Monday, August 2, 2010

Homemade Potato Chips



Don't you hate it when the weekend goes by so fast? It felt like just yesterday I was leaving work on Friday. But no, that wasn't yesterday. So no bright weekend in sight. Instead... the dreaded work week. Which only happens to be 4 days for me, so I guess I can't complain.

Our weekend was a pretty busy one. On Saturday, Andy's boss and his wife, and their two friends came over for dinner. It was kind of nerve-racking, really. But everything turned out quite alright and no food was left to waste. The menu, you ask? Well, I stuck to simple, elegant items:

4-6 oz. Filet Mignon (the butcher at the grocery gave me an off cut of tenderloin, but I made do)
Seared Scallop BLT's (halved scallops with bok choy, roma tomato, bacon, and homemade herb mayo)
Pasta Salad w/ pepperonicini, sopressata, feta, cherry tomatoes, and a drizzle of white wine vinegar
Steamed Asparagus w/ a little bit of butter and lemon
Blueberry Cheesecake Bars w/ fresh blueberry whip cream

Needless to say, I felt good about myself afterward (even though I've convinced myself that I overcooked some of the steaks, overcooked for my liking anyway... who knows, maybe they liked medium well/well steaks). It was a good experience and they all were encouraging and grateful about the meal, which at the end of the day... is all I could ask for.

And this was a tad late, but check out our CSA goodies from Wednesday: Some more red cabbage (any good cabbage recipes anybody?!), brussels sprouts, green peppers, corn, more potatoes!

The rest of the weekend? Sunday was spent out in the sweltering sun, playing putt-putt. Which apparently I'm not as good at as I would have thought. But good times spent with good friends all around.

And now... potato chips. While spending $2-5 on a bag at the grocery is easy and quick... why not make your own? It's definitely way more satisfying and you can play with the flavors! Just raid the spice cabinet and get creative!

Ingredients:

6 small new red potatoes, scrubbed
steak seasoning or salt
vegetable oil, for frying

See... with an ingredient list so small... why not?!

If you have a mandoline, this is even easier, but for those of us who do not have one (hint hint, I WANT one lol), we've got to put our knife skills to work. Try to slice the potatoes as thinly as possible, but if you like a thicker cut, be my guest.

Wash off the starch from the potatoes until the water runs clear. Let them dry on a paper towel while you heat your oil.

Add oil to a thick pan or dutch oven to come up about 2 inches. Heat under high heat and bring to a temp of about 365 F.

Add potatoes to oil and fry for about 3-5 minutes, or until they are golden. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel lined bowl and toss with a bit of steak seasoning (or whatever spice you like).

See... so in about 15 minutes or less, you've got perfectly crispy, delicious, homemade potato chips right in front of you. And you didn't spend a dime (unless you didn't have potatoes in the house, but seriously, this is cheap). Enjoy!

And this was a tad late, but check out our CSA goodies from Wednesday: Some more red cabbage (any good cabbage recipes anybody?!), brussels sprouts, green peppers, corn, more potatoes!

9 comments:

  1. Awesome! My husband bought me a mandoline for Christmas and I absolutely love making potato chips and sweet potato chips! So good.

    And your dinner party menu sounds fantastic!! Those lucky guests! I must try those scallops for sure!

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  2. yum. Thanks for the idea for scallops for BLT's...my fave is using blackened salmon.

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  3. This would make my husband very happy. He is a big snacker, and I can only imagine his joy if I pulled out a bowl of homemade potato chips (I think I might enjoy them too:-)

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  4. Hey! I made a yummy recipe recently with cabbage. And your cabbage would look beautiful in it! Go check it out if you like: http://nutsaboutfooditaly.blogspot.com/2010/07/smitten-kitchens-mango-slaw-with.html
    And what a coincidence, I just posted about home made potato chips and mandolins...mine were baked. Not half as beautiful as yours but reasonably healthy!
    Congrats for the engagement, although I still have to finish reading your blog to figure out how recent it is...hehe
    Ciao for now!

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  5. looks lovely! never tried homemade potato chips before :)

    have a lovely day
    jen @ www.passion4food.ca

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  6. great job with those homemade chips!! they are so much better than the store bought ones!! fresh produce is a wonderful thing, I am going to miss my farmers market so much this year when it closes!

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  7. Nicely done! Potato chips are a huge weakness for me... these look great.

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