Growing up, we ate a lot of baked potatoes. A lot. I would load mine up with butter and salt, at first. But that got boring. Then I turned to mixing in salsa and occasionally adding cheese. That’s tasty, but I like it to be a tasty treat — not an all the time thing. These days, I just slice baked potatoes and salt them. Unless I am making a meal out of them, which happens most often in the fall when the leaves are turning and air begins to take on that familiar chill, a preview of the long months of winter that will come. When I am making a meal of them, I like to add broccoli, bacon and cheese. Good combination.

In the spring and summer though, we eat a lot of potatoes — in fry form. Sometimes I grill them, other times I make delicious sweet potato fries (or my fave: Parmesan Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries) … and of course there are oven fries. Mmm. Fries are the perfect accompaniment for barbecued foods like burgers, hot dogs, chicken … you name it.

These steak fries are fabulous with chicken like the Salt and Pepper Chicken Breasts recipe I wrote about last week. The chicken is delicious served plain with these fries and a side of a colorful veggie. It’s even better if you put the chicken on a roll with some barbecue, cheddar and bacon. Mmmm.

(P.S.: I just ordered the Progressive International Vegetable/French Fry Cutter. If it works well, you will be hearing a lot more about it … and more fry recipes. Who doesn’t enjoy low-fat, crispy fries with fun flavors?)

Asiago Pepper Steak Fries
serves 4

4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed clean (2 1/2-3 inches in diameter at the fattest part)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
1 tsp black pepper
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into 8 wedges each. Combine the potatoes, oil, asiago and pepper in a resealable bag and shake well to coat.

Spread the wedges in a single layer on a jelly roll pan that is either topped with nonstick aluminum foil or sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Lightly sprinkle with salt.

Slide the tray into the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 450 and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, flipping every five minutes. The steak fries are ready when they are golden brown on the outside.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with salt again. Serve immediately.

Devour.