The Green Earth Girl

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April 26th, 2011

Potato chips are a sort of guilty pleasure, aren’t they? They’re deep fried, often made with who knows what, and flavored with combinations seen no where else in the world. But what if you could make homemade potato chips that had natural and delicious flavors? That would make your kids (and you) happy without any added mystery ingredients. And it could all be organic. Are you in?

I had some fancy fresh peppercorns lying around the office the other day, thanks to William Bounds, and a lot of extra potatoes in the pantry (not to mention a blog deadline), so I began experimenting in making fresh, baked potato chips. There were some initial mistakes, and I learned some lessons, but I think I’ve perfected the process. Learn from the following rules, and then try to make some chips of your own! Experiment with flavors (garlic! chipotle! italian basil!) using natural herbs and spices, and you won’t be dissapointed.

Lessons Learned

• Use (organic) cooking spray, not olive oil. I used olive oil to grease the pan for my first batch, trying to be more organic. This was a mistake as it both made the chips soggy and allowed them to burn. The chips also stuck to the foil and refused to budge. There are organic non-stick cooking sprays out there – use them. For the health conscious this also means these chips come with no more calories than regular potatoes.
• Use only chips that still have skin all the way around. My sub-par mandoline skills meant that many of the chips were not evenly sliced, tapering off at the edges, leaving no skin. These chips were the first to burn and tasted terrible. Only bake the chips that are sliced with even thickness. Turn the discards into mashed potatoes.
  
• Eat them right away. Have you ever tried a warm, freshly cooked potato chip? Neither had I. Now I am hooked.

And now, on to the recipe -

Cracked Pepper and Sea Salt Potato Chips

Ingredients

4 Medium Organic Red Potatoes

Organic Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°. Using a mandoline slicer, slice potatoes to approximately 1/8″ thickness. Discard uneven slices. Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil and coat heavily with non-stick spray. Place the potatoes on the sheet, allowing for a small space between each potato. Bake for approximately 7 minutes, remove from oven and flip chips over. Remove any chips that have browned and become crisp. Put the tray back in the oven for approximately 5 more minutes, or until the chips are crisp and slightly browned. Remove the chips from the tray and place them on a dry paper towel. Immediately add sea salt and cracked pepper to taste. Serve warm or store in an airtight container.