Grilled Wedge Fries

I came up with these yesterday. I love wedge fries, and normally make a great oven version. This being summer, however, grilling them is a good alternative, as I just learned – you don’t have to heat up your house, you don’t have to wash a dirty pan, and if you are already firing up your grill to prepare the meat for your supper that night anyway, it’s a win-win situation.

All you do is take a few large potatoes (I like Yukon Golds), and cut them into thick wedges. Thicker than you’d want for your oven fries. Next drizzle some oil over them, and sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and, in this case, a little bit of cayenne pepper for extra bite. Or you can use seasoning salt. I have nothing against that. Then toss everything around so the potatoes are evenly coated.

This is the oil that I used – this is pure sunflower oil, locally grown and pressed by the Driftless Organics (see the link under “Local Farms and CSA’s”).

Then you thread your potatoes onto large metal skewers like so. You can probably use bamboo skewers too if you soak them ahead of time.

Heat your coals past the point of glowing-red until they are covered with a layer of white ash (but still glowing). This is your medium heat. If you are using a gas grill, you are on your own here. Now cover your grill with the lid, but leave the holes in the lid fully open.

It wouldn’t hurt to re-orient your skewers after a while so they cook more evenly.

When the fries are browned on one side (don’t expect the uniform browning of the oven), flip them and cook on the other side. The first side will take about 15 min, the second side only about 5. They might not be cooked perfectly evenly, but that’s a OK with me. I love it when things on a grill char a little bit.

Remove from skewers before serving, and sprinkle with some chives or dill. I love the combination of dill and potatoes. Sprinkle with some extra salt, if needed. Serve alongside grilled steaks or hamburgers or what have you. Consider spreading some of the delectable blue-cheese butter over your steak while you’re at it. Or serve them with your shashlyk-burritos.