What is it about home made potato chips? Crisp, warm, perfectly salty – they are so much better than anything from a bag. You can also feel pretty good about eating your weight in them if they’re served alongside raw vegetables and Large Marge‘s Ranch Dip. Courtney visited me today to show me how to whip up the tastiest potato chips and her super simple dip. It’s delicious, it’s easy, and this is the perfect thing to serve for a party or casual get together. Make sure to check out our video for how to do everything!
INGREDIENTS (RANCH DIP)
Serves 4-6
16 ounces sour cream
1 tablespoon garlic powder
¼ cup mixed herbs, chopped (use whatever you like! I like dill, marjoram and thyme)
1 large shallot, finely minced
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Scoop the sour cream into a bowl. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and season with the salt and pepper. Serve with fresh fried potato chips and farmer’s market crudite.
INGREDIENTS (HOME-FRIED POTATO CHIPS)
Serves 4-6
2 each russett potatoes
¼ cup white distilled vinegar
4 quarts canola oil
seasoning salt to taste (recipe below)
DIRECTIONS
Using a mandolin set to ⅛”, CAREFULLY slice the potatoes into a medium-sized bowl of cold water. (You kind of have to use a mandolin if you want these to turn out right)
Swoosh the potatoes around in the water, drain and rinse them, and continue to submerge, swoosh, drain and rinse them until the water runs clear. This is a very important step, it gets rid of all the excess starch and sugar that makes a potato chip turn dark brown when frying. That water better be clear!
Keep the potatoes completely submerged in the bowl of water. Pour the vinegar on top and stir it around. Let the potatoes soak in the vinegar water for at least thirty minutes.
While the potatoes are soaking, heat the oil up to 300F.
Drain the potatoes and pat them dry.
Fry the potatoes in three to four batches. Keep them submerged in the oil until they stop bubbling completely. They should still be blondish in color and not too dark. Remove them from the oil with a strainer and put them in a paper towel lined bowl to catch excess oil. After about one minute, transfer them to another bowl with no paper towel and season them heavily with seasoning salt.
INGREDIENTS (SEASONING SALT)
1 garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon kochukaru
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon crushed szechuan peppercorns
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS
I like to make my own salt — a combo of garlic powder, onion powder, kochukaru, chile powder and kosher salt. Use whatever flavors you like best — fresh herbs, szechuan peppercorns, sesame seeds. Anything goes. Just make sure you season them when they are still a little hot and oily so the seasoning has something to adhere to. And don’t be shy with the seasoning — these guys need a lot!
