worth the hassle!

My dad is a shameless potato chip junkie.  Unfortunately for him, my mom is perpetually dieting (even though she looks just fine to me) and refuses to keep tempting chips in her pantry.  My poor father is forever in search of his next bag of chips.  Sour cream, plain or ruffled, it makes no difference; unlike his martini olives, Dad is not a picky chip junkie, he’ll take what he can get.  Enter my eldest bro’s wife, JP, a keeper of chips.   She’s figuring out how to appease my (sometimes) grumpy chipless father.  I often wonder what’s going on in my dad’s head, and lately, I’m thinking it’s “chips, chips, chips”.  Ok, maybe not ALL the time, but I know its “chips, chips, chips” when he goes over to my bro’s house.  During my last visit home, I had the opportunity to observe an interesting greeting between my father and JP.

JP: “Hi!  How are ya?”
Dad: (smiling down at JP, then in a low voice) “Hi, do you have chips?”
JP: “Yep, here ya go!”  (Tosses a bag of sour cream & onion at him)
Dad: (smiling cheesily, with teeth) “Thanks, you always take such good care of me!  I know YOU love me” (that last part he says while glaring at my non-chip-buying mother).

I watched as he happily ambled to the sofa to watch Tiger’s baseball, bag of chips in hand, leaving her kitchen unscathed (sometimes he likes to “help”), and JP unburdened to finish her final food prep tasks.  It was like witnessing Pavlov’s dog in action!  Except with my father.  And with potato chips.  Give dad a bag of chips and he’s silenced, happy, and preoccupied for at least a half hour.

me + dad + chips = love

A few weeks ago, we learned the lovely couple who created the blog www.loveandoliveoil.com live down the hall from us.  Literally, like 5 condo units down the hall from ours!  Foodie friend score!  They graciously had us over for dinner last night and I decided to make homemade chips with a Greek yogurt onion chive dip.  Being a somewhat timid fry virgin, I enlisted help from The Hubs.  He took first time frying VERY seriously and had the fire extinguisher at the ready.

Thankfully, we did not have cause to use it, and he’s just being silly with the “action stance” here.  But I am not exaggerating, it remained on the counter the entire time!

I contacted my Southern friends for all things frying, R.B. and Mindy, and they directed me to their website for a tried and true chip recipe.  This is an only  slightly modified adaptation, it’s pretty much all theirs.  You will need a mandolin for precise slices and a candy thermometer for precise thermal management (and avoiding grease fires), 2 large russet potatoes, a large container’s worth of canola oil (I used Wesson because if it’s good enough for Mrs. Brady, it’s good enough for me!), and salt and pepper.

you should hold the potato by the very end when using the mandolin so you don’t slice your fingers off…

First things first, scrub your potatoes and set your mandolin to the second thinnest setting, using the flat blade.  Slice the potatoes and then give them a good rinse under cold water.  Fill a large bowl with cold water and let them soak for at least 10 minutes.

just like cutting the deck in euchre; THIN TO WIN!

while they are soaking, line a few baking sheets with paper towels.  Place the pre-soaked potato slices onto the paper towels and blot to remove excess water.  It’s ok if they are a little damp.

line ’em up!

Fill a Dutch oven with oil until it’s at least 1 1/2 to 2″ full.  Start to heat over  medium.  On our induction stovetop we started at a 5 on the largest burner.  Make sure your thermometer is securely in place.  Have a sheet pan lined with paper towels at the ready on the opposite side of the stovetop.  Once the heat maintains between 370F and 380F, start dropping in your potato slices, like 7-10 at a time (do not crowd the slices!). Using a fine mesh skimmer, (or spider, or tongs, or heat-proof spatula), flip the chips frequently, until browned, but not TOO browned.

you know how in most recipes you aren’t supposed to flip things a million times?  well, feel free to flip frequently, my friend!

Keep your eye on the heat, as it will drop when all the chips are removed.  I found it somewhat difficult to maintain a constant heat temperature.  The Hubs was my second pair of eyes to help maintain the constant temperature.  Allow the browned chips to drain on the paper towels and hit with salt and pepper while still wet from the oil.

draining chippies

Because I found that many of our chips were slightly soggy after frying, I chose to crisp them up in the oven at 350 for 5 minutes before serving.  This final act perfectly finished off the chips, leaving them crispy and warm.  I served them with cool Greek yogurt mixed with fresh chives, garlic powder, salt & pepper and 2 tablespoons of leftover buttermilk from an ice cream recipe.  If you don’t have buttermilk, regular milk will do just as well to thin out the dip.

chips + dip = happy dad belly

Homemade Potato Chips with Greek Yogurt Garlic Chive Dip