chili cheese fries

Let me start by saying this- there are no instructions on how to make chili here. You can use chili from a can, use your favorite chili recipe, or use Kim's Classic Chili that I posted a few days ago on The Dog Mom, but use whatever chili you'd like. This is really more of a how-to for perfect french fries (and they were perfect) and the chili was just an added bonus.

First off, you'll want to slice up the potatoes into spears. I don't like peeling potatoes, and I like skin-on french fries, so I leave them be. These are classic white potatoes, by the way.

Soak those spears in very cold water to leech out all the starches. This will aid in frying later.

30 minutes later, drain the water and completely dry the spears. Oil and water don't mix very well.

These potatoes are going to be fried twice. The first time is just to soften them up and cook them almost all the way through, but not crisp them up. Let them fry for about 3 minutes to cook through, and then remove them from the oil.

See? Just like limp noodles. Turn the heat up on the oil to medium high and let the oil come up to temp. Then it's time to fry again.

Meanwhile, make sure the cheese is shredded and ready to go.

Also, make sure the chili is heating up too!

This time, we are going for the crisp. Keep them moving in the oil so that none of them burn, and keep them in the oil until they are brown, golden and crispy.

Here they are. Oh, they are so good, just like this. I actually ate this whole batch of fries. The second batch of french fries, however, I used for the chili fries.

To load up the chili cheese fries, start on the bottom with the french fries...

Then the chili and then onto with the cheese! That's it, let the cheese get all melty melty and then devour.

Chili Cheese Fries
2 cups prepared chili, warmed through
2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
4 large potatoes, sliced
1 quart vegetable oil
Salt

Place sliced potatoes into a large bowl. Cover with cold water and let sit for 30 minutes. This will leech all the starches out. Preheat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Drain potatoes and completely dry with a paper towel. In batches, fry potatoes for 3 minutes to soften. Remove from oil and repeat until all potatoes have been softened. Turn heat up on oil to medium high. Again in batches, fry potatoes in oil to crisp, stirring frequently so none burn. When fries are crispy and golden brown, remove from oil and place on a paper towel to drain. Immediately season with salt. Place french fries in a large bowl, top with chili and cheese. Let cheese melt with the residual heat from the chili and enjoy!