Author: Dahl, Roald
Book: Danny the Champion of the World
Difficulty rating: Pride and Prejudice
Deliciousness rating: Exceeds Expectations

Part of Dad’s Roasted Pheasant Supper

“There are three things you must always have with roasted pheasant — breadsauce, potato chips, and boiled parsnips” (Dahl 158-160).

Did it measure up?

Lol. I mean, these chips were good. Definitely. How can deep-fried potatoes be bad, right? But is it worth the trouble of making your own chips? Absolutely not. Get the lard and tallow because fat makes everything taste better, but a bag of frozen fries turns out just as well — if not better — than cutting up your own potatoes and going through this everlasting rinsing + refrigeration + frying rigmarole!

1. Peel the potatoes.
2. Cut into strips of your choosing. We like flat, wide ones, like steak fries.
3. Put them in a pot with 2 tbs of salt and 2 tbs of white vinegar.
4. Parboil for 10 minutes-ish, until just tender enough to poke with a knife (not falling apart).
5. Rinse them in cold water to get the starch off (which will keep them from browning too quickly.)
6. Lay them out to drain and dry on baking sheets lined with paper towels for 5 minutes.
7. Heat your fat to 360 F. Add the chips and maintain the temp to about 340-350 F. Don’t overcrowd the pan. Cook for about five minutes until they’re cooked through but not browned. (Note: beef tallow smells kind of terrible, like barn.) Use your judgment about when to take them out — some have ends that turn browner.You don’t want them to over-brown. (We cooked them for about 4 minutes.)
8. Lay them out on the paper-towel-lined baking sheets, and put them in the fridge until cold.

   

9. Heat the fat to 400 F and refry the potatoes till golden-brown. Put the salt on them right when they come out, “while they’re still vulnerable,” as Emeril says.
   

Dahl, Roald. Danny the Champion of the World. Illus. Jill Bennet. New York: Puffin Books, 1975.