Sweet Potato Fries

I've made sweet potato fries and regular french fries several times, but I've never busted out the mandolin for even slicing until now. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really make a difference what shape or size your fries are, but in my easily excitable world having perfectly uniform, stick-like fries is awesome! On the downside, I have yet to use a mandolin and not draw blood, so if you have any suggestions (other than "Kirsten, don't be such an idiot") please send them my way!

Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet potatoes

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Assorted spices (garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, cumin, paprika, cinnamon...)

I had three large sweet potatoes. If you want to get technical they were yams, but it's all the same to me. One potato per person makes for generous servings, but they're so good that making a little extra isn't a bad idea.

These would be a good thing to make for Halloween since they're, you know, orange. You could serve them alongside ghoulish treats for a festive meal. While I may not be a kid, I still enjoy a lot of things that kids enjoy. Halloween! Puppies! Ice cream! Maybe I enjoy puppies so much now because I was terrified of all dogs when I actually was a kid. I guess my development was slightly delayed.

Peel the potatoes.

Then slice them. I used whatever attachment the mandolin told me to use and set it to about a 1/2-inch width. A sharp knife would also work fine.

The bloody part usually comes when the food won't budge, so I fight back by applying as much force as I can until it starts moving again. My fingers waste no time finding a sharp surface. The mandolin always wins.

Three large potatoes makes a lot. They do shrink up a bit in the oven, though.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl.

Drizzle with a decent amount of olive oil. As long as you scoop the fries out instead of just dumping them onto the baking sheet a little excess oil won't hurt, as it will just sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and then add any additional spices. Toss until all of the fries are coated. I used garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, and maybe something else that I cannot remember now. And I didn't measure a single thing. Just take it easy with the garlic powder. A little goes a long way. I think a combo of cinnamon and nutmeg or ginger (minus the pepper and at least most of the salt) would be nice if you want something on the sweeter side.

Spread the fries in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake at 450 for 20-30 minutes, turning them at least once.

They're ready when they're cooked through and as crispy as you want them to be. I'm sorry the picture quality is so bad here, but it gets dark early these days.