I made this dish for another friend and the husband LOVED the shoestring potato salad. Ah come on, who does not LOVE shoestring potato fries alone, but this recipe tosses them in with wonderful bitter lettuce, sweet garden grown tomatoes, savory-salt of blue cheese and the juices of a good hanger steak to make the perfect combination for an entrée. It really is a bit of pure heaven on the plate but creating the perfect shoestring potato is a bit difficult. There is an art to that and I helped some friends through the process with a series of emails that I will share here:
1. Use russet potatoes, not a cooking potato like a red, Yukon or white.
2. Once you create the shoe strings, pop them into cold water to remove some of the starch. Dry them before you place them in the oil or you will have a splattery mess. I use a Benriner Japanese mandoline to create thin even sized shoestrings. VERY important if you want them crisp and evenly browned.
3. Make sure your oil is at 350 degrees before you put the potatoes in. I actually use a deep fry thermometer to check the temperature and pop the thermometer in after each batch to make sure the temperature is right before I drop the next batch in.
4. I limit the amount of potatoes I put in the hot oil, I think it is about one potato per batch. One large potato should be good for the two of you, two will create a bit of leftovers which are great and will keep crisp in a zip lock bag.
5. I also use a lot of oil. I strain and save the oil in the refrigerator for the next time. BUT the amount of oil in the pot is extremely important. Use a large, heavy pot and do not fill past 1/3. If you do the oil will boil the oil over and you will have a complete kitchen mess.
6. I cook the heck out of them. It will take at least 4 to maybe 6 minutes to get them crisp. Some of them will be brown. I test them as I am cooking them.
7. I salt them RIGHT after I take them out of the oil. I think the salt permeates and sticks to the potato when it is hot.
8. In the past, I have made them beforehand and stored them at room temperature but with the wet weather on Friday, they became soggy. Maybe if I placed them into a Ziploc after they cooled that would not have happened. In the summer I made them and had NO PROBLEM so this was a new thing for me. So on Friday, I just popped them back in the oil to recrisp and they were absolutely perfect! Actually, most chefs do a twice cook approach for a French fry, cooking the first time just to cook the potato through, letting it rest then giving it a quick crisp. So if they come out soggy again, just bring your oil up to 350 and reheat for 30 seconds or so. You do not want them to get too brown.
So now that you know the scoop about frying shoestring potatoes, here is Susan Spicer’s wonderful recipe:
Grilled Steak with Arugula, Tomato, Blue Cheese and Shoe String salad
(A good red wine with this might be a Rhone style Cabernet Franc or Grenache to compliment the saltiness of the cheese and fries or a fruit forward Cabernet. If you like white, try a Gruner Veltliner or a Riesling)
The Steak
- 2 steaks of your choice, I use hanger steak
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Preheat your grill or broiler. At least 10 minutes before cooking, pat the steak dry with paper towels, rub it with a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill or broil on high heat to brown and sear the meat, then lower the heat slightly to finish cooking to desired doneness. If you like it rare, you probably don’t have to lower the heat, just get a good sear on both sides and pull it off. If you like it medium-rare, you will want to cook it about 3 minutes per side for a 1-inch-thick piece of meat.
If you serving rib eye, strip or filet, serve it whole. For hanger steak, it’s best to let it rest about 3 minutes, then slice it across the grain into thin slices.
Shoestring Salad
- 1 russet potato
- Oil for frying
- Salt
- 2 handfuls of arugula
- 1 ripe tomato, diced (in winter, just put in extra arugula)
- Classic French Vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons blue cheese
Peel the potato, cut it crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices, then cut into thin matchsticks, or use a Benriner mandoline. Rinse the matchsticks thoroughly in cold water, then drain and shake or pat thoroughly dry in a kitchen towel. Heat 2 inches of oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat until it registers about 350 degrees. Fry the matchsticks to golden brown and crisp, 4-6 minutes, stirring a little to cook them evenly. Drain on paper towels and salt lightly. When they’ve cooled completely, you can store them in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container, and they will stay crisp for several days.
Place the arugula and tomato in a bowl and dress with the vinaigrette. Toss, crumble in the blue cheese, and add a big handful of shoestrings. Toss again and serve the steak.
Classic French Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ to ¾ cup olive oil or a combination of almond and olive
Whisk together the shallots, mustard, and vinegar in a small bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. After you’ve added ½ cup, taste the mixture. It might be perfect for you, but if it still tastes a bit acidic, add the remaining ¼ cup olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
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