Back when it was still summer and life was still good, I used my plancha for everything. At least tried to. I have to say it worked wonders to make chips. I never dared to make homemade chips, for fear my heart would not withstand the amount of oil involved, until the plancha got in the picture.
If you’re familiar with the concept of a plancha, you’ll know that it’s most commonly used to sear meat or fish without any addition of fat. So it’s sort of a miracle accessory. I myself only realized the full extent of its capacity this summer. Before then, I just thought the word “plancha” was cool, and I liked to use it in a sentence sometimes.
Now that I have my own, I can turn every formerly greasy and artery-clogging food into a healthy dish. You don’t traditionally use a plancha to “grill” chips, but I wanted to give it a try. Can there be such a thing as healthy chips? I will venture to say there can, and here is one occurrence.
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Chips a la plancha
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
- 3 potatoes
- 1/2 cup olive oil (more or less)
- salt
Directions:
1. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes with a mandoline or the slicer of your food processor. In the meantime, heat up the plancha.
2. When the plancha is hot, set it on medium-high heat. Pour half the olive oil on its surface, and spread it evenly with paper towel (be careful not to burn yourself.) Place the potato slices on the plancha, making sure they don’t overlap, and grill for 10 minutes. Flip the slices and grill for another few minutes, until they are golden-brown and crispy. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes, adding olive oil to the hot surface before each new batch. Season with salt before serving.
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My tips:
- Mine were so perfect as such that I didn’t feel the need to add salt.
- You can make them a few hours ahead and keep them in a bowl at room temperature.
- You can also use this technique to make carrot or beetroot chips.
Source: inspired by La cuisine à la plancha –Légumes, by Liliane Ota.
