Food & Drink

Crispy Potato Skins

January 4, 2014

Crispy Fried Potato SkinsA recipe for crispy potato skins isn’t one you’d traditionally expect to find in a blog in January when we’re all thinking about regaining our pre-Christmas figures, but it’s one that will firmly remind our family of this particular New Year holiday with my parents.

Potato skin peelerWe don’t own very many gadgets, but as a woman who suffers from almost debilitating arthritis, my mother has several and this electric potato peeler was our daughter’s favourite.

Grandmother and daughter made the bowl of thin crisps simply by adding the metre long peelings into a saucepan of hot oil for a few seconds, draining them on kitchen paper and sprinkling them with rock salt. I’d love to try them oven baked too for a healthier version.

The crispy potato skins tasted as good as any packet of crisps without the additives and preservatives usually associated with them. Organic or blight free potatoes would be the best choice of spuds to cook to make sure there’s no residue pesticides on them, but whatever your choice, ensure the potatoes have been scrubbed before cooking. Maggie from the Food Born & Bred blog wrote a helpful post about cooking oils here if you’re wondering which one is the best to use.

If you prefer your crisps ready-made but chemically free, Aoife Cox from The Daily Spud wrote a very informative post about the Spuds.ie project and Kaethe Burt-O’Dea’s plan to dominate Ireland with her Sarpo Axona crisps which you can read about here.

 

12 Comments

  • Reply Eadaoin January 4, 2014 at 9:51 am

    That is a *very* fancy gadget! I had no idea you could get a potato peeler, it must help your Mum a lot preparing meals 🙂 I love the look of these thin crispy skins!

    • Reply greensideupveg January 4, 2014 at 11:25 am

      It was a great way of getting the kids to help prepare dinner 😀 we tried them oven baked without the fat last night and they were even crispier, yum!

  • Reply Naomi Lavelle January 4, 2014 at 12:01 pm

    Looks yum, gotta try it and to me it’s still Xmas til after little Christmas ;0) … It may not seem like such a good idea though when I start peeling without the fancy gadget ;0)

    • Reply greensideupveg January 4, 2014 at 12:09 pm

      Well if you do make them the ‘long way’ let me know how they work out as I’ve returned home to an ‘old fashioned’ peeler too!

      • Reply Naomi Lavelle January 4, 2014 at 2:10 pm

        Tried them Dee, thought I might be able to recreate your thin strips with a little lemon jester thing I have, tried to use the bigger “one long strip” thing but didn’t greatly work so I gave up and just cut skin off in thicker strips with me regular peeling knife, not bad as a first attempt, four out of five family members liked them!

        • Reply greensideupveg January 4, 2014 at 9:50 pm

          Oh cool! Will definitely try them out too now but like you, it will be with the ‘ole peeler 🙂

  • Reply Ena Ronayne January 4, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    Been treating to make my own oven made crisps again this Winter but it hasn’t happened yet. Love your mums new gadget wouldn’t mind one of ’em Easy to get in Ireland I wonder? Mind you you wouldn’t want to have a huge family to cater for as would think machine might blow up! Gr8 posts. Going off to read your shared post about oil now.

    • Reply greensideupveg January 4, 2014 at 1:35 pm

      I linked the online shop my parents bought theirs from in the UK. Amazon sell them but over £30. There must be a supplier somewhere in Ireland, if you find one let me know!

  • Reply Ena Ronayne January 4, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    oops threatening even….

  • Reply unahalpin January 4, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    They look lovely Dee and sound really tasty. Love the links to the posts about oils and lard too.

    • Reply greensideupveg January 4, 2014 at 9:49 pm

      Thanks Una, whether we can recreate them now were home without the gadget is another matter though will have a go giving as Naomi has 😉

  • Reply 47 Potato Recipes That Will Knock Your Socks Off - A Mother Thing March 27, 2014 at 10:39 pm

    […] Crispy Potato Skins by Green Side Up  […]

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