Tami's Po Jo Potatoes

Maybe you have a Shakey's Pizza Parlor near you, or maybe you don't.  We had one nearby about 25 years ago but something happened to the chain of restaurants.  I searched the internet and found that they are making a comeback but only in large metropolis areas.  (Aberdeen, Washington does NOT fit this description).  A few years ago, I had a serious craving for Shakey's MoJo Potatoes that they used to serve.  I looked at different recipes on the web but the people that were posting the clone recipes were saying that it tasted just like Shakey's MoJo Potatoes but didn't come close to what I remembered.  I started doubting if my tastebud memory was correct.  After a lot of experimenting, I came up with this recipe and without a side by side comparison, I think this is the closest. 


I had this recipe in my computer and printed out in a binder that had the recipe increased 6 times the regular recipe (I used to make them up marathon style and freeze them down).  My computer got some kind of malware and was fighting it for weeks so I backed up the computer reformatted the hard drive and went to reload the files. I found that the original recipe was not located in My Documents like I thought it was and was not included in the backup.  I then tried to reduce the recipe by dividing by 6 and the recipe didn't sound right.  I know that the 6x version is correct because I made that one a lot.  If you make this, you will find that you will have a lot of the dry mix leftover.  Put it in an airtight container and it will keep for quite awhile.  Just remember, any of the dry mixture you use when dipping must be discarded after using so only use a little at a time.  I have tried using the mixture on chicken but for some reason doesn't work.  I have found that it only works on potatoes.

Tami’s Po-Jo Potatoes

Ingredients:
3    Russet Potatoes

Dry Mix:
6 cups     All Purpose Flour
3 Tbsp.    Chicken Bouillon Powder
1 Tbsp.     Paprika
2 Tbsp.    Dried Thyme
¼ cup    Garlic Salt (prefer California Style)
¼ cup    Salt (not Kosher)
1 Tbsp.    Ground Pepper
1 Tbsp.    Cayenne Pepper
¼ cup    Corn Meal


Dipping Mix
½ cup    Milk
3    Large Eggs


Instructions:


Preheat Deep Fryer to 350 degrees.


Mix all dry ingredients very well in a large mixing bowl and set aside.


Scrub potatoes and slice into ¼” rounds (use a mandolin slicer for even slices) and soak sliced potatoes in cold water until ready to coat to prevent oxidation.


Mix dipping mix (eggs and milk) together in a medium mixing bowl.


In a 8x8” pan, add about 2 cups of the dry mix. Add more if needed, discard any leftover dry mix from the pan.


Remove potato slices from water shaking off excess, dip in wet mixture and then into dry mixture coating both sides and place on a rack.  I highly recommend using the wet hand, dry hand method for dipping (only use one hand for all wet applications and the other hand for all dry applications).  Repeat with remainder of potatoes.


Deep fry in small batches 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown.

If you are going to make up a large batch to freeze, fry as directed above and lay out in a single layer onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  You can put multiple layers onto a cookie sheet just make sure you put a layer of waxed paper between the layers.  Freeze overnight.  Remove from the freezer and put into freezer zip top gallon bags.  To reheat, you can either deep fry again for about a minute, or you can place onto a cookie sheet in a single layer and cook at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.