It is impossible to stop with eating just one. Potato chips are a very popular snack all over the world and I don’t think there will hardly be anybody who does not love eating them. With so many flavors, shapes and sizes, there’s a chip for everyone’s appetite.
The History
In 1853 in a diner in New York, it is said that a customer ordered fried potatoes with his meal but then sent the meal back, complaining that the fried potatoes were not crispy enough. The chef at the restaurant Mr. George Crum was furious with the complaint, so he sliced the potatoes paper thin, salted them heavily and then refried them. The chips were served as a menu item from that day on, and with their massive popularity, other restaurant owners were adding sliced potato chips on their menus.
However it was William Tappendon from Ohio who took the potato chip out of the restaurants and into the grocery stores. He turned his barn into the world’s first chip factory, selling potato chips to the local groceries. In the 1920s, saw the birth of three companies that played a major role in the potato chip industry as we know it today. The three companies were “Lay’s Brand Potato Chips” founded by Herman Lay, “Utz Quality Foods” founded by Bill and Sallie Utz, and “Wise Delicatessen Company” founded by Earl Wise, Sr.
Healthy Oven Baked Chips
There is only one problem with the normal potato chips we find in our local grocery store – calories! What if there was a way you can make your own potato chips at the comfort of your home, and they were healthier with a lot less calories, than your regular potato chips? Here you go…
The recipe
• Scrub your potatoes under warm running water to remove all dirt from the skin. You can peel the potatoes with a vegetable peeler or you can leave the peel on if you prefer skin-on style chips (I suggest you try both and see what you like).
• Slice the potatoes thinly using a knife or preferably a mandolin. Try slicing to paper thin size, having in mind that the thinner the slices, the less cooking they will need.
• Rinse the potato slices to remove any excess starch. This will reduce the overall number of calories in the chips.
• Drain the slices with paper towel as much as possible.
• Spray olive oil on your perforated baking pan creating a light coating. Place the potato slices in the baking pan but do not overlap.
• Mist the potato slices lightly with olive oil by sparing on both slides. You can use tongs or chopsticks to flip the slices around. (You might want to place aluminum foil underneath your perforated pan to stop the olive oil leaking in your oven).
• Slide the oiled chips into a 400 degree Fahrenheit (205 degree Celsius) preheated oven and let them bake for at least 5 minutes.
• Turn your pan around in the oven, but continue to bake for the next 3-5 minutes until they are all lightly browned or until you notice that the edges start to darken.
• When the chips are done, pull them out of the oven and season with coarse salt while they are still hot. You can additionally sprinkle a few of your favorite dried herbs and spices to customize your own baked potato chips.
Now all you have to do is enjoy your healthy potato chips!