Triple Cooked Chips
 

How can you have a fat steak without chips? Well I struggle to, so here is my recipe carefully cultivated over many years and many potatoes. It really is worth the slight extra hassle…

Step 1 - Prepare the spuds

  • Peel the potatoes and cut into chips around 2 cm cross section
    Top tip: I get the best results with Maris Piper potatoes which are widely available. Red potatoes can work well but don’t get as crispy

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Step 2 - Cook them once

  • Put the chips into a large pan of boiling salted water - there should be plenty of space
    Top tip: I sometimes add a tablespoon of glucose and a teaspoon or bicarbonate of soda to the water to help mimic the chemistry of the spud itself - this can enhance the potato flavour

  • Take them off the heat just as the first of the chips is starting to fall apart and drain in a colander

  • The aim now is to cool the chips down completely so starch begins to crystallise on the surface (a white powdery coating). This helps generate a crispy coating

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  • I have been known to be over the top cooling mine…

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Step 3 - Cook them twice

  • Heat your deep fat fryer to 130C

  • Fry the cooled chips until they look dry and haven’t taken on too much colour (approx 10 min)

  • Again leave the chips to cool down

  • Top tip: at this stage you can put the chips in a sealed bag in the freezer until you need them, carrying out step 3 straight from the freezer. An effortless way to impress people with no apparent effort. For this reason I always do an extra batch for the freezer!

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Step 4 - Cook them thrice

  • Heat the deep fat fryer to 190C and return the chips to the hot oil

  • The chips will quickly brown and crisp up. Remove when to your liking (approx 4 min)

  • Serve immediately with plenty of salt and quite probably a steak

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 Ingredients

  • Good, large potatoes - roughly one per serving

  • Vegetable oil for the deep fat fryer

 

I trained as a chemist, and now I don't work in a laboratory anymore, I apply that knowledge to my cooking. I do love my gadgets, experimenting and using an understanding of the principles of chemistry to make the very best food. I seem to cook more and more as a hobby now I don't wear a lab coat, and still dream of retiring to run a small restaurant somewhere quiet.

My confidence really came when I taught myself to cook Italian and found I was pretty good at making pasta. I was married to a vegetarian then and it was the one cuisine where I didn't miss meat. I'm big on meat usually and passionate about great ingredients and doing things from scratch yourself. I did a butchery course last year and intend to learn all the skills needed to butcher and make use of a whole pig nose to tail.

Eating out is also a passion, and I particularly like to go for things I don't think I could do at home easily or better! Mind you, I do love a pie.