My kids don’t eat french fries at home very often, so when I saw this recipe for potato sticks I thought it would be a fun one to try. They loved them, and they were the perfect accompaniment to our cheeseburgers. I liked the seasoning on them, taking them a step beyond your normal french fry.
Roasted Potato Sticks with Rosemary and Lemon
Roasted Potato Sticks with Rosemary and Lemon
Recipe from Fine Cooking Appetizers (Special Party Issue, Fall, 2011), altered slightly by Crafty Farm Girl, November, 2011.
Rinsing the potatoes under cold water not only removes any dirt from the peel but also removes starch from the potatoes for crisper potato sticks. Be sure to dry them well.
* I am not a big mustard fan, so I chose to use salad dressing instead. I think any mustard, salad dressing or even BBQ sauce would work well here.
- 3 medium Idaho potatoes, washed & scrubbed (about 1-1/4 pounds total)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, salad dressing or BBQ sauce*
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Kosher salt and freshly grated ground black pepper
Arrange racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 450o F. Slice the potatoes on a sharp angle into 3/8-inch slices. Stack them and slice into 3/8-inch thick sticks. Or, you can use a V-slicer, Mandoline, or a mandoline-style peeler like I did.
A plastic mandoline, hand julienne peeler, or a good, old-fashioned knife work too.
Put the potatoes in a colander set inside a slightly larger bowl. Rinse the potatoes in cold water, pouring off the water in the bowl several times until it’s clear. Let the potatoes stand in the cold water for 5 minutes.
Drain and shake off excess water and spread the potatoes on 2 large baking sheets lined with 2 layers of paper towels. Cover with a few more paper towels and let dry. (I used clean dishtowels instead of paper towels, and after about 5 minutes they were remarkably dry.)
In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, mustard or other sauce*, rosemary, lemon zest and juice, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a small bowl and whisk well until blended.
Transfer the potato sticks to the bowl (discard the paper towels if you used them, and obviously don’t toss them with the dishtowels, either) and toss until each piece is well coated.
Spread the potatoes on the baking sheets in a single layer. Drizzle with any remaining herb mixture.
Bake the potato sticks until browned on the bottom, about 10 minutes. Turn them with a spatula, spread into a single layer, and bake for 5 minutes, turn again until browned and tender, another 5-10 minutes.
Sprinkle with more salt, if you like, and serve immediately.
