So those of you who have been following for any amount of time know that I moved here to Chile from Idaho.
We didn’t live there very long but the time we did spend there made it my absolute favorite place that I’ve been to in the States. I mean, I haven’t been to all of them, but I think I’ve had a pretty good taste of most of them. At least enough to be familiar with each area. For example, I know that I could never survive living in certain areas of the mid-west very long without going crazy over the flat boring landscapes. We drove through a lot of that when we moved and I have to say that the isolated feeling in some of the places kind of gave me the creeps.
Don’t get me wrong though, there are so many places that I love as well. I spent a lot of summers in Florida growing up and I’ve also been to the West Coast, but there was just something about the Panhandle area that I fell in love with. I loved the wildlife and all of the pine forestry. We used to see moose and deer all the time and the winter snow was incredible.
I may have been born in the South East but when it comes to geographic locations I think my heart will always be stuck in the North West now. Sorry, I didn’t really plan to make this post some kind of tribute to North Idaho or anything but I guess I kind of did.
Anyway, if you’ve ever been in the North West then you may have discovered the phenomenon known as fry sauce at every food joint you visit. The thing that I find hilarious about it is that most of the recipes have about 3 ingredients with very little variation between them and yet everyone thought that one certain place or another had the best fry sauce and had their loyal favorite. It’s pretty funny.
Fry sauce is seriously the easiest thing ever and hardly counts as a recipe. It does however compliment, you guessed it, french fries perfectly. I made it to go with these oven fries that I made that are almost equally simple to the sauce and so good you’ll forget they’re not technically fried.
Ingredients
- 3-4 large russet or Idaho potatoes, scrubbed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano and/or rosemary (optional)
- 1/3 cup tomato ketchup
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons worchestershire
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- cayenne pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 C) and line a baking tray with foil.
- Chop potatoes into matchsticks and toss with olive oil and seasoning in a large bowl and spread out in an even layer on tray and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove from oven and toss a little bit then return to oven and bake for 15 to 25 more minutes until crispy. I like to start checking them at about 10 minutes to make sure there are none getting burned. Remove from oven and season with more salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve with hot fries.
Oh, and before I go….
With all of this talk about Idaho I just have to share something my relatives sent me from their house. They still live in Idaho and apparently are now getting all of the luck. I lived there for 2 years and never saw a bear once, not one time, and now they have a family of them moving in! It’s so unfair!
Just try not to hug the screen when you see these cuties! Okay, and you HAVE TO go see the rest and watch the videos. My favorite is the one where he climbs on the rail! Cutest thing EVER!
First – the fries look amazing – especially the sauce (I always have to have a sauce (usually ranch) with my fries). Will definitely make these (and the sauce)! And lastly – oh my gosh those baby bears are absolutely adorable – and the video of one climbing over the fence is awesome!! Love it!! Thanks for sharing the pics/video!
Thanks, Deborah!
I travel to Spokane every week for work and sometimes we head over to Couer D’Alene for dinner…their fries are the best!!
I love Coeur D’Alene too! Thanks, Dani!
Oooh yum! I love russet potatoes and that fry sauce looks delicious 🙂
Thanks Medha!
What part of North Idaho? I grew up in the Silver Valley and am always curious when people claim to be from there!
Coeur d’ Alene. Thanks, Dimity!
I’m an Australian who lived in Idaho for a year, and one of my favourite things while I was there was fry sauce too. We don’t have it here, and until right now I hadn’t realised it was an Idaho/NW thing – I thought it was just an American thing. So thanks for the recipe. I’m definitely going to try it out!
So cool to hear from a fellow ex-Idahoan I am so glad you like this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!