National chip week, 12-18 February 2007.
Chips. By which I mean freshly cut up and, quickly fried fingers of potato. Yes, vegetables. Real food. I do not mean the little processed, flat snack crisps that get called chips in the USA. Nor do I mean the tiny and incredibly vile little things they serve up in fast food places, made of powdered and reconstituted potato and about three thousand additives. No, I am talking about real chips. Go on, you know you want to.
I don't have a deep fryer (all that hot fat, too scary...) but here's my recipe for home made chips:
Heat up your oven nice and hot. About 200 - 220 degrees C (400-425 F, or gas regulo 6-7). Now peel some big potatoes suitable for frying or roasting. Maris Piper are rather good. Slice them into big fat fingers (you could also do wedge shapes if you want posh chips) and dunk them swiftly into a pan of boiling water. Drain them and toss in a dry tea towel.
Now toss the chips in sunflower oil until they are coated generously. (Don't use olive oil, it doesn't do too well at high temperatures). Spread out on a baking sheet. Bake till they are golden brown, crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. The timing depends on the size of your chips and the heat of the oven, but somewhere between 20-30 minutes is about right. Yum.
And before you start on about them being bad for you, check this out:
A 100g portion of oven chips contains just 4.2g of fat – that’s less than a chocolate digestive at 4.3g fat, a small pot of natural yoghurt at 4.5g fat or a jam doughnut at 10.9g fat.
An average portion of battered cod and chips has fewer calories, at least half the saturated fat and just a tenth of the salt of a cheese and tomato pizza.
Link: Chip Facts & Figures.
But aren't oven chips reconstituted in the same as the 'fries' offered by fast food outlets?
Posted by: Caroline | 12/02/2007 at 08:54
Oooh - and I was just wondering what to put on the menu for this week. Chips it is!!
(btw your link doesn't work...)
Posted by: Anne | 12/02/2007 at 09:15
thanks for the instructions. I'm a clumsy cook, but this I'll try. My kids will be thankful, too.
Posted by: lupita | 12/02/2007 at 13:12
Brilliant - National Chip Week finishes 3 days before the start of Lent!
Posted by: Hugh A | 12/02/2007 at 14:12
I feel better already...
Posted by: Tim Chesterton | 12/02/2007 at 16:00
What a FANTASTIC recipe! I made them last night and my six year old LOVED them.... as did my spouse!
Posted by: Ojaih | 13/02/2007 at 10:43
caroline, you are right that some ready made oven chips are like the fast food horors, but (I can't remember the make) you can get some that are real potato, which I occasionally resort to in an emergency. But to be honest, they are so quick and easy to make (and much cheaper) from scratch, I usually just make my own, to the recipe above.
Posted by: maggi | 13/02/2007 at 15:46
Now, for the Celsius challenged in North America, that 200-220 degrees would be 400-440 Fahrenheit.
No wonder 30 minutes didn't seem like long enough... :)
Posted by: Dave Paisley | 13/02/2007 at 16:55
you can't beat good home made chips!
Posted by: Brodie | 13/02/2007 at 20:28
As a US-born person, may I point out for US readers that your oven temperatures are in celsius.
200 degrees C is 400 degrees F
220 degrees C is 425 degrees F
Posted by: PamBG | 13/02/2007 at 23:29