Tag: chips

Simple Side Dishes!

A side dish is as important as the main dish.

Simple Sides add on to the value and taste of the star of the meal, that is, the mains. Without them, the mains might have lost a considerable amount of their zing.

Be it mashed potatoes, baked beans, dinner rolls, couscous, rice, bread, macaroni and cheese, salads, baked potatoes, French fries or soups – all are delicious sides and compliment wholeheartedly their respective main courses.

In a restaurant, the side is usually included with the combination meal, as for example when you order the Chicken Zinger Meal in KFC, you are served French Fries (the side) along with your Chicken Zinger Burger (the main).

While ordering a sumptuous Sizzler at, say, Peter Cat, the simple sautéed vegetables serve as your side dish.

Here are Eight Simple Sides for you:

(Enjoy!)

Garlic Bread Toasts

Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 12

Great side with: Broad bean bruschetta

Ingredients: 2 ciabatta loaves, 140g butter (softened), 4-6 garlic cloves (crushed), handful parsley (chopped), 2 tbsp finely grated parmesan

Directions: Slice the bread in half lengthwise. Toast the crust side for 2 minutes until really crispy. Mix together butter, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Spread over the cut bread halves. Sprinkle over the Parmesan. Just before serving place on a baking sheet, then cook under a hot grill for 5 minutes until toasty and lightly golden. Let it cool for 1 min before cutting into thick slices.

Cracked Potato Salad

Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Great side with: Bbq

Ingredients: 750g small new potatoes, 4 tbsp white wine, 2 tbsp olive oil, a small sliced red onion, 3 tbsp roughly chopped parsley

Directions: Boil the new potatoes for 15-20 minutes then drain and return to the pan. Lightly bash each potato with a masher or fork so they are cracked but still whole. Return to the heat and pour in the white wine. Boil fiercely for 2-3 minutes until most of the wine has evaporated. Stir in the olive oil, small thinly sliced red onion and roughly chopped parsley. Season and toss together.

Sweet Potato Chips

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Great side with: Homemade burgers

Ingredients: 4 sweet potatoes (scrubbed and cut into large chips), 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, freshly grated nutmeg

Directions: Heat oven to 200C.In a large bowl, toss the sweet potato chips with oil and soy sauce. Transfer to a shallow roasting tin and season with black pepper and nutmeg, if you like. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until crisp.

Pea Mash and Mint Vinaigrette

Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Great side with: Fish

Ingredients:

4 spring onions, knob of butter, 1 head Little Gem lettuce (leaves shredded), 250g frozen peas, large bunch of mint, ½ glass white wine, 5-6 tbsp double cream

For the dressing- 3 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar, 100ml light olive oil

Directions: Shred the spring onions and soften in a pan with the butter. Add the lettuce leaves, peas, half the mint, white wine and a little salt and pepper. Cover and cook gently for 10 minutes.Stir in the cream, then purée until smooth. Return to a pan to keep warm.Finely chop remaining mint leaves. Add vinegar, then whisk in the oil in a steady trickle. Season.Cook the fish to your liking and serve on the pea mash with a trickle of mint vinaigrette.

Wild Rice Salad

Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 5

Great side with: Spicy Stews

Ingredients: 250g pouch microwavable wild rice, 1 red onion (thinly sliced), small handful of sultanas, 3 carrots (grated), zest and juice 1 lemon, 1 tbsp honey

Directions: Heat rice according to the pack instructions. Put onion and sultanas in a bowl and pour on boiling water to cover. Leave to stand 1 min, then drain and stir in rice and carrot.Mix in the lemon zest and juice, honey and seasoning, and then serve.

Sweet and Sour Kale with Garlic and Anchovy

Time: 10minutes

Serves: 4

Great side with: Roasted Lamb

Ingredients:400g kale (shredded), 4 tbsp olive oil, 4 garlic cloves (sliced), 2 anchovies (chopped), 1 tsp golden caster sugar, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions: Cook the kale in a large pan of boiling water for about 4 minutes until just tender. Drain, then place the empty pan back on the heat with the oil. Sizzle the garlic and anchovy, and then add the sugar and vinegar and bubble for a moment. Toss the kale back into the pan to reheat, and then tip everything into a side dish.

Roast Tomatoes with Pesto

Time: 20

Serves: 4

Great side with: Lemon Rubbed Salmon

Ingredients: 6 large ripe tomatoes, 50g fresh basil, 25g toasted pine nuts, 2 garlic cloves, 100ml olive oil, 25g freshly grated parmesan

Directions: Heat oven to 190 C. Halve the tomatoes and arrange them in a single layer, cut side up in a roasting tin.To make the pesto: put the basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and whizz to a paste. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the parmesan, then season to taste. Spoon about 2 tsp pesto over each tomato, and then roast for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender. Serve with grilled lamb and a crisp green salad.

