I’m an Oklahoma local cook through and through. Tonight I made locally grown sweet potato fries to go with our teriyaki grilled beef and cucumber salad. I roast them by brushing the pan with olive oil, then brushing the thinly cut fries lightly with olive oil once they’re “single-layered.” I roast them for about 15 minutes, then turn them and sprinkle them with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. When they’re nicely toasted (about 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees), I pull them from the oven.
Then I usually eat about five of them. And so does Mick.
So I THEN sprinkle the remaining fries, made for our DINNER, with a light dusting of maple sugar.
The sugar sprinkle is a perfect complement to the savory salt/pepper flair they already possess. In fact, the sprinkle will make your eyes twinkle when you eat them…probably really fast. Like, I’m talking SCARFING them down because they’re that good.
Like I said. I’m an Oklahoma local cook through and through, but I’m incredibly glad Vermont gives us maple sugar.
Thank you, Vermont.
I love sweet potato fries. I don’t have maple sugar, but I have brushed them lightly with a little pure maple syrup which caramelizes the tops and gives them a slight sweet crunchiness. I also sprinkle with cayenne. DELISH!
Holy moly, that sound good!
Try it and let me know! If I can find maple sugar here, I’ll try yours. BTW, I usually use yams. Also, I have a crop of sweet potatoes almost ready to dig up. Don’t you have to let them sit in an low temp oven for a long time? I can’t remember what I heard about that. Hope you know!
Hey, I think you’re talking about “curing” your potatoes. Just like you have to dry onions for several days after pulling them (to create a couple of layers of dry skins to protect them, and reduce the moisture), you “cure” sweet potatoes so they’ll last longer – check out this link! http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/potatoes_harvesting/581
Thank you so much, I couldn’t remember. I will go to the link. I really appreciate it!
I’ve never successfully made sweet potato fries. Mine are always too mushy. Looks like you slice yours thinner, more like chips. I’m giving it another try, because I LOVE sweet potato fries!
Hey, there – it’s true. If you’re baking them from scratch, they do tend to stay mushy (like roasted potatoes) unless you slice them thinly. I should have said that in my post – but watch them…there’s a fine line between well done/thinly sliced and burnt! Good luck!
This sounds great. Here I am in Western MA, about an hour from Vermont and I coat my sweet potato fries with Cajun seasoning. I will have to look for some maple sugar. I have lots of syrup but the sugar sounds like something good to try.
Mmm, Cajun seasoning sounds great too! I like maple sugar because its dry and fine – not granular. Have a nice Massachusettes night!
I will have to get some and try it.