French duck fat oven fries (or Pommes de terres au four à la graisse de canard) are the perfect side meal to meats and fish. Full of flavor these healthy French fries are scrumptious. These easy oven fries are coated with semolina (instead of cornstarch), generously sprinkled with seasoning and glazed with fresh duck fat (no vegetable oil) to make the perfect homemade crispy French fries (without deep frying them).
Today we are making my kid’s favorite side meal of all time (besides broccoli, go figure). French duck fat oven fries ( or frites au four à la graisse de canard in French) – if you haven’t tried cooking with duck fat, you are missing out in my humble opinion.
Duck fat, especially combined with vegetables is a staple in many French families cuisine up to this day. There are a few ways to get duck fat. One is by collecting it from other meals (like my Hungarian whole roasted duck recipe). Another is to buy it at the store. As duck fat isn’t always available at the store, I always to collect my own when cooking duck. No food waste policy kitchen here.
IS DUCK FAT HEALTHY – Many health sources claim that duck fat is a good fat choice – it’s rich in heart-friendly unsaturated fatty acids. Some even say it helps with normalizing blood sugar and blood pressure. No wonder that French chefs call it ‘liquid gold’. It has a high smoke point 190C/375F and can be stored for a long period of time in the fridge.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Red-skinned potatoes – or any type of old potatoes
- Duck fat – rendered or store-bought. No substitute possible here, except other type of bird fat like goose fat.
- Semolina flour – makes potatoes crunchier on the outside. If necessary substitute with finely milled corn flour.
- Spices: paprika, cumin, garlic powder, rosemary, nutmeg, salt and black pepper
How to cook French duck fat oven fries?
1st: Peel potatoes (leave with skin on if you want) and melt duck fat if hardened.
2nd: Cut (peeled) potatoes in thin stripes and add melted fat, seasoning and semolina flour.
3rd: Bake in preheated oven with fan onto cooking foil until golden.
How to render duck fat at home?
If making whole duck or duck legs per se be sure to collect the fat from the roasting pan. It can be used for cooking in the next couple of weeks.
- Let duck fat cool slightly on room temperature.
- Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any excess grease particles.
- Store in glass container, closed well – in the fridge or freeze for later use.
Note: Rendered duck fat lasts less in the fridge (2-3 weeks) compared to store-bough opened jar of fat (up to 6 months). If fat looks funky, smells funny or changes color it’s probably gone bad.
French Duck Fat Oven Fries
Equipment
- 1 baking tray large
- 1 cutting board and knife
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. semolina flour
- 1 tbsp. duck fat (heaping) or more as needed
- 700 g potatoes cut in stripes
Seasoning
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. cumin powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. rosemary, dried
- pinch of nutmeg powder
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven and cover baking tray with cooking foil. Let baking tray get hot in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Spray foil with olive oil if needed (to make potatoes crispier at the bottom).
- Peel skin off potatoes (or leave skin on if you wish). Cut into desired shape fries – I prefer thin sticks.
- In a large mixing bowl add cut potatoes, room temperature duck fat, semolina flour and seasoning. Mix well to coat all potatoes.
- Then, remove heated baking tray from oven and place seasoned potatoes onto baking foil. Distribute evenly.
- Bake for about 25 minutes (or until golden) with fan (200C/400F) – to get potatoes crispier on all sides.
- Remove from baking foil and serve immediately while still hot.
Notes
- Use seasoned salt or other preferred seasoning to change flavor.
- Semolina flour can be substituted with finely milled cornmeal.
Nutrition
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