Hi, I'm Rachel.

A few years ago I could barely boil water.

True story.

Determined to be a kick ass wife, I developed a love for football and learned to cook in my tiny Jersey City kitchen. I spend my days working in Manhattan, my nights and weekends chasing after a rambunctious toddler, and the hours in between cooking with my husband and feeding my TV habit...oh, and I blog about it all! 

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The Pantry

Entries in Chips (2)

Wednesday
Jan122011

Baked Potato Chips

It's snowy in NYC today, though not quite as snowy as I had hoped. Here's a little snapshot from my walk this morning:

On one hand I'm thrilled since I'm flying out to Atlanta tomorrow night and was dreading the whole travel with snow thing. I just hate travel in the winter! It's so unpredictable.

Anyhow, today I'm sharing a pretty wonderful creation with all of you. I still had a big bag of potatoes stuffed in a cabinet hiding in my pantry from my vegetable tarts and while my first inclination was to whip up some mashed potatoes, I didn't think that would play so well with the whole lose 10 pounds plan. Instead, I came up with an easy and absolutely delicious creation - baked potato chips.

Put down that bag of Lay's Baked Potato Chips because they taste like cardboard and go out and get a bag of potatoes. Right now. These are chips of the never-going-back-to-the-bagged-kind variety. Though I know Shaun was secretly skeptical about my plan for these when I told him about it (he's more of a fry guy), one taste tested chip later he proclaimed that he will only eat these from now on. Score one for healthier eating.

Oven baked and crispy, these chips are fresh, salted and the perfect vehicle for a low fat dip, some blue cheese sauce or even some plain 'ol hummus. Oh and did I mention they require no more than 3 ingredients? True story.

Baked Potato Chips
potatoes
olive oil
kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and slice up your potatoes.

I used my fancy new mandolin that Shaun got me for Christmas which made it a snap. If you don't have a mandolin, you can absolutely - and carefully - slice them by hand or even in your food processor with the slicing attachment (though I haven't tried it yet, so let me know how it goes if you go this route).

In a bowl, drizzle the slices with olive oil and kosher salt. And any other spices you want. I also added a little bit of black pepper.

Lay the slices on an oven safe wire rack resting on a foil-lined baking sheet (I'm all about making clean up easier!)

Bake for 30-45 minutes until desired crispiness is reached. I wanted mine extra crispy so I went for about 45 minutes. The result was a semi-kettle cooked tasting chip.

Sprinkle with a bit more salt to taste and enjoy!

 

So there you have it. An easy, healthy way to dish up some potato chips without breaking the proverbial calorie bank. Don't they look delicious? I am craving some right this moment. Too bad Shaun and I gobbled them all up in a jiffy during the football games on Sunday. I can't wait to try out this method with sweet potatoes and maybe even some beets. So for the question of the day: Are you a chip eater? Or do you prefer something of the sweet persuasion?

Wednesday
Sep082010

Mexican Crema Salsa & Whole Wheat Chips

I’m in a Mexicali mood this week, starting with fish tacos and ending with beef enchiladas which I think I finally perfected last night (after many, many attempts...more on that later). And today I have some tips for using up the rest of that Mexican crema from the fish tacos. Or even if you didn’t, here’s another aha! use for this delicious sauce that will inject flavor into an old fave. I’m a huge fan of adding just a bit of sour cream to chunky salsa for a thicker dip that feels a little more special than merely pouring salsa out of a jar and into a bowl. After our delightful fish tacos, Shaun had the brilliant idea to add a bit of crema to the salsa in lieu of sour cream. Bingo. Quick, easy and super flavorful. Oh, and I promise, it tastes much better than it looks.

 

Mexican Crema Salsa & Chips
1 tbsp Mexican crema, recipe here
1 C chunky salsa
2 whole wheat tortillas
olive oil
kosher salt

Cut up the tortillas, first in half and then quartered from there, producing small triangle shapes. These will be the chips. In a skillet, heat a bit of oil, enough to cover th ebottom of the pan. Add the tortilla triangles and cook, turning until crisped. Be careful to watch these closely as they burn easily and quickly. Once appropriately crisped, dry on a paper towl or wire rack and sprinkle with kosher salt. In a mixing bowl, combine the crema and salsa, adding as much crema as you’d like, to taste. Personally, I like mine creamy, so the more crema the better.

Note: the chips will not be as crispy as if you fry them. They will firm up and be a perfect vehicle for the crema salsa, however, they will not quite be Tostito texture.

So there you have it - a simple way to use up already-had ingredients for a little twist on a classic favorite. Gotta love using up ingredients that you already have on hand to make a completely new and equally delectable dish. Just goes to show that a little bit goes a long way when it comes up upping the ante on some classic dishes. And what I'd like to know is, do you add anything special to any dishes to turn it up a notch? Do dish!