Wilted Chicory with Melted Taleggio Cheese

Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

Great side with: Pork Sausages

Ingredients: 2 heads white chicory, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 small shallot (chopped), 100g taleggio cheese, pinch of dried oregano

Directions: Preheat the grill to high. Trim the chicory and cut lengthways into quarters. Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan over a moderate heat and soften the shallot for 2 minutes. Add the chicory quarters, cut side down, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn them over, cover the pan and cook for another 3 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.Slice the cheese, arrange the pieces over the chicory and sprinkle the oregano on top. Slide under the hot grill for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbling. Serve immediately.

July 7, 2014
Potato chips
A potato chip is nothing but thin slices of potatoes which are dried in the sun and then fried in hot oil to become nice, crispy and a ready to eat snack. For health conscious people these slices of potatoes are baked rather than fried in oil. Earlier potato chips were available in only one flavour that was salted but with time, changes occurred both in production technologies and taste of the consumer. Today different flavours of chips are available from classic salted to tangy tomato to cream and onion etc. Potato chips are a food item which is consumed by both children and adults and has a market which covers almost the entire world. In the west, chips became a common snack both in households and in the food market. Studies states that in 2005 total revenues gained from the sale of potato chips alone accounted to almost US$16.49 billion.

There is a popular tale which talks about the birth of potato chips into this world. According to the tale it was on August 24 1853 in Saratoga Springs New York where an event took place. The credit for the introduction of this food item is given to George Crum who was a half black half Native American who was a cook by profession and worked in his own lake side restaurant called the Moonlake house. A customer had entered the restaurant but was not happy with the dishes in the menu card. So in order to appease the unhappy customer, Crum decide to try something new. He cut the potatoes into very thin slices and then fried them till they became nice and crispy. He then seasoned them with salt and gave it to the customer. The customer was very happy with the new dish and that’s how potato chips were introduced. The name given to these chips by the locals was Saratoga chips which remained till the mid 20^th century. In 1973 St. Regis Paper Company which is responsible for the packaging of these chips revealed that the story was true and that Crum was a cook who by 1850 owned his own restaurant and the customer who had come that day was Cornelius Vanderbilt who was a local. With years going by chips became so famous that it began to spread in the neighboring regions as well. It was no longer a dish listed in the menu cards but had come out of restaurants to become products of mass production for home consumption. The Dalton which is an Ohio based chips producing company is considered to be the oldest in the United States, established in 1910. Chips soon became popular and in demand among the masses. Many industries which produced chips allowed their workers to take back home a small quantity of the produce. This was done both as a publicity stunt and secondly it helped to ensure employee satisfaction. Chips were sold in markets in tin cans earlier but the problem with this system was that the chips lying in the base used to become stale and crumbled. Later specially designed colorful plastic bags were introduced which were filled with nitrogen gas before sealing the ends which not only helped in increasing its shelf life but also helped the chips to remains nice and crispy and in shape avoiding crumbling.

Back in India, other than the potato chips we also have the banana chip which is a very important component of the south Indian cuisine. The basic technique of preparation remains the same where ripe bananas are sliced into thin pieces, dried in the sun and then fried in oil. These chips can be sugar or jagery coated or can be spicy or salted depending upon the taste preference of the consumers. Usually prepared in the Indian state of Kerala, these can be used either as a snack or with proper meals.

The best part about these chips, may it be potato or banana, is that they can be prepared at home and the technique for both the types is almost the same. In order to prepare potato chips at home the directions are given below.

Directions:
- First slice the potatoes finely.
- Place the slices in cold water which is salted and boil it. When the chips have boiled well, drain the water and transfer the contents into another bowl.
- Now add oil to the chips and mix well. After this add spices and any other extra ingredient like herbs, cheese etc and finally add salt. Remember whatever you add mix well so that every single chip is covered evenly.
- Spread the chips on the baking platter and put them in a hot 200c oven and let them bake for about 20mins.
- Shake or stir in between thought not compulsory.
- Keep a check on the chips in order to avoid overcooking. The chips when done look light brown in colour and are crispy and crunchy when eaten.
- After 20mins take out the chips and they are ready to be served.
Homemade potato chips can be enjoyed along with different items like eggs, meat or a cheese dip and can be also eaten on their own.

Since potato chips come under the category of fried food, they pose serious health concerns for the public. A recent study reveals that potato chips are the biggest contributors to weight gain and the high starch content in potatoes chips is the main reason behind tooth decay. Other related health issues are high blood pressure caused by the high sodium content which is found in the salt used during the preparation of these chips.

However due to all such concerns many companies invested in research and development in order to produce chips which provide the same or more level of satisfaction but the pose less risk than before.
June 13, 2014

Tag: chips

Simple Side Dishes!

Potato chips