Crispy Baked French Fries

Late March. Spring is arriving not as a metaphor but as a fact — the temperatures climbing into the fifties, the forsythia blooming yellow along the fences, the particular smell of March in Connecticut that is half thaw and half mud and entirely hopeful. I have survived a year. My family has survived a year. Mami has survived. The hospital has survived. The cafeteria has served approximately three hundred thousand meals. The fact that I can count this, that I am here to count this, that the counting is an act of survival and not a memorial, is the thing I am most grateful for this spring.

I am planning Easter. Not the pandemic Easter of 2020 — not the two-person table, not the food left on Mami's doorstep — but a real Easter, a gathering Easter, a table with more than four people. The vaccinations are making this possible. Miguel Jr. and Jenny are vaccinated. Rosa is vaccinated. Eduardo, me, Sofía — vaccinated. Mami — vaccinated. The protection is not complete, the world is not safe, but the balance has shifted from fear to caution, from impossibility to possibility with conditions, and the conditions are: wash your hands, stay home if you're sick, and come to my table because the table has been empty for a year and the emptiness ends now.

David is not yet vaccinated — Brooklyn has a different timeline, the appointments are scarce, and David is twenty-five and healthy and low on the priority list. He will not come for Easter. James is not vaccinated either. They will FaceTime from Brooklyn, which is better than nothing and worse than everything, but I accept it because acceptance is what the pandemic has taught me against my will — acceptance of the imperfect, of the partial, of the dinner that is six instead of sixteen, of the table that is half-full instead of full, and the half-full being enough because enough is a concept I had to learn because I had never needed it before.

I made tostones this week — twice-fried plantains, golden, crisp, salty, the food that tastes like home in any season, the food that Lucas eats by the fistful and Isabella gums with determination. Tostones are the universal Delgado language. Every member of this family, from eighty-three-year-old Mami to five-month-old Isabella, can eat a tostón and know where they belong.

The tostón moment — watching Lucas eat them by the fistful, watching Isabella gum one with absolute concentration — reminded me that the best food needs no occasion other than the people around the table. I didn’t have plantains left in the house this week when I sat down to plan Easter, but I had potatoes, and potatoes understand the same assignment: golden, crispy, salty, eaten with the hands, universally loved from the very young to the very old. These crispy baked French fries are what I’ll set out while the rest of the Easter meal comes together — something for everyone to reach for, something that says the table is open and the waiting is over.

Prep Time: 15 min (plus 30 min soak) | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 85 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch sticks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Soak the potatoes. Place the cut potato sticks in a large bowl of cold water and soak for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours). This draws out excess starch and is the key to a truly crispy result. Drain and spread on a clean kitchen towel, patting thoroughly dry.
Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and place them in the oven while it preheats — a hot pan gives you a head start on the crust.
Season the fries. In a large bowl, toss the dried potato sticks with olive oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and black pepper until every piece is evenly coated.
Arrange in a single layer. Carefully remove the hot baking sheets from the oven and spread the fries across both sheets without overlapping. Crowding causes steaming instead of crisping, so give each fry space to breathe.
Bake and flip. Bake for 20 minutes, then use a spatula to flip each fry. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 18—22 minutes, until deeply golden and crisp on the outside and tender within. Rotate the pans halfway through if your oven runs unevenly.
Season and serve. Transfer immediately to a serving platter. Taste and adjust salt. Scatter chopped parsley over the top if using and serve right away — fries wait for no one.

Nutrition (per serving)

Crispy Baked French Fries — The Golden Side That Belongs at Every Full Table