Real Snacks (13 page)

Russet potatoes are the quintessential frying potato, but I recommend trying this recipe with a mix of other starchy vegetables like lotus root, parsnips, or yams. Pull out your mandolin for the thinnest, crispiest chips. Or look for special ridged chip cutters to make your own ruffled version. For traditional chips, fry the potato rounds; for less greasy (but still tasty) chips, bake them instead
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Slice the potatoes into
¹
₁₆
-inch-thick rounds and place in a large bowl. Cover the potato slices with cold water, swish, and drain. Place the slices in a single layer on a towel and top with another towel. Gently press to dry the slices. Repeat with the remaining slices.

To fry the chips, heat at least 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot to 375°F. Fry the dried potato slices in batches, being sure not to crowd the pot, for 1 to 2 minutes, flipping once, until they are a light golden brown and the bubbling oil calms. If there is still bubbling going on, there is still moisture in the chips and they will be soggy. Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and place on a wire rack to drain and cool slightly. Sprinkle to taste with your chosen seasoning and serve.

To bake the chips, preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray the dried potato slices with olive oil. Bake until the chips are a light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Sprinkle to taste with your chosen seasoning and serve.

Fritos are one of the few packaged products out there made from real food: they’re just corn, corn oil, and salt. These corn chips are almost as simple, but have a slightly more complex flavor. Look for masa harina in the Mexican food aisle of most well-stocked grocery stores. To refreshen day-old chips, simply toast them for five minutes in a 350°F oven
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Combine the masa harina, flaxseed oil, water, salt, and cayenne pepper, if using, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade. Pulse until a crumbly dough forms, about 1 minute.

Turn the dough out onto a wooden cutting board dusted with masa harina and gather it into a ball. Divide the dough ball into 4 pieces. Keep the dough you aren’t working with covered with plastic wrap. Working with one dough ball at a time, place the dough on the prepared cutting board. Roll out the dough until it is slightly less than ¼ inch thick. Prick the dough all over with a fork and cut it into ¾-by-1½-inch rectangles.

Heat at least 1½ inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot to 350°F. Using a spatula or bench scraper, carefully transfer the dough rectangles to the oil. Fry the chips until they are a light golden brown, about 1 minute, turning once or twice. Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and place on a wire rack to drain. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Once the chips are slightly cooled, transfer them to a small paper bag. Season to taste with salt and shake to coat.

As tempting as they may be, skip the bag of Doritos and pick up a package or two of corn tortillas, pull out the fryer, and feast on your own cheesy, spicy chips free from FD&C Red #40, corn syrup solids, and both kinds of glutamate. For Ranch Tortilla Chips, simply replace the spice mix with Ranch Flavoring (
this page
). These chips will be just as delicious the next day if you toast them for five minutes in a 350°F oven before serving
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Place the onion powder, garlic powder, dried mustard, sugar, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, nutritional yeast, oregano, sage, Cheese Powder, salt, and black pepper into a spice grinder or food processor and pulse until well blended. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Heat at least 1½ inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot to 350°F. While the oil is heating, slice the tortillas into triangles or rectangle strips. Fry the tortilla pieces in batches, being sure not to crowd the pot, until the bubbling slows, about 1 minute. Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and place them in a paper bag. Sprinkle with the reserved spice mix and shake to coat. Pour the coated chips onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes to crisp.

It’s no small feat to create perfectly textured Crunchy Cheese Puffs. First you make one of the weirdest doughs you’ve ever made. Then you steam it. Then you dry it. And then, only then, do you fry it. But I think somewhere out there are people like me who are just nutty enough to take on the challenge. Do be aware that the puffs need to dry for up to 10 hours so plan accordingly
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Bring a large pot of water, fitted with a steamer tray, to a boil. Line the steamer with a lightly oiled sheet of parchment.

Combine the tapioca starch, corn flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade. Add the melted cheese and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the food processor running, drizzle in the hot water until a thick dough starts to form and pull away a little from the sides of the bowl. The texture will be quite strange—a little like cheese or tofu in consistency—and it will ooze if left sitting.

Pull the dough together and place it in the center of the parchment in the steamer. Lightly press it down to about ¼ inch thick. Steam until the dough is rubbery and slightly translucent throughout, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove the parchment with the dough still on it and let it cool to room temperature. Remove the dough from the parchment, flip it over, and let it stand to dry slightly. Once the dough is not too sticky to handle, slice it into ¼-by-¾-inch strips, rolling each strip between your fingers a little to round it.

Place the dough pieces on the tray of a food dehydrator and dehydrate until the sticks are crisp throughout, 6 to 10 hours. (If you don’t have a dehydrator, place the
sticks on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 150°F—or as low as your oven will go—with the door slightly propped open, for 6 to 8 hours. Once the sticks are completely dried, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

When you are ready to fry your puffs, place a wire rack over a baking sheet. Heat at least 2½ inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot to 370°F. Fry the sticks in batches of 6 to 10 (depending on the size of your pot), until they puff and the bubbling oil calms, about 30 seconds to a minute. Remove the puffs with a slotted spoon and place them on the rack to cool. Test a puff. If it’s a little chewy, fry the next batch a bit longer. Repeat with the remaining sticks. Place the puffs in a paper bag, season generously to taste with salt and Cheese Powder, and shake the bag gently to coat.

Every so often, I indulge in one of my favorite solo dinners: Curled up on the couch, eating an enormous bowl of popcorn. I prefer popcorn made in a pot on the stove, and shaken with enough Cheese Powder to coat my fingers with each bite
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Place the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat just until it melts. Add the popcorn, cover, and shake every now and then until the popping stops. Place the popcorn in a bowl and spray it with a bit of olive oil spray. Sprinkle with the Cheese Powder and salt.