It’s surprising, really, that I’ve never made homemade potato chips before. Sure, I’ve tried lame baked ones (spoiler alert: they are not the same) but never truly fried potato chips at home before now. However this is exceptional, surprisingly.
Maybe it was the blue cheese dipping sauce that got me to set aside my deep-fried reservations this time, but I had no qualms about frying up this batch of crispy potato chips. Do beware, two potatoes may not seem like much, but when they’ve been sliced paper thin. It can last you for very long. But stick with it, as what seems like a ton of chips now will disappear in a blink of an eye and a smack of the lips.
You want to slice the potatoes as thin as possible, which is very hard to do even with the most ninja-like knife skills. For us we think a peeler is a necessity if you want to make chips of any kind. Once sliced, soak the potatoes in ice water to remove excess starch (it’ll result in crispier chips), and then dry completely between layers of paper towels. If you rush this and don’t let your potatoes dry completely they won’t taste crispy.
Bake them until the entire chip is golden brown, and then transfer to paper towels. But be sure to watch them closely, as the difference between perfectly golden and burnt to a crisp is separated by a matter of seconds. This is not the time to wander off to water the cats or feed the plants, stay focused on the task at oven and your chips will come out perfectly.
The blue cheese sauce is thinner than say, a sour cream dip. It’s more like a blue cheese fondue. Use a nice, creamy blue cheese, the potency of the final sauce dependent on the cheese you use. Some older blue cheeses are stubborn and reluctant to melt; if that’s the case, just whir the whole mixture in a blender or food processor for a few seconds to emulsify any remaining chunks.
So no, I probably won’t be frying potato chips on a regular basis. However, this one time I sure did enjoy the results. The thick and salty, melt in your mouth crunch of just-fried potato chips really can’t be beat by anything in a bag.
For the blue cheese dip |
- 1 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup crumbled)
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
To prepare sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk. Continue to cook, whisking regularly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from head and whisk in blue cheese until melted.
Refer to our previous Baked Potato Chip with Parmesan for the recipes for the Homemade Potato Chip. Replace the Parmesan to seasoning it with cayenne and salt to taste. Serve warm.
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