Proper chips.

Forget crisps(chips) or fries (wimpy chips)

These are proper chips. There are a couple of important steps to get "Proper" chips

I'm to lazy to completely peel the spuds. I clean them with a SS scrubby (ex pick up pipe filter) which takes most of the skin off. Then cut into 1cm square chips. An important step is to let the chips sit in cold water right until they are put in the fryer.

Safety advice!
It's important to drain the potatoes well before putting in the fryer.
It's important to make sure the oil is only a 3rd way up in the pot/fryer. It will foam when the moist potatoes are put in.
Cook to the first stage in small batches because of the foaming.

Heat the oil to 160°C (320°F) batch fry the chips until they are not quite done and still firm to the pinch. You want as little colour as possible and for them to have a firmness left.

When you have the full lot to this stage then turn the oil up to 180°C (355°F) And cook the chips again until they are deep golden brown.

These chips a soft and fluffy inside and have a crisp out and crunch when you bite them.

Proper chips.

Those look awesome Orfy. You're really making it tough not to second PTN's suggestion about having your own food forum.

I vote for Orfy to write a cookbook!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm asking for a countertop fryer for my birthday.

mmmmm. steak house style fries(chips). Now I have to go and find me some spuds!

You dont add anything to your cold water? Still trying to get something so tasty myself.

Coastarine said:

I'm asking for a countertop fryer for my birthday.

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No need, use a 7 qt Dutch oven! :rockin:

Where I come from, those would be called "jojo's" and I love 'em.

And keeping the skins on is the way to go with nearly any potato product. Fries, chips, mashed, hashbrowns, anything. Viva la skins.

I thought they weren't proper chips without beef gravy?

IrregularPulse said:

I thought they weren't proper chips without beef gravy?

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And cheese curds, gotta have cheese curds and gravy.....Hey noone's bumped the puteen thread in awhile...

*drool*

That's called Poutine.

It is Ambrosia from the Gods, I tell ya...

No back in the other CHIP debate thread I remember seeing that Authentic "chips" were maybe fried or cooked somehow with a Beef gravy or juice.

Oh, and THESE are proper Chips....

Have any of you heard of "triple cooked chips" ? Check out Heston Blumenthal. His restaurant has been voted the best in the world and his chips are $24 per plate!

http://www.potatolovers.co.uk/content/recipes/info/?id=65

He first picks the potato type depending on their water content. This involves individually weighing them, then weighing them again when they are suspended in water!!!

They are then cut into the chips and batch boiled until they are nearly breaking up. You can only do a few at a time. You then let them cool, then cool them further in the fridge.

Then fry them, but not to the brown stage. cool, then refrigerate.

Then fry again to your preferred color and eat!!!!!!!!!!

The guy is indeed mad, but it does work. The temperatures of the oil can be found by searching for his recipe. It is important.

You dont add anything to your cold water? Still trying to get something so tasty myself.

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You could put ice in it to keep it as cold as possible...that's the way they did it @ TGI Fridays back in the 80s when their fries were fresh-made (and very good). It's not just to keep them from turning brown...it is also to remove some of the free-starch which just turns brown when fried.

I've also heard that McDonalds puts some sugar in the water to soak them but I've not tried that.

You could (and some might say 'should') refrigerate the pre-cooked (blanched) fries before the final cooking.

Also, several methods of pre-cooking will get the job done. I've even pre-cooked them in a steamer.

Orfy mentioned the key 'quality points' though: fluffy inside, not 'dense'; crispy outside and not too brown.

Also, if you plan on salting them then you must do it right out of the fat for the salt to stick properly. Do not wait, do not pass GO, do not collect $200...salt them immediately.

Off to google poutine...

I am SOOOOOO glad this isn;t what I thought it'd be about. Admittedlt, I didn;t look at the section before coming in. I was afraid they found a new Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox. Kinda like they did with Don Johnson and Miami Vice.

I like the approach. And the chips look yummy. I always thought you were supposed to parboil the potato first, then double fry. I'll definitely try this.

I see a nice Sirloin and chips in my future. Time to light the kettle.

So you want a steak to go with the chips Eh?....Try this..

Heston Blumenthal cooks a rib roast for OVER TWENTY HOURS at 50 degrees! I just managed it in our oven, but had to have the door half open all the time to get the temperature low enough! The big problem with that was the dog only had one thing on it's mind when presented with a large joint cooking only inches from it's grasp! It kept looking at me as if to say..WTF!?

I have now moved on to blasting the steak with the blowtorch, then vac sealing the meat in polythene. You then put the sealed bag in a water bath instead of the oven. The meat comes out so tender you will not believe it, but this is not for you if you like your steak burnt through... This meat comes out pink.

Oh and 50 degree water is just past the temperature that you can stand to put your hand in! You would not believe that meat cooks so well at such low temps....

Enjoy

THE STEAK

Serves 2-4, depending on how hungry you are

1 well-aged, two-bone fore rib of beef (on the bone — ask your butcher) Black peppercorns
Sea salt
Smoked sea salt
Groundnut (peanut) oil

1 Using an oven thermometer, preheat the oven to 50C/120F/Gas Mark .

2 Place the fore rib in a roasting tin. Brown the outside as quickly as possible using a blowtorch. (If it’s not hot enough, the flame will start to cook the flesh. If yours isn’t up to the job, use a very hot pan instead.) Once the meat is browned, place it in the oven. Use a digital probe to establish when the internal temperature of the meat has reached 50C/ 120F (this takes 4–8 hours, depending on the animal; don’t let it go any higher — it will ruin the recipe), then let it cook at this temperature for a minimum of 18 hours. Remove from the oven, cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 2 hours — 4 would be better — it’s important that the meat cools down before it is subjected to the fierce heat of the pan.

