DUCK FAT POTATO CHIPS

A kicky way to make this handcrafted treat . . . homemade potato chips | James Beard Awards | Where I'm going | What I'm watching | What I'm reading.

Photo Credit: Sara Christensen

A Look Back

All deep dives into the origins of potato chips seem to start at Moon’s Lake House, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. As the story goes, one day in 1853, the railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt was eating at Moon’s Lake House when he ordered his fried potatoes be returned to the kitchen because they weren’t thin enough. Furious with a fussy eater, the chef sliced some potatoes as slenderly as he could, fried them to a crisp, and sent them out to Vanderbilt. Rather than take the gesture as an insult, Vanderbilt was overjoyed. We’re grateful to Vanderbilt for the potato chip—and also for Vanderbilt University; for the Biltmore, America’s largest private home, in North Carolina; and for Anderson Cooper. Thus, “Saratoga Chips” were born, which earned the chef the moniker “The Edison of Grease” from American Heritage magazine. 

Fast forward to 1961, when Lay’s became the first national brand of potato chips, when the company enlisted Bert Lahr, famous for playing the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, as its first celebrity spokesman, who purred the devilish challenge, “Betcha can’t eat just one.” Well, they’re certainly not all Lay’s, but Americans eat almost seven pounds of chips per year.

Look southward to Peru where there are more than 4,000! varieties of potatoes. You would have to eat a different potato a day for more than a decade to try them all. In the 1600’s, potatoes were cultivated throughout Peru’s Sacred Valley. If the potato had stayed in Peru and never left when Spain colonized Peru, the potato would never have made it onto everyone’s plate everywhere—and became one of the world’s most important crops. At first, no one wanted to eat it. That changed when French pharmacist and agronomist Antoine-Augustin Parmentier championed the potato in 18th century Europe, when France thought the tuber caused leprosy and was unfit for humans.

In the event you’re feeling adventurous and want to head to your kitchen right this minute after warming up to this brief history of the potato, you might go hunting, for example, potato chip recipes on your own. The online recipe juggernaut Yummly has 3,574 to recipes 1,305,385—and after a lengthy interrogation by asking you to identify buses and boats to check whether or not you’re a fraud!—depending on the luck of your search.

Before moving on, here are are a few words of perspective about potatoes by one of the most famous of the world’s greats . . . .

Francis Mallmann Talks

This is an excerpt of an interview in Broken Palate, an online Substack newsletter, published May 10 with Mallmann, one of the most memorable among those profiled on the Netflix original series, Chef’s Table. He is famous in spite of his residence of choice is as remote as one can get on an island in a Patagonian lake. The interview was by Broken Palate writer Melissa McCart, the author of "Bread and How to Eat It," with Rick Easton of Bread and Salt, coming out next spring.

Broken Palate What products are you excited to cook with when you're home?

Francis Mallmann I think that what I most love are potatoes. They're the most elegant, versatile…

BP They're elegant?

FM They adapt to whatever you want. They can become a cream; they can become a French fry. You bake them in the oven cut like dominoes for two hours and they're crispy outside and wet inside. So they react to different techniques of cooking and they always surprise you, and they have this sort of balanced taste . . . I want to make a book about potatoes.

The Chip of My 1950’s Youth

Following that perspective . . . some history. I used to eat “crunchies” rocking out to "Lucille," "Earth Angel," "Jailhouse Rock," or the Everly Brothers’ "Bye Bye Love." Andy Warhol was popular but it would be years before he’d paint the Marilyn Monroe that just sold for a record $195 million. Way back then, Jell-O molds, meatloaf, and tuna casserole were all the rage. And in my small corner of the world in Rockford, Illinois, so were crunchies. I was in junior high when the company’s logo featured a “potato-man” wearing a top hat dancing in a circle with two children. That company, Mrs. Fisher’s Potato Chips, is still there today. Their crunchies were broken chips that fell under the conveyor belt while loading bags with normal chips. The paper bags were hopelessly grease soaked, the bags loaded with salty salty salty bits of chips. A friend and I would buy a bag after school most every day right across the street from school at a small shop. Crunchies were sold for 5 cents a bag. Following junior high my easy access to crunchies was cut off, but I’d buy other chips wherever I could. At one point growing up, I can remember telling someone that my purpose on earth was to eat salt! That notion was no doubt born of my crunchies days. And I’m nowhere close to being the only Rockfordite to ever become addicted to potato-man-with-two-children potato chips . . . .

