Garlic Fries & Dip

I don’t think I’m giving away any company secrets when I say that the fries used in the restaurants are frozen. Most stores have very little freezer space, and I was surprised to see that French fries were one of the few things on the menu cooked from frozen, and that everything else was made from scratch. Even then, the boxes were branded with the Earls logo, so the preparation of the frozen product was made to Earls specifications before being fried in-store.

Fresh or Frozen?

By now we can all come to agree that the frozen French fry has pretty much been perfected, so nobody’s going to get mad when restaurants use frozen French fries to supplement their fresh menus. Garlic fries make a great side to a freshly prepared sandwich, or on their own as an appetizer. 

These items use garlic products prepared using another recipe for preparing garlic oils and puree. Those recipes can be found in the cooking playlist along with other great Earls dishes. While it only takes a few minutes to prepare fresh fries as a side, the garlic oil and dip must be made ahead of time

To make garlic fries, toss freshly fried French fries into a stainless steel bowl. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of confit garlic oil, and mix with one half teaspoon minced garlic and some diced parsley. 

The fries should only be tossed immediately before serving, otherwise they get a bit soggy; And once plated, sprinkle some fresh parsley and a bit of minced garlic on top to garnish. A side dish of creamy parm dip should be served with each portion.

The Dip

The parmesan dip can be made by combining one and a quarter cups regular mayonnaise and one third of a cup sour cream into a large bowl.

Add one quarter cup grated parmesan cheese, three tablespoons milk, three tablespoons malt vinegar and one tablespoon sugar, whisking lightly as you go.

Add one half teaspoon dried oregano and one half teaspoon dried basil, and one half teaspoon garlic before giving it one final light mixing. Store the dip in the fridge until ready to serve.

To make the confit garlic oil, simmer half a cup of olive oil and half a cup of vegetable oil with two and a half cups of peeled garlic cloves. Reduce the temperature to a lower setting and continue to simmer until the garlic cloves turn slightly golden brown and soft. This should take about 45 minutes and the garlic should be stirred every once and a while to cook evenly. 

Once nicely cooked, remove from heat and strain out the cloves from the now-infused garlic oil and allow the oil to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Like I said, nobody can get mad at a restaurant for using frozen fries when soo much attention to detail goes into the preparation and ingredients used in the fresh dishes.