3 To prepare the steaks, hold the fore rib upright with the rib bones side on. Run a sharp knife between the meat and the bones, and free what should be an L-shaped piece of meat. Trim off any overly charcoaled exterior. Slice the meat in half vertically to give two steaks, each about 5cm thick.

W of the steak, it kick-starts a complicated process known as the Maillard reaction, which adds depth and complexity to the flavours of meat. To get those flavours without drying out the steak, you need to brown the surface quickly and then take the heat right down. At the lower temperature, muscle proteins contract and squeeze out water more slowly, which is crucial to

keeping the meat moist. But the steak also needs to be tenderised, which, at this temperature, is done by enzymes that weaken or break down collagen and other proteins. Heating the meat slowly means these enzymes can perform their magic for several hours, effectively ageing the meat during cooking. The result is the tenderest, tastiest steak imaginable.

4 Place a large cast-iron pan over a high heat for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, take the blue-cheese-infused butter out of the fridge and remove the cheese. Crush the peppercorns using a pestle and mortar, add a little of the plain sea salt and smoked sea salt, and put this mixture on a plate. Dip both sides of each steak in the seasoning.

5 Add a film of the groundnut oil to the pan and, when it’s smoking, add the steaks. (The surface of each steak needs to be in contact with the pan, otherwise they won’t cook properly. If they overlap, fry one at a time.) Fry for 4 minutes, flipping every 30 seconds. They should develop a nice 1mm brown crust, while the interior should be uniformly pink.

6 Let the steaks rest. Allow the frying pan to cool slightly, then add the flavoured butter and stir to melt it and collect any bits of meat that remain. Pour into a jug.

7 Cut the steaks into diagonal slices. Add a few grindings of black pepper, and a sprinkling of sea salt and smoked sea salt, then drizzle the butter on top. Serve with a dollop of mushroom ketchup and tomato ketchup.

Orfy said:

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Sweet Jeebus I just bit my monitor.

I'm a huge fan of fish n' (proper!) chips. My wife and I found a great recipe for the fish batter from a British cookbook. The egg whites were whipped to stiff peaks before folding into the batter and it made the best fried fish I've ever had. I'll definitely have to make these chips to go with it next time!

-Joe

nostalgia said:

I'm a huge fan of fish n' (proper!) chips. My wife and I found a great recipe for the fish batter from a British cookbook. The egg whites were whipped to stiff peaks before folding into the batter and it made the best fried fish I've ever had.

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Recipe, please?

Those chips look great Orfy! I'm doughing in on your mild right now. I'm hungry....

check out youtube for how to cook both fish and chips ;-) though they arnt like this they are still great and his battered fish is awesome. i have done this a couple times.

also do not use a cast iron dutch oven if you plan on reusing the oil. the iron and oil creates sulfides which make the oil go bad quickly. a porcelain coated dutch oven is the best

I likes the Poutine and it cousin pounta...ah never mind im going to bed now.

Hell, that's nuthin! I'm making QUADRUPLE fried chips!!!

I just sliced some 'spuds'

Ok here we go, "Perfect Fish and Chips" in 3 sections.

Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes, about 1 1/2#
1 1/2# skinned cod fillets
1 lemon
1/3 cup flour

For batter:
1 1/2tsp active dry yeast or 1/2 cake (9g) compressed yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup beer
1 egg white

1: Prepare the potatoes and batter

1. Peel and slice potatoes. Put them in a bowl of cold water.
2. Sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand about 5 minutes.
3. Dift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, oil and 3/4 of the beer. Stir with a wooden spook to form a smooth paste. Stir in the remaining beer. Do not overmix!
4. Let stand in a warm place 30-35 minutes until thickened and frothy.

2: Part-fry the chips and prepare the fish

1. While batter is standing, heat vegetable oil to 350F. Drain potatoes and pat dry.
2. Dip empty fry basket in oil to prevent sticking. Deep fry potatoes until just tender when pierced with the tip of a small knife and are just starting to brown, 5-7 minutes. Drain over the fryer, then tip onto a paper towl lined plate.
3. Rinse fillets under cold running water and pat dry.
4. Divide fish into 4 portions, cutting neatly on the diagonal. Cut lemon in half then wedges and set aside for decoration.

3: Coat and deep-fry the fish; brown the chips

1. Heat the oven to low, heat the oil to 375F. Put the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat the fish with the seasoned flour, patting with your hands so they are evenly coated.
2. Beat the egg white in a medium metal bowl until stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted.
3. Gently fold the whisked egg white into the batter until combined.
4. Dip a piece of fish in the batter, turning to coat thoroughly. Lift it out and hold it over the bowl 5 seconds so excess batter can drip off.
5. Carefully lower the fish into the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown and crisp, 6-8 minutes. Coat and deep fry the rest of the fish, 1 or 2 pieces at a time.
6. As the fish is deep-fried, transfer to the baking sheet lined with paper towels so that excess oil is absorbed. Keep warm in the oven. [Instead of paper towels, I drain my deep-fried things on a wire rack that's upside-down on paper towels in a sheet pan. That way the food isn't sitting on oil-soaked paper towels and doesn't get greasy.]
7. Deep fry the partially cooked chips until very hot and golden brown, 1-2 minutes.

TO SERVE
Divide the fish and chips among individual warmed plates. Sprinkle the chips with a little salt. Decorate the fish with the lemon wedges and serve at once, accompanied by tartare sauce if you like.

Chips remain crisp if salt is not sprinkled on until just before serving.

Enjoy!

-Joe

I am totally eating fish and chips right now

I win