Junque Food: Attempting Sweet Potato Chips

photo from www.examiner.com

This was originally posted in my other blog: Paleo Lifestyle in the Real World

 I'm always up for trying a Paleo version of junk food.  When I saw this recipe for homemade salsa with sweet potato chips, I knew I'd have to try the chips. I've made my own salsa before, and it's fine, but until my own tomatoes are ready for "salsifying," I can wait patiently.

But I couldn't wait to try to make chips. Crispy, crunchy, salty chips. Mmmm....

Sorry, I got lost for a second there.

I apologize, but I didn't take pictures of the process, but if you click the link above, the Amazing!Paleo chick does a great job of showing the process.


Thankfully, we'd recently purchased a mandolin to make even slicing of the sweet potatoes easy. I am not a precision slicer.

I followed Amazing!Paleo's directions to the letter, and was mostly happy with the results, except my chips did not all get crunchy. I waited for them to cool down, like the directions said, but several stayed limp, especially on the middle of the bigger chips.

So tip #1: I learned is that the skinnier the potato, the better off you are going to be for the crispiness factor. The wider the potato, the longer it's going to be to make them crunchy. Or you're just going to have to deal with limp chips. No Bueno.

Tip #2: The recipe on the blog says 10 minutes, give or take, on 375F.  The next time I try these, I'll do it longer at 325F. Lower and slower would DEFINITELY the way to go. I was in danger of incinerating my chips if I left them in longer than 12 minutes.

But I have to say, that despite the edges of a lot of the chips being burned, and the middles not being crunchy, the sweet potato chips tasted AWESOME. Seriously.

I will be making more of these. They will be a welcome addition of a treat to our Paleo Lifestyle.

Enjoy.

Junque Food: Cooking Hash Browns in your Waffle Iron

Cooking Hash Browns in your Waffle Iron

I love hash browns, but I prefer them crispy. If I’m honest, I prefer them crunchy. Heck, burn them if you have to. OK, maybe not totally burned.  But I’ve never been able to make them crunchy without burning them at home. One day, while surfing Pinterest, I came across a pin for making hash browns in a waffle iron to make them crispy. EUREKA! A light bulb literally popped on above my head.  I went on my merry way, and totally did NOT pin that hashbrown recipe to my food board on Pinterest. Because I’m special that way. *nods*

Cut to last Sunday, I was looking for something to different to make for breakfast, and the light bulb popped on again. I ran to my computer, looked at my foodie pin board, and was devastated to find that I hadn’t saved that link. Oh well, off to Google I go!

  

I found this recipe:  Food Daddy's Loaded Hash Brown Waffles

Loaded? I am totally in!

So, me being me, I had to modify this guy’s recipe to get it to work for me. First, I didn’t have meat (he calls for diced ham, but bacon would be wonderful – neither of which I had on-hand, so we went meatless). His recipe appears to be for one waffle, I was cooking for 3 people, so measurements went out the window.  What I made was so yummy and filling, it was a meal unto itself. Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients

• 4-5 potatoes grated, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 minced onion
• 1 minced bell pepper, any color you like
• 3-4 eggs beaten (depends on the amount of potatoes, you want them well coated)
• ½ to ¾ cups flour
• Garlic powder
• Parsley flakes
• Optional: diced ham, bacon, or sausage would all be heavenly in this

Mix all ingredients well. Heat waffle iron on high to as hot as it’s going to get.

Spray waffle iron with non-stick spray. Spray it again. And then do it a third time (I’m serious about this).

Spoon mixture onto waffle iron starting in the middle and smoothing outwards towards the edges. Don’t go exactly to the edge, so you leave a little for overflow. Close lid.

Now, leave it alone! Do not touch it for at least 7 minutes, unless it smells like it’s burning. Then, you know, do what you gotta do.

I checked mine after 8 minutes, most cooked for 10-12 minutes. Like Food Daddy suggested, I left the lid up for a minute, then gently lifted the crunch hash brown goodness out and onto a plate.  My mother and husband were practically beating me about the head and ears to get their mitts on breakfast. Or Brunch. Or whatever you want to call it when we finally ate.  The house smelled FABULOUS.

I ate mine with ketchup and hot sauce. My mom put butter on hers. Hubby ate his plain. A friend said she’d have slathered it with salsa, if she’d been invited (LOL).

Regardless, it was soooo NOMmy. Definitely a keeper.  I hope you like it.

Today's Junque Food

This weekend has been a moderate for cooking. DaMan is off doing DaManly stuff, and I've been prepping lunches for the coming week. We are expecting rain and cold, so I am leaning towards the warmth - temperature and spiciness.

I'm currently roasting a mess of sweet potatoes to mash with butter and just a wee bit of brown sugar. It's a good meal for me at work, easy to heat, and stays with me. It also helps my sweet tooth, so I don't crave candy - the vending machine in the lunch room is just EVIL! And the GI of sweet potatoes means my blood sugar won't spike and drop during the day. I really, really hate that feeling.

I made a double batch of Curried Chicken Salad for us for lunches, too. This spicy mix is great for sandwiches. I like to put some in a container, and put it on the bread at mealtime, so that the bread doesn't get soggy, as it can with mayo-based salads. It's wicked simple to put together, too, just use your favorite tuna salad mixings, swap out canned chicken instead of tuna, then add a heaping teaspoon of Patak's Hot Red Curry Paste:

This stuff is amazing! Try it, you'll see!