I fancied a bit of an easy meal tonight and opted for Steak and Chips. I eat steak about once every four or five months, and I really, really enjoy it. It’s that craving for steak and fresh fish that keeps me from making the leap to vegetarianism. I know I just posted about roast chicken, but honestly I could take or leave chicken, no problem.
Nope, it’s the fault of fish and my three-times-a-year steak that leaves me living with a terrible sense of guilt when I see a little lamb or say, a big sweet looking cow. Ah well…
So, I decided to make home-made chips and although the end result tasted delicious, they were a bit of a FAIL in regards of consistency. Maybe you lot could help me out in where I went wrong.
I also made a nice horseradish creme fraiche sauce to go with it. We had a nice bottle of red and it all went down swimmingly.
What you need for Homemade Chips (with Steak and Horseradish Creme!)
Some nice steak (I got two Tesco’s Finest sirloin steaks for under €10)
1 good big potato per head for the chips (I ended up using three coz we like our chips andwe’ve decided we’re going on a diet next month so now we have to eat as MUCH AS POSSIBLE)
A good few garlic cloves, skins on
A load of rosemary sprigs
For the Horseradish Creme Fraiche Sauce
1 tbsp of horseradish sauce
3 tbsp of creme fraiche (if you like it more horseradishy just put in 2 tbsp)
A bunch of chives, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
First things first, I gave the potatoes a good scrub. I got those pinky ones (I think they’re called roosters?) and I cut out any real black bits from the skin. Then I chopped them into thick chip type wedges.
I popped them all into a big baking dish and smothered them with olive oil. Then I put a good spattering of sea salt over them, cracked some black pepper on the top and sprinkled with the whole garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs. I put them in the oven at around 180 degrees C, anticipating that they might take around 30 minutes.
I made the creme fraiche horseradish sauce in literally 3 minutes. I mixed together the horseradish sauce and creme fraiche, then squeezed in the lemon juice and added the chopped chives.
I had a look at my chips at this point, about 15 minutes into cooking time. They were coming along very nicely, except that they were not staying in chip form. The majority of them, when I shook the dish around to stop them sticking to the bottom, kind of fell apart into mash and soft wee potato bits. They were basically like chip-shaped roast potatoes!
So I set the table…
…and I popped the chips in for another 10 minutes or so, hoping for the best, and cooked my steak (which I’d seasoned with salt and pepper and patted a few rosemary sprigs into) on the griddle pan in the meantime.
And we had a very enjoyable meal indeed.
The good chips!
Now, as I said, the end result of the chips was still very tasty but…maybe I should have fried them all in a pan before roasting them and that would have helped them keep their shape? Or maybe I should have just fried them all the way? I don’t know, I’d like to find a happy medium as, even though I’m fully aware that I’m making chips, I’d prefer if there was less frying in the picture!! Anyway, any tips would be much appreciated.
While a lot of the chips kept their shape, the dregs of the chips were just skinny roast potatoes. Still tasted yum if I do say so myself!
MP3/Video
While I was cooking, we were listening to the debut album from Patrick Kelleher, a young Irish artist who featured on our nialler9 podcasts in late 2008. The album is called You Look Cold (yeah, he’s definitely Irish) and it is certainly a wonderful thing. His vocals are truly haunting and the whole album is like spending the night in an attic with a friendly (but nonetheless strange) ghost. It’s quite throw-back to the 80s at certain points, but not in a bad way. The album will be released in Ireland on the Osaka label on 1st of June. Keep an ear and an eye out for any gigs near you. Here’s the video for Coat To Wear. Beautiful song.
Categories: Dinner
May 21, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Aoife-they probably stuck to the fan because the oil was cold on them going in. You could try heating the oil up good and hot first and giving them a good sizzly swoosh in it before putting them in the oven. That way the oil won’t seep through them and they will not stick to the edges so easily.
Also a nice way to do these sort of chips is to parboil them a little and let it steam off before frying. This will lead to a more floury centre and crunchy edges- the essence of a good chip.
