Having missed the last couple of Potato Ho events, I knew I had to find something that tickled my fancy for this round. These Potato Crisps definitely worked for me.
I found the recipe for this in the November 2008 issue of Food & Wine magazine. Usually after I peel potatoes, the peelings just end up in the garbage. Yeah, I know I'm supposed to use them for soup, but get real, this is me. I saved peels once about five years ago...I think they still live in the back of the freezer. Starting out using the peels though, was a novel idea, I figured I could give this recipe a try.
Now if I had bothered to really look at the photo of the dish, my reconstruction of it would have turned out a bit different. I was so hungry to get this on the table (this was lunch for us), I just plunged into making the recipe without really giving the end result a thought. The recipe calls for "thick' peelings...so that's what I did. After we fried these up I realized that the photo showed much thinner peels...which, I'm sure, made much crisper crisps. It didn't make much of a difference, these still turned out really good.
This was actually a quick and easy snack to put together. And in these economic times, a good use of something that would usually be thrown away. Don't forget that these are tasty little things too!
What to do with the potatoes after you've skinned them? Make mashed potatoes of course. I made twice the amount of the sour cream and chive dip and added that to my mashed taters with some butter and salt and we had a side dish for dinner.
POTATO CRISPS WITH CHIVE-SOUR CREAM DIP
3 cups canola oil
Thick peelings from 3 pounds of Yukon Gold or russet potatoes
(roughly 1-by-3-inch strips)
Kosher Salt
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons snipped chives
Freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan over moderately high heat, heat the oil to 360 degrees. Fry the potato skins in batches, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer each batch of potato strips to paper towels to drain, then sprinkle with salt immediately.
Transfer the potato strips to a baking sheet and sprinkle them with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the cheese is melted. Let the crisps cool, then transfer to a bowl.
In a blender or processor, puree the sour cream with the chives and a pinch of salt and pepper until the chives are finely chopped. Transfer the dip to a bowl and serve alongside the potato crisps. Makes 4 servings.
The chive sour-cream dip can be refrigerated overnight.
Note: I used russet potatoes. I used our little deep fat fryer instead of a pan.
Note: I used much more of the cheese than required. I didn't bother to get out the blender or food processor for the dip, I just minced the chives fine and blended as best I could. I also didn't let the crisps cool, we ate them right out of the oven.
The Potato Ho Down is being hosted by Baking Delights this time around. Be sure to check her blog for all the delicious potato recipes I'm sure will get posted!
These sound delicious, and its clear why you ate them right out of the oven ... how could anyone resist?
Posted by: Louise | November 19, 2008 at 07:10 AM
these look so good!
Posted by: barbie2be | November 19, 2008 at 11:26 AM
I'd have trouble resisting these...and I think thick is excellent even if not so crisp.
Posted by: Elle | November 19, 2008 at 07:37 PM
never again will my potato peelings be wasted--this is great!
Posted by: grace | November 20, 2008 at 07:24 AM
What a novel idea, this was such a great entry! I love the idea, LOVE IT!
Posted by: noble pig | November 20, 2008 at 07:59 PM
Fried/bake potatoes with Parmigiano-Reggiano sounds really delicious, then eat them with that sour cream and chives. What a treat!
Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers,
Elra
Posted by: Elra | November 21, 2008 at 02:24 PM
Yum, those sound good!
Posted by: katie | November 23, 2008 at 08:37 AM
Oh yum!
Posted by: Jan | November 23, 2008 at 09:46 AM
Louise - They were hard to resist, just like french fries!
Barbie - You should try these, simple to make.
Elle - We had no problem with them having a bit more potato on them. Didn't take away from the mashed taters we made later and made the snack a bit more substantial.
Grace - I think it's such a cool idea to not waste the peelings.
Noble Pig - I expect you to try these :)
Elra - You could even leave the cheese off and these would be good but I think the cheese just added to the flavor.
Posted by: Mrs. L | November 24, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Oh my, these look like the ultimate snack to have with beer.
Posted by: peabody | November 24, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Amazing looking crisps!
Posted by: Kevin | November 29, 2008 at 03:54 PM