The days get shorter, the sun sets a little earlier, the temps are slowly creeping into sweater or jacket weather, our garden is nearly spent and over the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen some pretty cute back-to-school photos in my social media feeds. But there’s one more final end-of-summer get-together before the onslaught of football and all things pumpkin; actually, we plan to gather family and friends around our table even after summer ends – and most likely our meals will include something grilled. Sometimes it’s brisket, chicken or smoked turkey breast, but quite often it’s something as simple as a great burger.
Our burgers have been topped with everything from caramelized onions and mushrooms to cheddar and blue cheese; but while we were in Italy this summer, we visited the Expo in Milan and enjoyed our first ever, Belgian fries with mayonnaise – what a revelation! And when the nice people over at OXO sent us their brand new, hand-held spiralizer we thought topping a burger with crispy fried sweet potato curlies would be mighty tasty nestled between tender bibb lettuce on a grilled bun that is schmeared with garlic aioli – do I have your attention?
The OXO Good Grips hand-held sprializer is both fun and easy to use but the feature I love most is its size – it fits in a kitchen drawer and doesn’t take up premium counter space; the food holder keeps hands safe from the sharp blade. It’s also a fun way to add more veggies to your meals and can be used for most root vegetables as well as zucchini, cucumbers and other long vegetables – like sweet potatoes!
Disclosure: OXO Good Grips sent me a free hand-held spiralizer to test in our kitchen and to share about OXO products with our readers; however, everything I write here are my own words, my own opinion, and my own experiences.
NOTE: I shallow fry in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with enough oil to come halfway up the skillet; I also fry in batches so that the temperature of the oil doesn’t drop drastically when adding the sweet potatoes. And finally, salt as soon as the curles come out of the oil.
SWEET POTATO CURLIES
Makes enough curly fries for two people
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled, ends trimmed flat and spiralized
- 2-3 Tablespoons cornstarch – you want just enough to lightly coat the curls
- 1 Cup Grapeseed oil (or more depending on the size of pan you’re using)
METHOD:
- Spiralize the sweet potatoes and put into a medium-sized bowl; toss with cornstarch
- Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet to 375 degrees
- Carefully add a few sweet potato curls to oil and fry for 1-2 minutes; don’t over crowd the pan so most likely, you will need to fry in batchs. They will burn quickly so watch carefully; I use long tongs or chopsticks to gently move the potatoes around in the oil until they’re crisp
- Remove curls from the skillet onto a paper towel-lined sheet pan and sprinkle with kosher salt
- Top your favorite burger and enjoy!