May 21, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Hmm. There are two things you could change re: chipapalooza.
1. Defs give them about an hour in the roasting tin if you’re going from scratch. Or par-boil them, then half an hour.
2. Or, or, make like my mum and Gran, and deep-fry dem suckas. xA
May 21, 2009 at 9:41 pm
What Darragh said re the chipses… Golden Wonder spuds work pretty well either, I find, they’re less floury and more waxy so good for this kind of thing. Bet they were still gorgeous though with the garlic & rosemary!
May 21, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I think you have to par-boil the potatoes first, then chop ‘em up, then cover in olive oil and oven bake them at bout 200 degrees.
May 21, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Hey Darragh – nice one, I just sort of went with the instinct this eveinng, to see what would come out. But definitely, the parboiling will be the way forward I think! Although I love oily, crispy chips I would like to have a healthiER way of making them at home!
Hi Bluebird – lol, deep fry all the way!
Hi Catherine and Adam – yeah, I think the parboiling is the way to go. I figured I might have left out a crucial step. But yeah, the rosemary and garlic and the BUCKETS of sea salt that I sprinkled over the top left us with delicious potatoes in the shape of chips!
Thanks for the advice y’all, I’ll let you know how it goes next time
May 22, 2009 at 7:22 am
I agree with Adam, except I would chip them first, blanch/par-boil briefly, then pop them in to a preheated oven at 200C. Do not disturb for at least 25 minutes, then give them an aul’ rustle and put them back for a bit.
The best bits will always stick to the bottom.
Oh, if having with chicken or salad coat the chips with sesame seeds for a bit of a twist.
Love the place mats!
May 22, 2009 at 2:36 pm
meat 4 ever.
have six chickens in the backyard, my sister wont let me eat any of them
fat, juicy chickens…
May 25, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Hey Cov – you can’t eat the chickens! Thems are the chickens for laying amazing eggs, remember??
May 26, 2009 at 11:46 am
If you want to make sure the chips are totally covered in oil, just chop them up and put them into a clear sandwich bag, and a few teaspoons of olive oil. Then sort of move/smoosh the potatoes about until they’re all covered in oil!
I tend to chop them into cubes and do this, as they cook faster and are more crispy. Add loads of rosemary and thyme and NOM NOM NOM!
If you want to have less calories/fat (although olive oil is good fat of course but it’s easy to use too much), you can use just one teaspoon of oil (it really spreads) or spray with those 1 Cal sprays (they have emulsifiers and stuff in em but do cook well).
That way you’ve oil on all the potatoes so they don’t tend to cook more in one place than others.
Oh my god I am so hungry now!!
May 26, 2009 at 12:36 pm
my what pretty plates you have
May 26, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I love chips like that.. but deffo with the par-boiling, or the hot hot oven!
Lokos delicious as always though… making me hungry right now!¬
May 26, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Hi Aoife – lots of great tips there, thanks!
Hi Lola-Lu – why, thank you! I got them in one of the charity shops on Capel Street, the best in the city in my opinion!
Hey RPs – will definitely be parboiling them the next time
June 4, 2009 at 1:16 am
on parboiling – i have found that steaming the wedges rather than parboiling may lead to more favourable results. I think parboiling is more suitable for roast potatoes, but if you’re leaving the skin on i feel steaming is the way to go. its too easy to over parboil, and while you might get away with this with a roastie, a chip would probably be less forgiving.
a 7 or 8 minute steam should do it, leave to cool a bit (so you can handle them), toss in the roasting tin, season with salt, pepper, paprika, chili flakes, or whatever takes your fancy, pour in 1.5-2 tbsp of oil (i prefer sunflower for this, not a strong a flavour, and less likely to burn) and rotate each chip in oil making sure each surface is oiled, leaving skin side down.
bang in the oven at the highest heat and leave in for 30 – 40 minutes, r whenever they look golden and crispy.
they even tasted good cold the day after for lunch.
June 4, 2009 at 10:48 am
Hi Cash – great tips there! Thanks a mill…and like the paprika and chilli flakes addition. Yum!