| 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 |
| 1 | 103 | 205 | 308 | 410 |
|
Home-made French fries are somewhat of a messy operation but if you don't mind the
cleanup, they are worth it. With carefully-controlled oil temperature, using the two-stage method
and reasonably fresh oil, your fries will not absorb too much oil. (See text above for discussion.)
You need plenty of oil for deep-frying. With too little oil the temperature drops too much
when you add the potatoes and they start absorbing oil.
Ingredient
Dry, mealy type baking potatoes, washed, unpeeled, cut into French fry stick about a
finger thick
Deep-frying oil
Procedure
1
. Wash potatoes thoroughly to remove excess starch, then dry them with a towel as
much as you can (to add minimal moisture to the oil—any extra water you add reduces oil
temperature).
2. Heat oil to 325°F (160°C), lower potatoes gently into the oil in a frying basket. Avoid
temptation to hurry the process by adding too much potatoes. Lift the basket out for a second if
there is a danger of overflowing. The steam comes very vigorously at first. Cook until they are
limp but not brown, about 3 to 6 minutes. Remove potatoes, cool them for 5 minutes. In the
meantime heat oil to 375°F (190°C).
3. Lower the basketful of potatoes in the hot oil again in the second frying stage. They
brown fast, in about 5 minutes. Remove when crisp but before they turn dark, drain and soak up
excess oil on paper towels or in a brown paper bag then sprinkle with salt.
Poisoned potatoes
Strong light also affects stored potatoes. All potatoes contain an alkaloid called solanine,
and most alkaloids are poisonous in high doses. Potato leaves and stems contain a lot of solanine.
At normal concentrations there's not enough in the potato itself to be harmful, and it actually
contributes to the total flavor. At high concentrations it has been known to cause severe
poisoning. It is a chemical process that produces solanine aided by sunlight or strong artificial
light.
Solanine usually develops within the skin and just under it. Luckily we can see when
solanine concentration is high because the green-colored pigment, chlorophyll also develops in
the potato along with the solanine. When you see green spots on your potatoes, they signal that
the solanine may be 5 to 10 times the normal concentration. With high levels of solanine the
potato also reaches highly toxic levels, and it develops a burning, peppery flavor, giving you
ample warning that something is not right. Heat doesn't destroy alkaloids, and they are not
soluble in water as some toxins are. The only solution is surgery. You don't have to throw away
the whole potato as many cookbooks suggest. Just cut out the green parts. They are, like beauty,
only skin deep.
While bean and alfalfa sprouts are great additions to salads, potato sprouts are good only
if you don't wish your guests to return to your dinner table ever again. Potato sprouts are also
rich in solanine, even though they may not be green. Pick off the sprouts before cooking and
don’t add them to your salad.
play © erdosh 197
Page
Quick Jump
|