Chips, Kettle-esque

Potato chips have become something of an oddity lately. Mass marketed for decades as an increasingly inferior and unhealthy snack food, they've recently moved upscale with the advent of small batch "boutique" brands using different cooking methods, oils, and potatoes. In the end though, they're still the same thinly sliced fried potato product originally developed back in 1853. What's the real shame with current mass market potato chips though is that no matter how hard you try, you'll never get a bag that tastes as fresh as when they're straight from the fryer. So I'm here to help everyone experience that little bit of joy.

Home Made Potato Chips:
2 qts. frying oil
4 large russet potatoes (cleaned and dried)
salt or other seasonings

1. Slice the potatoes as thin as you can get them with a large, sharp knife, or to the thickness of a dime if using a mandolin. Spread the slices out onto some paper towels and heat the oil to 350F.
2. When the oil is at the right temperature, add 8 or so slices at a time and keep them moving with a fine mesh strainer. It will take about 3-5 minutes for them to turn nice and golden brown. At that point transfer the chips to a bowl lined with some paper towels and toss to remove excess oil. Sprinkle in your seasoning and then transfer to some paper towels on a counter.

Potato slices before frying.

Frying up long cut slices, they carry more seasoning.

Freshly fried chips, lightly seasoned with sea salt, seconds before being consumed.

As I said in previous posts, once I've got my dutch oven filled with oil, I know I have another 3-4 fry sessions left before the oil should be discarded (or turned into biodiesel, but thats not my area). Since its a pain to filter and store it in between these runs, I enjoy finding excuses to fry things since it's not one of my standard cooking methods. These chips went perfect with the hotdogs and cole slaw I had for dinner earlier this week. Unfortunately for my taste buds, but fortunately for my waistline, this was the final session with this oil, so I doubt I'll be deep frying anything else for a little while. But that means more variety of recipes for you guys, so there's some good that comes out of it.

Cheers, Mike