Crispy Potato Chips

Homemade Potato Chips

 

This is one of those things that will amaze you.  Making potato chips is super simple and just requires a little patience and three ingredients.  Potatoes, Oil and Salt.

To begin, carefully wash the potatoes (once again, I leave the skin on).  I use one four to five inch potato for each person.  The picture above is of one potato, sliced and fried, so you can see that one per person is plenty!

You can use the slicing side of a regular grater, or a mandolin as shown below.  There are lots of different types of mandolins, this one I purchased at my local grocery store for about 10 bucks or less.  It's less than ideal, but it works!  And it slices super thin pieces, each of them extremely uniform.  So, if you really enjoy these homemade fries, you can get a really nice one at Williams-Sonoma or Bed, Bath and Beyond.

As you can see, these slices are almost all identical, which makes it easy to make sure they cook evenly.  Heat about one inch of your choice of oil in a heavy pan on medium high heat.  I use canola oil, but vegetable oil or even olive oil will work perfectly.  To check to see if the oil is hot enough, drop one potato in and if it immediately bubbles and rises to the surface, the oil should be just right.

Drop potatoes in carefully, making sure that they are in a single layer in the pan so that they don't stick together.  Stir them around a bit with a slotted spoon or strainer.  If they seem to be cooking too fast, stir them around and lower the heat a bit. 

When they are brown, remove the potatoes from the oil, drain on a paper towel and immediately season.  The simplest seasoning is salt.  You can add pepper, chili powder, granulated garlic or even cayenne if you like some spice.

You don't have to spend 4 dollars a bag for potato chips that claim to be "natural" or "fresh". Potatoes are reasonably priced, have lots of nutrients and are delicious!!

Enjoy!