Easy Homemade Fries

Back in college I cooked hand-cut fries, burgers, teriyaki chicken, etc. at Murphy's Pub in Champaign, IL.  After taking my kids to Five Guy's for old school burgers and fries a few times, I realized that I could easily replicate the fries but with healthy olive oil at home.

In this photo, I've made thicker, wedge-style fries, but I've done a similar technique with fries cut into sticks like you'd get at Five Guys.

It's pretty simple--cut the fries from Idaho russet potatoes and soak the pieces in a salt and water brine for an hour or so.  Then heat a large pan with half an inch of olive oil and pat dry the potatoes in paper or kitchen towels.  Fry the pieces on medium heat--adjusting to make sure you both gently cook the inside yet add a bit of crispiness on the outside.  If you use thicker cuts, you can blanch them or nuke them first to make sure the inside gets soft.  I serve them for my daughter with ketchup, but my son and I prefer dashing malt vinegar on top like they do at Murphy's and in the UK.