French Fries Made Easy: The Progressive Jumbo Potato Cutter
Posted by Michele Rosenthal
April 13, 2009
Kitchen gadgets are so much fun, from the can’t-live-without heavy hitters like the mix masters, blenders, ice cream makers and Cuisinarts to the little guys like garlic skin peelers, tea bag squeezers, lemon reamers and flour sifters. Kitchen gadgets have a special place in the drawers and cupboards of those who love to cook and those who aspire to become great cooks.
I remember being pregnant and watching TV at night because I was unable to sleep with my baby’s moving and kicking (x3 — this happened with all three of my sons!). I would be up all night in a hypnotic trance watching infomercials on kitchen gadgets. They were selling everything – special knives that could cut through bricks (and effortlessly carve a turkey), Tupperware products that were guaranteed to never leak, you could throw them out your upstairs window and they would be intact on the landing, the lids would never ever come off. If my credit cards and phone happened to be near my bed in the middle of the night while I was watching these commercials or if my feet weren’t so swollen making me just too lazy to walk to get my wallet, I’m sure all of those gadgets would have ended up in my house. Perhaps it was the nesting mode that I was in. Anything to make my life easier and help cooking healthy meals for my family seemed like a good idea at the time.
One gadget that I discovered recently is the Progressive International Jumbo Potato Cutter.
As all of us seasoned cooks know there are some gadgets that are better than others and some that are just a foolish waste of money that guarantee to only clutter up our already too cluttered kitchens even more. Recently I was in Vermont visiting family and I stopped by The Vermont Kitchen Supply store, a charming (isn’t everything in Vermont charming) little shop in Manchester to do some detective work for my next Cook’s Kitchen article. I name dropped like crazy, mentioning that I am a writer for The Well Fed Network and was in need of a gadget that worked well and that I could tie into a great recipe for my article while I was at it. What good is a gadget that works well unless you have a reason to use it?
The staff couldn’t have been more helpful we went through the entire store trying to find the perfect gadget, one that delivered the goods, and would be useful. I mentioned that I had developed a gorgonzola truffle oil French fry recipe based on a dish I had recently enjoyed at the Breakers in Palm Beach Florida. They showed me the Progressive International Jumbo Potato Cutter and they assured me it worked. In the past, I have cut potatoes into French fry shapes with just a knife. It isn’t too difficult but it is very time consuming, especially if you are trying to get even slices, which is important for even cooking. I left the store with the new gadget.
So what happened when I got home? I gave the potato cutter a try and not only did it work well, it was so much fun that I couldn’t stop slicing potatoes. Luckily, I live with all boys and they love french fries because I made platters of them. It was very easy and I found the smaller blades to produce the perfect size French fries that we like and they also cooked faster in the oil because of their smaller size. I simply cut the potato in half length-wise, placed one half in the slicer and pressed the lever down. Out popped perfectly sliced potatoes.They fried up to a wonderful crispy golden brown in our deep fryer machine, another gadget I love. The Progressive Jumbo Potato Cutter comes with two blade sizes for thick or thin slices and costs $21.99.


Gorgonzola Truffle Oil French Fries with Citrus
6 Idaho potatoesone package of gorgonzola cheese, a triangle wedge1 cup of heavy cream2 tbsp of truffle oil (either black or white) – I used black, because that is what I had on hand.The juice of half an orangesea salt and freshly ground pepper, to tasteScrub potatoes clean, keeping the skin on.Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and place the potato half in the slicer, pull down the lever to make even fry-shaped slices.
Fill your deep fryer with vegetable oil to the appropriate level indicated in the directions. Fry potatoes in batches until golden brown, taking care to not crowd them.
Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt
Add the heavy cream to a saucepan and reduce over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in chunked up pieces of the Gorgonzola cheese. Add the truffle oil, continuing to stir. Remove from heat and add the juice from half an orange slat and pepper to taste.Place French Fries on a decorative platter and drizzle with gorgonzola sauce and serve.