Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Evil store-bought potato chips

A few years ago, I convinced myself that potato chips were evil. As most restaurant cooks probably are, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol at a young age. So, I did all I could to avoid fried food, most of all chips. I have officially fallen off the horse.

I recently bought a large ensemble of root vegetables (beets, sweet potato, turnips, parsnips and carrots), half of which I was not going to use in the dish they were required in. They looked so good at the farmers market that I had to but them and find a use. I decided to clean them and remove skins. For some reason I picked up a knife and started to cut very thin rounds: I said "I am making chips". What a pain in the ass the knife was, so I grabbed my mandolin and began to run them through.

I only had canola oil, so I took my large enamel coated cast iron and heated the oil. I dropped the veggie rounds in the oil a few at a time and fried them till crispy delicious. These veggies do not take on as much oil as white potato and are therefore a bit healthier. I drained what oil did collect on a plate with paper towels. While hot I seasoned the chips with salt, pepper, and a little cumin and smoked paprika. I made a spicy chipotle ketchup and black truffle honey for dipping.

I tell this story to say, instead of buying unhealthy potato chips in the store, go to a local farmers market and get some root vegetables, run them through a slicer or mandolin, fry em and eat em. I promise you will enjoy.

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