5 delicious ways to make purple fries

From left to right: Top row: Purple Fries topped with Grape Jelly; Purple unbreaded, fried fries; Purple battered, fried fries
Bottom row: Purple breaded, baked fries; Purple unbreaded, baked fries


This video has been days in the making. It is the first episode of French Fry Princess, a show on the Meatloaf Princess channel. Hopefully, the video will go viral. I mean, who doesn't like seeing different ways to make French fries at home, without a deep fryer!?

Purple potatoes are hard to come by. The ones I bought from the supermarket were mini purple potatoes in a steaming bag for microwaving them. I could only get 2-4 fries out of each mini potato. I didn't even use all the potatoes in the bag. There were 18 mini potatoes and I used 10 of them. I ate the remaining 8 with some fish sticks last Saturday.

Purple potatoes are healthier than traditional potatoes because the former has more antioxidants in them than the latter. Though I suppose frying the potatoes negates any health benefits you could get from them.

As you can see in the video, I used avocado oil. You don't have to use that for frying. That stuff is expensive- it costs $14 a bottle where I am! I read an article on Buzz Feed that said you shouldn't fry food in olive oil, although now I'm reading another article( http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CookingOilTypes.htm) that says it's perfectly safe to fry food in olive oil, as long it's not extra virgin olive oil. You don't know what to trust on the Internet these days.

It's helpful if you have a thermometer in the pan as you are frying, but I didn't. I had avocado oil on hand because I had some left over from the avocado videos I did in July.

I did an experiment in this recipe where one of the methods was dipping fries in a batter without breading, for frying. It didn't turn out as well as I imagined. The batter just became one big greasy mess and none of the fries were fully coated in the batter. Next time, I'll use breadcrumbs for frying.

You will need:

For the cooking vessels:

2 lasagna pans
Nonstick cooking spray
A frying pan
A medium bowl filled with water

For the fries:

10 mini purple potatoes
1 cup of all-purpose flour for method 1
1 1/2-2 cups of all-purpose flour for method 3
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of breadcrumbs for method 3
Spreadable grape jelly to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
 
For all the methods:

1. Cut the potatoes into strips the shape of French fries.
2. Put the fries in a medium bowl filled with water for 30 minutes to release the starches.
3. Dry the fries using paper towels.

Method 1: Purple battered fried fries without breading

1. Put the flour and 1/2 cup of water in a large bowl. Stir. Once you get a pancake-like batter, add spreadable grape jelly to the batter. Stir the jelly into the batter until the batter is light purple in color.
2. Coat the fries in the batter.
3. Put coated fries on a plate.
4. Pour your frying oil into the frying pan. The oil should be a 1 inch pool in the frying pan. Let the oil heat up.
5. Once the oil is heated up, put the coated fries in.
6. Stir the fries around until the coated batter is golden brown. If you don't use breadcrumbs, the coating on the fries won't stay on them.
7. Bon appetit!

Method 2: Purple unbattered, fried fries

1. Put the fries in a small bowl.
2. Season fries with salt and pepper. Toss fries in the salt/pepper mixture.
3. Put unbattered fries on a plate.
4. Pour your frying oil into the frying pan. The oil should be a 1 inch pool in the frying pan. Let the oil heat up.
5. Once the oil is heated up, put the unbattered fries in.
6. Stir the fries around so that they are nice and coated in the heated oil for 2-3 minutes.
7. Bon appetit!

Method 3: Purple breaded, baked fries

1. Put the 1 1/2-2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of water in a large bowl. Stir. Once you get a pancake-like batter, add spreadable grape jelly to the batter. Stir the jelly into the batter until the batter is light purple in color.
2. Coat the fries in the batter.
3. Put breadcrumbs in a small or medium bowl.
4. Dip the coated fries in the breadcrumbs.
5. Spray a lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Place the breaded fries in the lasagna pan, in one layer.
7. Bake in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 7-8 minutes.
8. Flip the fries over. Cook for another 7-8 minutes at the same temperature.
9. Bon appetit!

Method 4: Purple, unbreaded, baked fries

1. Put the fries in a small bowl.
2. Season fries with salt and pepper. Toss fries in the salt/pepper mixture.
3. Spray a lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Put the seasoned fries into the lasagna pan in one layer.
5. Bake in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 7-8 minutes.
6. Flip the fries over. Cook for another 7-8 minutes at the same temperature.
7. Bon appetit!

Method 5: Purple fries topped with grape jelly

1. Place the cooked purple fries on a plate. Stack them into a bonfire-like shape.
2. Top with grape jelly.
3. Bon appetit!