, or use less).


Sprinkle the mixture onto the hot potatoes and very gently mix this with a large spoon. Again, these are hot! Be careful.

The remainder of the olive oil goes onto a baking sheet (not a glass dish, trust me). Evenly spread the potatoes and pop into the oven. These take anywhere from 20-30 minutes to be ready.


The house smelled of garlic, while these were baking. I won't use the corny vampire analogy... suffice it to say that if you love garlic, your nostrils will be filled with the aroma of it.


Halfway through (about 15 minutes) turn these over. Now this is the way to do it! The spuds were a golden brown.

I checked these 10 minutes later, and they were perfectly done. The cayenne had a little "bite". I'm whimpy about heat, because my son said they were perfect.


I served these with Sloppy Joe's on toasted buns, cole slaw with a balsamic vinaigrette.

My husband was very happy...and very thankful. He deserves it. He fixed my car and gave me a new kitchen faucet that I love!

Make these, please! You will thank me. You will thank The Purple Foodie. These are truly the best fries.