I’ll have to figure out how to add an audio element to this page, with Eldest Daughter saying in a distinctive voice, “Thpicy frieth!” kind of like Sylvester, of Tweety & Sylvester. She loves these—eats them by the bowlful.
The recipe is courtesy of the side of a bag of Mann’s pre-cut “sweet potato” fries from Costco. I put “sweet potato” in quotation marks because this was a bag of the orange things known to many as “yams.” You want the orange ones, not the yellowish ones.
For every 3 c. of yams cut into fry-like sticks:
½ t. red pepper flakes (amp up if you like things really hot)
½ t. chipotle pepper flakes (optional; or substitute these for the regular red pepper flakes)
1 t. chili powder
2 T. olive oil
1 T. lime juice (I often have to leave this out because I don’t keep limes on hand, and it still tastes fine)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 T. spicy brown mustard (e.g. Grey Poupon)
¼ t. ground black pepper
Add at end: 1 t. salt (use kosher for extra crunch)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together the ingredients for the spicy coating. Add potatoes and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, then turn and bake another 10 minutes until crispy and browned. Sprinkle with the salt and serve.
I make these in really big batches because they go so fast around my house. The catch is that you can’t achieve a single layer in the pan if you cut up too many, so plan accordingly. They’re still good if they end up heaped in the pan—just not as crispy.
You might also bake half the batch and taste, then adjust the heat on the second half if you want them spicier.
