Duck Fat French Fries
Here’s where we separate the foodies from the people who only look at our website to be nice to us.
When I say “duck fat,” do you drool or wrinkle your nose? If you’re curious, but not grossed out, come join us on the foodie side right away. Those still making faces need only try a few potato slices fried in the stuff.
Michael and I contemplated a 6-hour drive up to Hot Doug’s after watching the Anthony Bourdain Chicago episode where he went to the place famous for its sausages and duck fat fries. We restrained ourselves on account of that whole school thing we’re enrolled in. But enter Mike Odette, our favorite James Beard Award Semifinalist. He gave us some leftover duck fat a few weeks ago, and I immediately got to cleaning and slicing potatoes. (Oh to have friends in high places!)
Normally I bake my French fries, but when you have duck fat, you forget about your waistline and double fry those suckers. If you happen to get your hands on some duck fat, I suggest you do the same.
Duck Fat French Fries
- Pint of duck fat
- Potatoes (One per person…or more)
- Water
- Salt
- Vinegar
- Seasoning (Simple salt and pepper, or get creative)
If you’re picky, peel the skins off the potatoes, otherwise just scrub them well. Slice the potatoes to desired thickness. Put in a bowl and cover with cold water. Add a good heaping of salt and a splash or two of vinegar. Leave the fries in this mixture for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours. This helps draw the moisture out of the potatoes so you get a crispier fry.
Heat the duck fat (or any oil, I guess) in a deep pot, pan or other frying apparatus you might have. Drain the potatoes and pat as dry as possible. Any moisture on the potatoes will cause a lot of dangerous duck fat splattering.
Add potatoes in small batches. For really crispy fries, fry for a few minutes, then remove to paper towel before thoroughly cooked. Do this with all the potatoes, then return par-cooked fries to oil for a second fry. Some places get really crazy and triple fry. I wouldn’t have the patience. And double worked just great for us.
Category: Recipes | Tags: fried, Mike Odette, potatoes, side dish 11 comments »
March 24th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Well, count us among the foodies, I guess. We saved and rendered down the fat from last Thanksgiving’s fresh on-farm roasted goose. Goose or duck fat is just wonderful.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Um, YUM! One of the only things that the English have contributed to world cuisine is potatoes roasted in goose fat, so I can only imagine what these would be like.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Oh, holy cow! I LOVE fries in duck–or goose–fat. One day, I came home from the gym (!) and Bruce had made a big tray of potatoes sarladaise–potatoes fried in goose fat and then cooked with parsley and the goose confit meat in a big casserole. I ate half the damn thing! I loved every bite. I can’t imagine anything better than fries in duck fat.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Um, awesome. Amazing. Duck fat makes everything better.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
ok, I have always considered Mike a good friend, but he has never given ME duck fat!!! I am so jealous…
March 29th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
You should check out Hot Dougs in Chicago for great duck fat fries on the weekends ( http://www.hotdougs.com) or Duckfat ( http://www.duckfat.com) in Portland ME ( a culinary mecca for a town of 150K )
Its well worth the trip to either.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:45 am
I almost ate at Hot Dougs on Friday, but the line was 50 people long and it was chilly, so we headed a bit west and north and had some amazing pulled pork at Smoque instead. I’ll be posting photos/review soon!
February 11th, 2010 at 4:56 am
Having crossed the ocean to eat at Hot Doug’s (Amsterdam-Chicago) I can honestly tell you that a 6-hour drive is worth the effort, and I didn’t even go there on duck fat fry day. We were served by Doug ourselves, and I told him after our 4 person/7 hot dog tasting orgy, that if he wasn’t already married I would have proposed on the spot. It’s that good.
March 12th, 2010 at 1:05 am
[...] grub. Someday all you dipwad hipster foodies will burn in Hell, preferably boiled in large vats of duck fat or used as a garnish next to epic-sized bowls of [...]
March 30th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Will try this out this weekend…
Side note: if you are ever in NYC there is a great french restaurant in SoHo that makes their fries in duck fat called Raoul’s. Everything else they do is great also…
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
There’s a restaurant in Maryland that serves duck fat fries smothered in melted cheese and pieces of duck meat…SO GOOD.