Chips

The potatoes we make chips from in the U.S. are mostly Yukon Golds, sweet potatoes, russetts, Yellow Finn, Russian Red Banana fingerlings, purple Peruvian, purple majesty, all blue, Adirondack blue, purple fiesta, French vitelottes, red cranberry, Congo, or plane Jane russets. Sometimes chips are made from beets, kale, pita, tortilla, or nori—dried seaweed—which can be eaten straight as a snack or mixed with potato chips.

Deep Fat Fried . . .

Almost every homemade potato chip recipe calls for deep fat frying after peeling the potatoes. Then we’re instructed to slice them thinly with a mandolin or food processor with a slicing attachment or a knife, if you possess the skills to consistently makes slices of 1/16” to 1/8” thick. Next, usually, but not always, soak them in ice water to rid the slices of starch. Then separate the slices. They can be refrigerated up to two hours. Dry on a towel or paper towel. Season before frying. Fry till just the shade of brown is right for you. Drain on a sheet pan grate. And serve.

Olive oil is used by Alton Brown in his recipe. This Food Network recipe uses peanut oil. Other traditional fats that have nourished humans for thousands of years include lard from pastured pigs, tallow from grass-fed cattle, coconut, grapeseed, canola, and palm kernel oils. I haven’t tried any of these so-called “traditional fats.” And some recipes call for using vinegar in the cooking process to enhance flavor.

. . . or baked, broiled, microwaved, air fried

While deep frying reigns supreme, there are several other cooking methods: baked, broiled, microwaved, air fried one way, and air fried another way.

Salt

More choices to make. While I especially like Maldon salt, other options abound: Kosher, fine sea salt, flake sea salt, artisanal sea salt, black lava sea salt, pink Himalayan sea salt, and Fleur de sel.

Seasonings

And more choices. As for seasonings, I don’t use any. In researching homemade potato chips seasonings, I discovered: pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, paprika, smoked paprika, Old Bay, fresh or dried dill, rosemary, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, lemon zest, Za'atar, cheese powder, and BBQ rub. Have at ‘em to your heart’s content!

Butter Baked

Homemade potato chips don’t need any oil in comparison to their deep-fried counterparts. What’s more, I began using butter on a whim years ago, never having been spurred to do so by a recipe or food article. Was it was just inspiration or the resurrection of an old memory of crunchies? Anyway, here’s my recipe. After cutting my russets, soaking, and drying, I brush both sides with butter, then salt. I put the potato slices on a baking rack on a sheet pan to allow the heat to circulate below the potatoes I set the oven for 250 to 300 degrees F. I bake slowly and have to watch the potatoes closely so they crispy but don’t burn, perhaps up to 1/2 hour. This method takes patience and many, many, many trips to the oven to check on the doneness of the chips.

In this butter method from Simply Recipes, the process calls for placing the potato slices on a sheet pan directly that have been greased with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place potatoes on pans and brush with butter. Lower heat to 450 degrees F and bake from 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with salt.

Recipe: Duck Fat Baked

Now we come to duck fat. But why? All across the pages of cookbooks and internet recipe finders are duck fat recipes for other potato recipes. So, why not try it with potato chips? In my search of recipes for duck fat baked potato chips I only found one from 2014. Well, duck fat baked potato chips simply needed some attention.

Pure duck fat from Moulard ducks, according to D'Artagnan, a New York City supplier of premium meats, poultry and seafood, is described this way on its website: “With a silky mouthfeel, subtle flavor, and a high smoke point, duck fat is perfect for high-heat cooking . . . Chefs consider it the best animal fat for cooking, and it enhances the flavor of anything it touches, from poultry to potatoes, and meat to fresh vegetables.”

Should you be motivated to try rendering you own duck fat, here is guidance from The Spruce Eats.

