By Joanne Sasvari

What, now we’re being encouraged to eat French fries? OK, if you insist. Don’t have to tell me twice.

The reason, of course, is that with so many restaurants shut down, Canada’s potato farmers have nowhere to sell their French fry potatoes and might have to dump millions of pounds of them. So we’ve been asked to step up to the plate, as it were, for the good of the nation and eat more fries. I spoke to Stephen Quinn on CBC Radio’s Early Edition this morning about how to make perfectly crispy fries at home, and I’ll tell you how here. But truth is, I prefer an oven fry, especially one made with duck fat.

First, though, you need the right kind of potato. Starchy varieties like russets are best because it’s that starch that gives you the fluffiness inside and crispness outside. All-purpose potatoes like Yukon Golds will also work, though not quite as well. What you want to avoid is waxy potatoes like fingerlings and red potatoes.

You’ll also need an oil with a high smoke point. Peanut oil is a good choice because not only can you cook it at high temperatures, it’s also relatively cheap, unlike, say, grapeseed oil. Avoid oils that will burn quickly, like olive oil. Oh – and make sure you have an oil thermometer. You don’t want to guesstimate this.

To make traditional fries you actually need to fry them twice: once at a lower temperature to cook the inside (about 5 to 8 minutes at 300°F); the second time for about 2 minutes at a higher temp, around 375° F, to get them crisp and golden. Let them rest for about 15 minutes in between. When they’re done, remove them from the oil, drain them on paper towels, salt them generously, and serve right away.

But me, I’ll be making duck fat oven fries instead. They use less oil, so they’re way less messy and wasteful, and they’re healthier, too. But mostly they are just delicious. Here’s how to make your own.

Recipe: Duck Fat Oven Fries
Recipe by Joanne Sasvari.
Time: 90 minutes, about 15 of them active
Serves: 1, but can be multiplied to serve as many as you like

Ingredients:
1 largish potato per person, preferably russets though Yukon Golds will also do
2 to 3 tsp duck fat per potato, at room temperature; you can also use vegetable oil or duck fat spray (see note)
Sea salt to taste

Method:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. While it’s heating, slice the potatoes into batons or wedges. If you like, you can peel them first, but I don’t bother because I love the taste and texture of the baked skins.

Drop the prepped potatoes into the boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. This brings the starches to the surface, where they will crisp up later.

Gently skim the potatoes from the water using a spider strainer, then lay them on the prepped baking sheet to dry for at least 15 minutes and up to half a day – I’ll often do this early in the afternoon, then come back to the potatoes later when I’m making dinner. (Of course, if you do that, you don’t need to preheat the oven until you’re ready to bake the potatoes.)

If you’re using duck fat, it needs to be melted. Luckily, it will melt at a pretty low room temperature – about 14°C (about 58°F). Butter, comparatively, melts at about 32°C (90°F). The tidiest way to do this is to scoop some duck fat into a metal mixing bowl before you start your prep, leave it somewhere warm, and by the time you’re ready to bake the potatoes, the duck fat should be the perfect consistency.

Add the potatoes to the bowl and, using a silicone spatula, gently toss them with the fat, making sure they are well covered. Scrape them back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and arrange them neatly so there is a bit of space between each fry. You should probably use a new piece of parchment, but I rarely bother because I hate wasting the stuff. It’ll be fine either way.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, until crisp and golden. Now here’s the tricky part: If you leave them on the sheet without turning them, the bottoms will burn and the rest will be pale and sickly. So you need to given them a quarter turn every 15 minutes or so. I usually start them skin sides down for 20 minutes, then turn them again 15 minutes later, then 10 minutes, then again in 10 minutes. That might just be the way my oven works, though, so once you’ve done this a couple of times you’ll know what works for yours.

Remove fries from the oven, salt them generously, and devour right away. If you like, serve with mayo or sprinkle with chopped parsley. Enjoy.

Note: If you have been lucky enough to get your hands on some of the duck fat spray at Well Seasoned: A Gourmet Food Store in Langley, follow the same steps of boiling the potatoes and drying them on the baking sheet, but instead of tossing them with oil, lightly spray them where they lie – you may need to flip them once so you get all sides – and bake as directed. If you have no duck fat at all (sad trombone), you can use plain old vegetable oil as you would the melted duck fat and it will still be a delicious potato experience.