Crunch Time

I found it.  It still exists. The crunch. 

Understand – I like them.  Carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, sweet potatoes.  Roasted they are delicious.  Raw they are frequently sweet.  I like to shave them – slice them wafer thin with a potato peeler – and add them to salad. 

But once you cook them, they don't crunch.  Slice them thin, they don't crunch.  And uncut and uncooked they are hard to eat.  Besides, no matter how munchy they are, they never really crunch.  Not with that crackly crisp crunch that comes from chips and crackers and all those junk food goodies we love so much.  And I miss the crunch.

A stalk of celery will give a suggestion of a crunch.  But then it is followed by munch and fiber and it just isn’t the same.

When you can’t have all those additives, and you can’t have almost anything that even hints at starch – no potatoes, no grains, not even rice – then how do you find the crunch?

I found a way.

Thanks to olive oil, sweet potatoes, and my trusty potato peeler. 

Sweet Potato Chips

Equipment needed

My eensy weensy spider

Pan with a lid or spatter guard

Potato peeler

Baking sheet

Baking rack (like you use to cool cookies)

Spider

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 large sweet potato

Directions

Pour about 1 to 1 ½ inches of olive oil into the pan.  Heat to a medium high heat (I had it set to 8 on my stove).  I used a large saucepan.  However, a frying pan will give more surface space and allow for larger batches.

While oil heats peel the sweet potato.  Once the outer skin has been removed pat the potato dry.  Then use the potato peeler to shave thin slices.  It doesn’t really matter what shape the pieces end up.  These are for crunching, not dipping, so skinny pieces work as well as fatter ones.

Once the oil is hot, add sweet potato slices to the pan.  Don’t add too many at one time.  They need room to move in the oil as you stir them.  Stir them with the spider to keep them from sticking together.  I usually stir three or four times during frying.  Make certain the chips turn at least once for even cooking.

From left to right
blech, acceptable, yummy, chewy

When chips start to brown at the edges, use the spider to remove them from the pan.  Place the chips on the drying rack and allow them to drain and to cool.  So be careful.  Leave them in too long and they will be inedible.  Too short a time and they will be chewy.  It will take some trial and error to get them just right.

I don’t know how many servings this makes.  I can tell you that this pile of chips was half a sweet potato minus the ones I ate before I took the picture.  Enjoy!