I've come up with an alternative method, which I believe is significantly healthier, no less tasty, and quick too!
Scrub the potatoes well, but don't peel them. Cut them into 1cm slices but don't cut the slices into chips yet! Swill them in cold water to remove excess starch, then cover in boiling water in a saucepan.
Bring back to the boil and season the water with salt -- and, optionally, a few drops of Tabasco. Boil them until a sharp knife goes in easily -- usually between 7 and 9 minutes. Meanwhile, bring your chipper up to its maximum temperature, around 190-195 degrees.
Now arrange the slices (skin uppermost) on absorbent paper, cut them into chips with a sharp knife and put into the chipper until they've crisped and browned satisfactorily. That's it!
This has two important health advantages -- firstly, very little of the oil is absorbed because there is no cooking in lower-temperature oil, and the crisping stage is very quick because the chips are already still good and hot when they hit the chipper. Secondly, because you can salt them during the par-boiling stage, you don't need to sprinkle salt on afterwards, and less salt is actually required.
wild duckDon't do them often but.... buttuming it's plucked, wipe it out with a damp cloth. Broadly speaking there are two methods I've used - roasting and braising. Mallard can be...
The method is also efficient if you need to batch-fry larger quanbreasties.
I'd be very interested in your comments and criticisms of this! The reason for cooking in slices rather than chips is, of course, to prevent them breaking up in (or on the way out of) the saucepan.
Matti
