Pub Food at Home: Cheese, Ranch and Bacon Oven Fries

Perhaps to compensate for my love of baking, I try to eat healthily most of the time. But every so often I get a craving for something greasy and really bad for me. If I can make it at home, it's even better. Last week I crisped some bacon, made some oven fries out of new potatoes, and threw them together with some cheddar cheese and ranch dressing. The result was spectacular, and the fact that the potatoes were baked in my oven made me feel a little less guilty about the fact that this dish is almost devoid of nutritional value.


I meant to pair the fries with a salad, but I didn't. And I didn't feel that guilty, either. Approximate recipe after the jump!

The dish was a hodgepodge of a couple of recipes.

I modeled the fries loosely on this Food Network Recipe, forgoing the herbs and sprinkling the fries with salt and pepper before baking.

The ranch dressing is a Top Secret Recipe version of the Outback Steakhouse's ranch dressing. It elevated the dish into restaurant-quality territory.

I sprinkled cheddar cheese over the cooked fries and popped them in the microwave until the cheese was melted. Then I drizzled the ranch on top and topped it with the crispy bacon -- about half a strip for me.

Then it was ready to serve!