French Fries With Homemade Ketchup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fennel seed, crushed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 large russet potatoes
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 to make the ketchup:.
• 2 in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the tomato sauce, vinegar, shallots, sugar, fennel seeds, kosher salt, cloves, dry mustard, black pepper and cayenne.
• 3 bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to very low.
• 4 cover and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (and, during the last 10 minutes of cooking, often).
• 5 transfer the ketchup to a small bowl and let cool.
• 6 cover and refrigerate for at least 1 day or up to 3 weeks.
• 7 french fries:.
• 8 peel the potatoes and cut each one lengthwise into slices 1/3 inch thick.
• 9 cut the slices lengthwise into sticks 1/3 inch thick.
• 10 spread out 3 kitchen towels.
• 11 scatter the potatoes over the towels and roll them up.
• 12 let stand for 30 minutes to allow most of the moisture to be absorbed.
• 13 in a deep fryer or large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, pour in oil to a depth of 2 inches and heat to 325°f on a deep-frying thermometer.
• 14 working in 4 batches, fry the potatoes until just tender but not brown, about 3 minutes.
• 15 using a large skimmer or the deep fryer's basket, transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet lined with several layers of paper towels to drain.
• 16 between batches, let the oil return to 325°f and use a skimmer to remove any potato bits that remain in the oil.
• 17 let the potatoes cool for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
• 18 reheat the oil in the fryer to 375°f
• 19 fry the potatoes again in 4 batches until they are a deep golden brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per batch.
• 20 transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet lined with fresh paper towels and season with kosher salt and black pepper.
• 21 serve immediately, with the ketchup alongside.