By Chef Matthew Welsch – Executive Director of Culinary at West Virginia State Parks and Resorts
Is that love in the air? Well, whatever it is, it smells delicious!
Cooking is a love language, and it doesn’t have to be a complicated one. Simple food cooked well with good technique will woo the day over complex and inaccessible dishes. A simple, yet special dish near and dear to my heart is Steak Frites, because my wife and I enjoyed it on our honeymoon to France. I love how simple and straightforward it is, and yet, when it’s done right, it’s a beautiful dish.
There are a few small trade secrets to elevate your dish. Let’s start with the fries.
Homemade hand-cut French fries get a bad rap. They’re often limp and bland; not at all virile.
There are two main techniques to get crispy fries at home: let’s take it one at a time.
Peel a couple of pounds or more of potatoes; russets are the fry standby, but I enjoy goldens, as well.
Then cut into your desired shape and thickness. Keep in mind that size and thickness will affect cook time, and bigger isn’t always better for deep-frying at home. I prefer 1⁄4” or 3⁄8” sticks. They won’t all be the same size or shape, and that’s totally ok. As you’re cutting your potatoes up, put them in cold water.
Once all your fries are cut, rinse in cold water multiple times until the water runs clear. This removes excess starch and helps them crisp. That’s the first trick.
A light oil with a high smoke point is best for deep frying. You can use the vegetable or canola you probably already have in your kitchen, or spring for something fancier like avocado oil. I like peanut oil, but bonus points for animal fats: lard, duck fat, and beef tallow are all amazing and add a depth of flavor to your fries.
Heat your oil to 325 degrees in a heavy Dutch oven. You need just as much to cover one layer of fries, because we’re going to fry these off in batches to avoid overcrowding. If you don’t have a thermometer, use the back end of a wooden spoon. Stick the butt of your spoon in the oil, and if it bubbles a little, you’re good. If your oil is smoking, that’s too hot. Be careful!
As your oil is heating, drain your fries and spread them out onto a paper towel-lined sheet tray. Get them as dry as possible; this will reduce splatter and also help crisp them up.
Now add them to the oil in batches. Don’t overcrowd. The oil temperature will drop when you add them, that’s ok. It will come back up. Cook them until they’re tender. About 7 minutes. Remove with tongs onto another paper towel-lined sheet tray.
Once all your fries are fried, see how crisp they are. Not where you’d like them to be? No worries, friends. Slightly increase the oil temperature to 375 and fry them for a second time. This is where the real magic happens. Now that the fry is cooked through, we’re going to crisp up the exterior with this second round of higher-heat frying.
Remove to another paper-towel-lined sheet tray (or the first one washed off with fresh towels) and eat as soon as possible. Set this up in stations to control the cooking flow. First sheet tray to the left (1) with raw taters, then the dutch oven we’re fryin in (2), and to the right the sheet tray where the fries will rest (3).
Once all the fries are off the first tray, rinse, clean, and line them in fresh, dry paper towels. And now go from right to left or 3, 2, 1, until all the fries are crispy, golden, and delicious. As the fries come out onto their final tray, dust with your favorite spices. I like a little S&P, some granulated garlic, and onion powder.
Mix spices in a small bowl with a fork until incorporated. Taste to make sure the mix is good and sprinkle from a high height to ensure even coating. Remember, you can always add more, but it’s hard to take it away, so go a little at a time until they’re seasoned perfectly.
Crispy food has a bad habit of not staying that way, so it’s best not to let your fries rest for too long.
Therefore, in a perfect world, you want to cook your steak at the same time. Now generally, I’d cook my steaks on the grill, but it’s too cold for all that. So, let’s do them in cast iron.
I like to let my steaks dry out in the fridge for a day before I cook them. Unwrap them a day ahead of time and lay them on a plate or tray, a wire rack on a tray is ideal, so air can get all around them. Cover lightly with parchment paper or not covered at all. Make sure not to store raw food over ready-to-eat food in your fridge.
Pull the steaks from the fridge when you’re ready to start cleaning your potatoes. Dab them dry with paper towels and season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.
When you’re ready to start frying your potatoes, pause and cook your steaks. They will want to rest after cooking, so while they’re resting, you can fry your fries.
It’s important to heat your cast-iron skillet thoroughly before adding the steaks. Place on the stove on medium-high to high heat and add just a little bit of oil. Once the pan is smoking, add the steaks careful, laying away from yourself with the upside down. The pan should sizzle like an angry rattler. Cook for 2 -3 minutes on one side, then flip. Once flipped, add a fat knob of butter.
Once the butter melts, you can carefully tip the pan towards you and, using a spoon, baste the steaks with the butter and fat in the pan for another 2 – 3 minutes. Now, remove the steaks to a plate and tent with aluminum foil to rest.
By the time your fries are done, your steaks will be ready to cook! If you really want to jazz things up, we can do a pan sauce, but we’ll have to talk about that another time.
Enjoy, friends! Celebrate the ones you love with good food.
