Oven-Roasted Fiesta Fries

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club (SRC) recipe. In case you're new to this, here's how it works. Each of the food bloggers participating in the SRC is secretly assigned another food blog. The assignment is to choose a recipe from that blog, make the recipe (or an adaptation of it) and feature it in a post. The blog matches are a secret to the other blogger until reveal day. That day is today! Make sure you read to the end of this post for links to the other participants and their recipes. Someone will be blogging about one of my recipes, but I don't know who. 

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This month, my assignment was to choose a recipe by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen. I had such fun reading through her great variety of family-friendly recipes. I finally settled on her recipe for oven baked Garlic Fries. Click over and check out her photos and recipe. You'll see why this recipe was singing my song. YUMMMMMM! I love potatoes and have been wanting to experiment with flavoring oven fries; Veronica's recipe inspired me to do just that.

My version is seasoned with my Fiesta Taco Seasoning Mix and Parmesan cheese. I'm a lover of anything spicy with southwest flavors, so I wanted to try it on oven fries. The Parmesan cheese adds flavor and crunch. Because the taco seasoning already has a healthy portion of garlic powder in it, I didn't add more garlic. But, feel free to add a couple of cloves of minced garlic, if you like. I also used olive oil and skipped the butter. With the Parmesan cheese added, I didn't think the butter was necessary. (I can eat more if I omit the butter....right?)

Step-by-step photos for making Oven-Roasted Fiesta Fries

Step 1. Assemble the ingredients: russet potatoes (the recommended potato for fries), Fiesta Taco Seasoning Mix (or a store-bought packet of taco seasoning), grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil.

• About the taco seasoning mix: This works great for adding some spice and crunch to the fries. It already has a variety of seasonings, including salt. So added salt isn't necessary. It also contains corn starch, which helps give the fries a crispy exterior. You can use a store-bought taco seasoning mix for convenience, but it is SO much tastier if you make your own. Plus, it's great to have on hand for seasoning tacos, chili, and ropa vieja shredded beef. Here's my recipe:

Click to view and print:
Fiesta Taco Seasoning Mix recipe

Step 2. Wash & scrub the potatoes, and cut each one into 8 even-sized wedges, as pictured below. I like to cut the potatoes into wedge shapes, because it's easier to cut them into equal sizes. The wedges bake evenly, and it's also easy to turn them during their oven baking so that they get browned on each side. (The wedges only have 2 cut sides, so they only have to be turned once.)

Step 3. Transfer the potato wedges to a large micro-wave safe bowl.

Step 4. Drizzle on some olive oil and toss to coat the potatoes.

Step 5. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 3 to 6 minutes. Stop and shake the bowl after 2 minutes to redistribute the potatoes and promote even cooking. Return to microwave for additional 1 to 3 minutes

• NOTE: The purpose of this microwave step is to pre-steam the potatoes first--this results in a fluffy potato interior. (Tip from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook) If you're concerned about the safety of using plastic wrap in the microwave, make sure you use a big enough bowl that the potatoes don't touch the plastic wrap as they cook and use a plastic wrap formulated for microwave use--like Saran wrap. (Sources: here and here) Or, you can skip this microwave steaming step altogether and increase the oven baking time.

Cook in microwave until the cut edges are translucent:

Step 6. Remove bowl from microwave, add Parmesan cheese and taco seasoning and toss until potato wedges are evenly coated.

Step 7. Transfer wedges to large, oiled rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes; remove from oven and turn each wedge over using tongs. Or, slide a spatula under several wedges and flip them over. Return to oven and bake another 10-15 minutes until brown and crisp.

These are best served hot, fresh from the oven. 

The cheese and taco seasoning form a crunchy exterior that is totally yummy.

Serve them with sour cream or creamy avocado yogurt dip. Here's my recipe.

Click to view Creamy Avocado Yogurt Dip recipe

I'll be serving up a platter of these at our next football party when T-Man is home. He and his friends will make these disappear PRONTO. Guaranteed.

Make it a yummy day!

Oven-Roasted Fiesta Fries

By Monica              Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds russet potatoes (4-5 medium size)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup taco seasoning mix (use 1 store bought packet, or for a recipe to make your own go to: www.theyummylife.recipes/76)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil onto large rimmed baking sheet. Wash and scrub potatoes. With lengthwise cuts, cut each potato in half, then quarters, then eight even wedges. Add wedges to large microwave-proof bowl and toss with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 2 minutes, stop and shake the bowl to redistribute potatoes and promote even cooking , return to microwave for another 1-4 minutes until cut edges are translucent. Add taco seasoning and parmesan cheese to bowl of potatoes, toss to coat well. Transfer coated potatoes to oiled baking sheet and arrange in single layer. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from oven and turn over each wedge using tongs or a spatula. Return to oven for 10 to 15 minutes until browned and cooked through. Eat while hot. Serve with sour cream or creamy avocado dip.