In my opinion, no Game day spread is complete without a giant tray of crispy, well-seasoned fries, and that's exactly what we're preparing today. Baked in the oven for maximum ease, and seasoned with a mix of cayenne, garlic, and pepper, today's fries are a delicious mix of crispy and spicy, making them an ideal addition to your game day feast.

Ingredient Notes and Tips

1) The Potatoes. For fries, you want medium to high starch potatoes, obvious candidates are Russets and Yukon Gold. Russets are high starch with a mealy texture, making them ideal for baking, mashing, and frying. Meanwhile, Yukon Golds are medium starch potatoes, and are generally considered 'all purpose.' As such, you really can't go wrong with either one for today's fries.

2) Cayenne Pepper. For some reason, despite the current vogue nature of hot sauces, and the last decade's sriracha craze, along with the explosion of spicy 'fusion' cuisines, people still get positively jittery around 'raw' cayenne pepper. Reactions generally run along the lines of "Isn't that just for like really spicy Cajun food?" "Won't that completely overpower your sauce?" or "Oh my God, you're putting that on your eggs? Aren't you going to hurt your stomach?" These are just some of the real life responses I've gotten when people see me go for the cayenne bottle. Everyone, calm down, cayenne pepper is likely 'much' less spicy than virtually any hot sauce you've grabbed off the store shelf. Cayenne pepper, while possessing a noticeable 'kick,' also packs a lot of 'earthy warmness,' and a bit of 'rustic spice' that you really just can't capture with many other spices, and it does so without the searing heat of chilies or hotter peppers.

French Frying Tips and Tricks

1) Thin Equates to Crisp. The thinner your fries, the crispier they'll be - generally speaking. A lot goes into how 'crisp' a fry is. This includes baking time, baking temperature, and oil. However, as a rule, I like to slice mine 'almost' as thin as a I can manage. I do like some 'body' to my French fries, as you can see from the pictures.

2) Season before baking. Seasoning fries before slotting them in the oven 'locks in' the flavor. Also, 'cooking' seasonings into the foods allows for the full 'blooming' of your seasonings. This is why cooking seasonings into foods results in a richer, and more evenly disturbed flavor.

3) Oven Baking vs Frying vs Air Frying. Honestly, French fries are one of the very few foods that I believe come out 'just as good' in the oven as in the fryer. On top of that, oven baking is lightyears simpler and less messy than either frying or air frying - which is yet another bonus. Furthermore, if you really are preparing these for a gameday party, simply slotting trays of these in the oven on a timer allows you to make them in batches. Thus, take my advice and streamline your French frying process, and simply prep these in the oven.

More Gameday Favorites from Living the Gourmet

1) Onion Rings. A quintessential gameday food. I prepare my onion rings with just a hint of spice, and a thick, dense batter that crisps up beautifully during frying. You can grab my recipe here.

2) A Cold Drink. The classic combo of French fries and tall beer works just fine here. However, if you want to flavor things up a bit and play 'bartender' to yourself or your guests, our friends over at DrinkWorks have got you covered. Think of it as the "Keurig of Home Bars," simply pop a pod into the machine, and out comes a delicious, chilled 'adult beverage' (no ice required) that tastes like it was mixed by a master mixologist. With dozens upon dozens of drink pod flavors to choose from, including Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Moscow Mule, Whiskey Sour, White Russian, and Old Fashioned, among many others, there's something for everyone.

3) New York Style Pizza. Featuring a thin, pliable crust that's perfect for folding, a homemade marinara beneath a decadently thick layer of mozzarella, from-scratch New York-style pizza is blissfully simply to put together, and refreshingly unpretentious, making it a homemade pizza the entire family can appreciate.

4) Cuban Pizza. Topped with a trio of cheeses, chorizo sausage, and pleasantly spicy marinara sauce, and then folded and baked to crisped perfection, Cuban pizza is - to my mind - the very definition of 'upscale fast food.' Easy to prepare, and hardy, these are a great addition to any gameday feast.

5) Philadelphia cheesesteak. You can never go wrong with the mouthwatering iconic American sandwich. This sandwich's savory is so comforting and irresistible to anybody's taste buds. Picking the best cheesesteak in Philly might be one of the hardest decisions you ever have to make. 

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