Easy Steakhouse Oven Fries

Potatoes rank right up there with pizza on my list of favorite foods.  Baked, fried, sauteed, grilled, boiled, mashed, whipped, scalloped - it doesn't matter; potatoes are just good.

Making your own potato wedges or french fries is ridiculously easy, and by doing so, you can customize the flavors, use a quality oil, and eliminate the ingredients no one ever needs on their potatoes (such as modified food starch, dextrin, disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate...you know, things like that).  Yes, it takes a little more time than tearing open a bag and pouring them onto a pan, but not much.  And they taste better.  A lot better.

These potatoes are similar to some of my favorite "fries" available at a local steakhouse.  For this picture, I used small red potatoes because I have an abundance of them, but medium reds or russets (and even sweet potatoes, although sweet potatoes will cook faster, so if you use them, adjust your time) work extremely well, too.

Smoked paprika is essential to create a delicately smokey flavor, reminiscent of a steakhouse.  If you've not used smoked paprika before, now would be the perfect time to get some - it is amazing on these potatoes.  Likely you'll find yourself putting some of this spice in a lot of other dishes that might benefit from a little smoke flavor.

This recipe calls for "shredded onion".  Use a regular old box grater and grate the onion on the shredding side.  Like this:

Easy Steakhouse Oven Fries

serves 6

• 2lbs potatoes, scrubbed
• 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbs shredded onion
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425F.  Lightly oil 2 15x10 jelly roll pans.

Cut the potatoes into quarters (or into eighths if using larger potatoes - just be sure all the wedges are of similar thickness; about 1/2"-3/4").  Place the potatoes on a towel or paper towel and pat dry.

Transfer potatoes to a large bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well to coat.

Divide the potatoes evenly between the two pans.

Roast for 30-40 minutes, or until golden, turning halfway through baking time.