That was certainly enough of an endorsement for me. I used duck fat from Grimaud Farms in Stockton, Calif.—since it was available at my fave grocery—to coat the potatoes. (Grimaud Farms is also a source for free-range geese, muscovy duck, and guinea fowl.) My approach calls for the use of a baking rack and a finishing salt, Maldon sea salt flakes with their irregular, pyramid shapes and clean, crunchy texture. Click on “Maldon sea salt” for more than you ever imagined or ever knew you wanted to know about it!

SERVINGS

2

TOTAL TIME

1 hour to 2+ hours (if you soak the potato slices for 2 hours)

INGREDIENTS

• Mise en place. (Luv that French phrase . . . meaning y’all get your stuff together in one spot before you start cooking!) 1 large russet potato, scrubbed, unpeeled, and sliced into 1/32- up to 1/16-inch-thick pieces on a mandolin, preferably, and lengthwise which will result in larger chips and less work. Sheet pan and baking rack. (Recipe can be increased simply by adding the above amounts of potatoes, duck fat, and salt. But this increases the number of sheet pans and baking racks you’ll need. Ovens generally only have three shelves. Plus, each batch can add up to two hours of time, i.e. soaking sliced chips if you choose that approach, which I do recommend.)

• 4 tablespoons of fresh room-temperature duck fat

• 2 teaspoons Maldon salt

STEPS

• gather large sheet pan, baking rack, mandolin, large bowl of ice water, and ingredients

• preheat oven to 450 degrees F

• slice potato lengthwise on mandolin for fewer chips and less work

• put slices in ice water immediately so they don’t turn brown, for up to 2 hours to rid them of as much starch as possible to keep them from burning

• dry slices on towel or paper towels on both sides

• spread duck fat on one side of each slice

• move the slices, duck fat side down, to the baking rack on top of the sheet pan

• spread duck fat on top side and sprinkle with salt

• place in the upper and middle third of the oven for 9 to 13 minutes or until chips are browned to your desire, watching closely after 9 minutes to make sure they don’t burn

• season the chips (if using additional seasonings) immediately after they come out of the oven so the moist ones can absorb maximum flavor

• when cool, place chips in a paper bag or an airtight container in a cool, dark place . . . refrigeration isn’t necessary to keep them for several days

James Beard Awards

If you simply must feed your appetite for 20th century culinary recollections—and a mighty delightful trip down memory lane, it is, I must say—check out David Leite’s rollicking good fun in his history of 100 years of American food in Leite’s Culinaria. In the 1970s, I interviewed James Beard and Craig Claiborne for an article about “America’s Changing Eating Habits” for the Green Giant Co. On January 23, 1985, James Beard died of heart failure at the age of 81. My recollection is that the Beard interview took place in his home. And the Claiborne interview took place at his office. I’ve purchased many of their cookbooks and followed both out of the corner of my eye since. Well, come June 13th, the Restaurant & Chef James Beard Awards ceremony will be held in New York City. These awards are among the crown jewels in the food business. At the very least, they point us to must-try dining experiences.

Where I’m Going: East Coast . . . West Coast

The Hearst Castle opened May 11th for the first time in two years. In 1919, William Randolph Hearst started to build the now fabulous estate on his ranchland overlooking the village of San Simeon, California. By 1947, the hilltop complex included a twin-towered main building, three sumptuous guesthouses, and 127 acres of terraced gardens, fountains, and pools. Looks to me like a must-go-to . . . .

Quite by coincidence, there’s an event in the city where The Biltmore estate is located, including the largest home in the U.S. The Asheville, N.C., Ideas Fest this year will feature luminous speakers such as John Mecham, American historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author, and Fareed Zakaria, global analyst and bestselling author. It will be held June 14-18.

What I’m Watching

The last, and seventh, season of Grace & Frankie started showing April 29. I just can’t get enough of all the geezer site gags and physical comedy and barbed language from its stars, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Their performances rock in G&F because their humor never beats around the bush in this TV series.

What I’m Reading

David Leite’s Notes on a Banana was published in 2017. And I’m reading it now. I’m seven years behind on Gracie & Frankie . . . five years behind on Bananas. Just wondering if I’m just behind, been left behind, or admirably catching up?

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