reputation but home-made chips, chip shop chips, and even oven
chips don’t. So what if one portion of chips uses up half your daily
fat allowance? I don’t see why that should be a problem when a
bag of chips is a meal in itself and once you’ve eaten them you still
have the other half of your daily fat allowance left …
Chips are often condemned as the most offensive ‘unhealthy’
food of all, and while I agree that thin, soggy, oily chips are no good
for children or anyone else, chunky chips that were deep fried in
very hot oil so the nutrients are sealed in are actually a lot healthier
and tastier than boiled potatoes that lose most of their vitamins in
the water. My advice would be, tempt your children with chips and
they’re far more likely to eat the other vegetables on their plate
without complaining. Honestly. It always worked in my house.
In fact, chips are the ultimate comfort food – with or without
ketchup, mayonnaise, salad cream, or curry sauce – so forget about
calorie counting and fat grams for once, stop thinking of them as
‘an occasional treat’, which is the advice given in just about every
article I’ve ever read on the subject of ‘healthy eating’, and make
chips a regular part of your diet. They’re full of vitamins, taste good
and fill you up without making you fat, and you can’t ask for much
more than that.
Home-made deep-fried chips:Maris Pipers are ideal. Serve
with anything and everything.
1. Peel the potatoes, cut into chips, roughly 1⁄2 in (1.25 cm) thick,
and rinse well in cold running water for about 10 seconds.
2. Allow the chips to drain while you heat the oil, making sure you’ve
got rid of every last drop of water by blotting with an old, clean
tea towel or kitchen roll. (When a cube of stale bread dropped
into the oil turns golden within seconds, the oil is hot enough.)
3. If you have a chip basket big enough, use that, otherwise cook
the chips loose, lowering them into the hot oil as carefully as
you can.
4. Cover with a lid and check them often; they should be ready in
about 20 minutes.
Home-made oven-baked chips: Sprinkle with salt, or any kind
of ready mixed seasoning from a jar, or just leave plain.
1. Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks in the usual way while
you preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7 (220ºC).
2. Pour a few tablespoons of oil onto a large baking tray or
roasting dish, add the chips and use your hands to mix and coat
with the oil.
3. Bake in the oven for 20–30 minutes, shaking the tray halfway
through the cooking time.
New potato chips: Serve with fish or cold meat and salad.
1. Wash the potatoes in cold water; don’t peel, leave them in their
skins and dry thoroughly. Cut into halves or quarters
depending on size.
2. Heat enough oil in a very large pan to completely submerge the
potatoes and deep fry for roughly 15 minutes, or until crisp
and golden brown on the outside, soft on the inside.
3. Drain on kitchen paper.
Plantain chips: Serve with any spicy food and a cool yoghurt
dressing.
1. Peel the plantain with a sharp knife, cut each one in half then
each half into quarters to make long chips. Deep fry or bake
the plantain chips in the same way as home-made potato chips.
Mixed root vegetable chips: Mix up parsnips, turnips, potatoes
and sweet potatoes and serve with onion marmalade, or sausages
and tomato ketchup or brown sauce.
1. Peel and cut all the vegetables into fairly large, same-size
chunks.
2. Simmer the potatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes
while you warm enough oil in a large pan to submerge the chips
completely.
3. Strain the potatoes thoroughly and mix with the other
vegetables.
4. Deep fry for about 15 minutes until golden brown and drain on
kitchen paper.
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