Thursday, May 08, 2008

Sweet Potato Chips

We sure do love our Sweet Potatoes!

We've grilled them, we've roasted them, we've mashed them, and we've baked them. But up until now, we haven't "fried" them!

Well, we hadn't in a long time, at least. We decided to revisit this old favorite when the oven was occupied (at too low a temp) and the grill was covered in the rain. How could we cook our sweet potatoes? Thinly sliced and fried in canola oil!

So we brought a thin layer - about 1/3 of an inch - of canola oil up to about 350 degrees in a big pan and we peeled a nice-sized sweet potato. Then we sliced it up as thinly as possible. The thinner the better - thin slices crisp up nice and evenly when frying, while thicker slices will still be a little mushy in the middle (which isn't bad, either!). Using a mandolin might help here...



Into the oil they go in batches - leave plenty of room! Depending on their thickness they'll go 5-7 minutes total, turning once or twice, or until they are just getting a nice tan color and begin to stiffen up. Don't go TOO long, they'll crisp up as they dry. Use your first batch as a test batch (trust us, they'll be eaten well before dinner, anyway).



When the batch is ready to come out, lay them down on some paper towels and dab dry the top with some more towels, then immediately season. We went with some kosher salt and cajun seasoning - but you could go any direction here: parsley and herbs, salt and pepper, garlic and onion, parmesan, or even go sweet with some cinnamon.

These came out great! At least 1/2 of them didn't even make it til dinner time - you have to test for doneness, yaknow!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious! I love to put Chinese 5 spice powder on all kinds of sweet potatoes - it really enhances the sweetness.