sweet potato fries help

[perplexed]

We love sweet potato fries and without coupons I just can't buy them.

How do you make your and do they store well if you keep them cut up in the refridgerator, how long do you cook them??

Thanks!

[chitownmelli]

If I cut them up in the fridge, I always put them in water, I like to get a little of that starch off of them before cooking them. If I fry them, it's at about 350 degrees pan fried, it takes between 7-10 minutes total for like a regular, on the thin side sweet potato fry. If I bake them, I shake them in a mixture of salt, brown sugar, chili powder, pinch of hot paprika, pinch of garlic and put them on a greased pan and cook at around 375, flipping a few times for between 15-20 minutes. I never have gotten the times down for sure, I just basically cook them "until they are done" because it's always a little different.

[clippyclippy]

If I cut them up in the fridge, I always put them in water, I like to get a little of that starch off of them before cooking them. If I fry them, it's at about 350 degrees pan fried, it takes between 7-10 minutes total for like a regular, on the thin side sweet potato fry. If I bake them, I shake them in a mixture of salt, brown sugar, chili powder, pinch of hot paprika, pinch of garlic and put them on a greased pan and cook at around 375, flipping a few times for between 15-20 minutes. I never have gotten the times down for sure, I just basically cook them "until they are done" because it's always a little different.

Ooh... I really like this! We only get to eat the fries when I get a coupon deal.
I've made regular home fries for a long time, but I never thought of making my own sweet potato fries.
How much brown sugar do you use in that mix? And does it stick? I love the chili powder and paprika in there.

[chitownmelli]

I would say for every medium sized sweet potato, I would do one "batch" of this spice mix. The brown sugar would be about a tablespoon or two per batch depending on how sweet you would like it. Another thing I have done from time to time that makes a slight difference in the overall recipe is to put a half tablespoon of corn starch in the spice mix. It just adds a little something to the exterior texture of the fry.

When you take the moist potatoes and shake them in the mix, the spice does stick to the potatoes, and some of it will run off (you may also toss them in olive oil before shaking - yum) as you cook. The overall flavor will "cook in" to the potato there.

Sweet potatoes are my "job" at all of the family parties. I never even had one before I met my DH, and he loves them so I learned to cook them, and invented a bunch of yummy sweet potato dishes and also found a lot of really great recipes, so everyone looks forward to what kind of sweet potatoes will be on offer when I cook lol.

[perplexed]

thanks I appreciate it to much!!! how long do they keep in fridge in water??

Thanks!

[chitownmelli]

You can keep them just fine for a day or two, just give them a quick rinse and you are good to go.

[chitownmelli]

Also, you may be able to look up blanching sweet potatoes, too. And then you could blanch them and freeze them (I do think SP is one of those that HAS to be blanched before freezing) and then you could pull out whatever amount you want and cook them up as fries. Soooo much cheaper than the pre bagged ones. Seriously, for me and DH, I always get two sweet potatoes, medium size, and one ends up being more than enough - so with a little time, you could create your own convenience food.

[perplexed]

Thanks I was thinking I could save money just keep them in fridge or freezer ready to pop in oven, do you cut them by hand or use a chopper for uniform slices, I like the thicker ones by ore ida much easier to turn than the thin ones thanks for all the info I appreciate it.

Thanks!

[chitownmelli]

I cut mine with a knife. You certainly could use one of those potato cutters if you had one, and another trick I use for cutting potato type things is to use my apple corer slicer tool thingy (it's circular with lots of sharp blades - it will create 8-12 wedges and one circular piece depending one which model you might have) I level the bottom of the potato, press the apple slicer down and I just cut the wedges in half legthwise because they are a tad to thick for my patience to handle, and cut the circular piece in half and continue as usual. Oh, when I use sweet potatoes, I peel them first. I love potato peels, sweet potato peels - not so much.

Hope this helped in some way.