The first time I dunked a french fry in ranch, I was with my cousin at the East Anchorage Red Robin behind the Northway Mall sometime in the late 1980s. The hot salt/cool tang combo struck teenage me as alchemy, a food of the very cool. I didn’t know at the time, though, how Alaska that mouthful was. Turns out a fry dipped in ranch — a favored combo in Super Bowl spreads this weekend — may be more of this place than you think. And I have a great recipe for both.
Hear me out. Potatoes are likely one of the earliest foods successfully cultivated here and have always been good quality and valuable because they can be stored. Tlingit potatoes, a fingerling type, were grown by Tlingit and Haida people in Southeast and used as a trade item for at least 200 years. Since we started writing recipes in Alaska, local potatoes have been a point of pride. The very first newspaper recipe I could find — published in the Anchorage Daily Times, Anchorage’s first newspaper — ran on Oct. 28, 1917. It was written by a “Mrs Oscar Plowman,” a teacher from Hope, giving advice on cooking Alaska-grown potatoes — likely one of the few fresh foods available.
“Pare, wash and put on in boiling water,” she wrote. “When done, pour off water, salt and shake kettle. You will find the potatoes will be nice and dry.”
And then there’s ranch. Work camp cooking is another big influencer on Alaska’s food culture. Steve Henson, a plumber from Nebraska, created ranch dressing in the 1950s using pantry ingredients while cooking for crews working out of Anchorage. He and his wife moved to California and bought a property they called “Hidden Valley Ranch,” and thus, the global ranch dressing phenom was soon born. But the original recipe comes from our practical-minded, remote pantry-driven cooking tradition. Could ranch have been invented somewhere else? I don’t think so.
Fries and ranch remain the food of the cool. Living with my tween/teen boys, we are in our fries and ranch period. They have shown me how a simple jar of homemade ranch in the fridge is a real treat. And it entices kids to eat salad and raw vegetables. Fries-wise, we have been working through a very affordable bag of russets from VanderWeele Farm. And, like Mrs Oscar Plowman (her first name was Edith), I have found that the secret to a crispy oven fry is controlling the moisture. I soak them to remove starch and then dry them really well before I toss them with oil and local garlic salt. Then I do a two-temperature roast in the oven. First to cook them through, then to crisp. And I don’t crowd the pan. You can absolutely fancy it up. Spend some money, use real garlic, fresh herbs and buttermilk instead of milk. But the lo-fi, work-camp-inspired version using dried herbs, that one is ours — practical, cheap, easy and delicious.
Crispy Alaska potato oven fries
Serves four
Ingredients:
2.5 pounds (four to five) Alaska-grown #1 russet potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled
1/4 cup avocado or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons local-made garlic or other seasoned salt.
Method: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a large 17-by-12 sheet pan or two smaller sheet pans with parchment paper. Cut the potatoes into fries, roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness, depending on your preference, or use a fry cutter. Put the fries in a large bowl and cover them with cold water. Allow to soak for about 20 minutes. Remove from the water and dry thoroughly. (I lay them on some layers of paper towel to absorb the moisture. The internet suggests a salad spinner.) Return to a dry bowl and toss with oil and seasoned salt. Lay them in a single layer on the prepared pan(s), taking care that they don’t overlap. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip them with a spatula, shaking the pan to make sure they settle back into a single layer. Turn the oven up to 425 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes more. Serve hot with ranch.
Alaska pantry ranch dressing
Yields about 1 1/2 cups dressing, or five to six 1/4-cup servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
1/2 cup full fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/4 cup plus up to 1/4 cup whole milk
A tablespoon fresh lemon juice or white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon dried chive
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Cracked pepper
Method: In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Add up to 1/4 cup additional milk if you want a thinner texture. Pour dressing into a jar and let sit at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator for flavors to meld.