Chicken Shack Potatoes Rule the Spud World

This is not good. Actually, it’s unbelievably good–so good it’s . . .

Well, let’s put it this way: sometimes the Chef’s Secret is better left a secret. Because for every divulged method of making food taste great, there is always one secret that you wish you didn’t know. Case in point: potatoes.

If you’ve ever had these crispy, flavor-filled spuds from the restaurant on Mack Avenue  in Grosse Pointe Woods--as a side dish or as a carryout tray for a graduation or birthday party--you know just how good they are. Crispy on the outside, yet bursting with a salty, buttery taste, Chicken Shack potatoes are the benchmark for the decadent starch.

“Everybody gets them with everything,” said Chicken Shack manager Bill Gurchiek. “Yep, I have them, too.”

Considering Gurchiek has been with the restaurant for 14 years, that’s a clear statement about the intense eating experience you get when you pop one of these potatoes in your mouth. All you need to make these at home are potatoes, oil, margarine and salt and pepper. It’s the technique--and the blind eye if you are health conscious--that makes them rule the spud world.

“We cut the potatoes fresh every day then put them in a broaster (pressure cooker) for about six or seven minutes,” Gurchiek said. This precooking technique prevents the starch in the potatoes from oxidizing and turning them brown.

Then you drop the potatoes into a deep fryer until cooked; remove them and toss them with margarine and a combination of salt and pepper. We suspect there is another spice involved, but we know they cannot divulge everything!

There you have it – the secret to the most flavorful potato you will ever eat. Now, where is that deep fat fryer?