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One Sweet Potato …
March 26, 2007 |
two hungry chefs.
One wants crisps, the other wants chips. The vegetable gets cut in half, and the Iron Chef battle begins. 30 minutes in Kitchen Stadium. Each one prepares a dish, and takes a picture. Whose cuisine reigns supreme?
J takes his half of the spud, brings out the mandoline and starts slicing it super thin.
The problem - the sweet potato is too hard for the mandoline. He’s getting chipped rounds. Bee tries to hide her glee and scorn. J pretends not to notice, and heads towards the microwave. He nukes it for 30 seconds. Problem solved. The outer layer is just a wee bit softer, and the mandoline and sweet potato are friends again.
B meanwhile chops her half of the sweet potato into thick little sticks. She fills a pot of water and as she approaches the stove, realises that Kitchen Stadium has a logistical problem, which J has successfully exploited. The microwave is above the stove. J’s blocked access to the stove, claiming he needs to use the microwave.
B puts the water to heat in the electric kettle, and goes to check her e-mail. She comes back after a while and asks J to let her use the stove. “No,” he says. “I have to watch them all the while. I have to be here.”
B pours herself a glass of wine and helps herself to the crisps in batches.
J’s been nuking them on high for 2 minutes, turns them over, another two minutes on high, then he monitors them every 20 seconds. Each batch takes between 5 and 5-1/2 minutes.
He takes them out the second they start turning dark, and lets them rest for five minutes to crisp up further in the residual heat.
J finally salvages the last batch of crisps before B gets to them, and goes to the dining room to take pictures.
B preheats the oven to 475F. She takes the boiling water from the kettle, transfers it to a pot, and cooks the chips for 4 minutes. She then puts them on a tea towel to drain.
By now, J’s photo shoot is over.
B goes over to the next room, and helps him finish the rest of the crisps. They are splendid unadorned, without salt or anything else. Mildly sweet, crunchy, golden goodness.
Now, there’s no competition, because there are none left for a taste comparison. Mission accomplished.
B drizzles 2 tablespoons of oil on a baking sheet, adds some salt, cayenne, cumin and coriander powder, tosses the chips around, and lets them bake on one side for 15 minutes, then the other side for 12 minutes.
She takes a picture.
A drizzle of lime juice, another glass of wine, and it was time to take a nap.
Sweet Potato: Nutritional Profile.
chips, crisps, fries, low-fat, Sweet Potato, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes
I prefer jai’s version. Sorry Bee.
Well this would never happen in my home, I’ll always be the one to cook, and he to eat! :)) It’s hard to decided whether I like the chips more or the crisps!
those who don’t cook in our home get to do the dishes, and clean up. - b.
I love your spicy version. And you are a clever girl Bee
it takes a genius to recognise another, meeta. - bee
tough choice to make; both look yummy, but to add to the confusion, I think I’d prefer bee’s spices on j’s crisps and I’d take those two glasses of wine with that please…
“Now, there’s no competition, because there are none left for a taste comparison. Mission accomplished”.
Bee, you rock :)).
Jai, you have to give some rishwat to the audience here, some more chips plz :)).
That must have been one mighty big sweet potato!
Two great recipes. I’ve tried fat-free potato chips like that - unbelievable!
J is the clever one here;) gr8 tip here. crisps look super cool and so does chips. but picture wise crisp is the winner:)
u r not less of a murderer bee…u chop them using razor sharp knief and boil them in sizzling hot water and bake them? he he he… i have been walking dreadfully with that guilt plastered on my face… now no more;)
I LOOOVVVEE the photo of piled up Chips.Very nice.
Isn’t that nice to have a hubby who cooks,eh? Mine is great Doctor and that’s where it ends unfortunately!!;P
isn’t it nice to have a wife who cooks? she’s smart, good-looking, and very talented. Plus, she’s very modest.
- bee
Tx all.
musical ==> stop by
sig ==> need a bit of oil to make the spices stick well. dont know how that will work in the microwave. will try that sometime.
anita ==> u r right. 1.5 pounds at least. this guy was long, almost like a snake gourd - ideal for even diameter crisps.
sia ==> potato doesnt seem to have this problem though.
–Jai
Bee & Jai
I put on my broadcasting hat and commentated this entire post to my best friend and she laughed so much. We both enjoyed your Iron Chef battle.
I think that I would enjoy both versions - the crunch of the crisps and the soft interior of the chips. As Sig said, I would have liked to have Bee’s spices on Jai crisps.
In terms of photographs, Jai wins. Sorry Bee
Wow, don’t they look awesome…I think I prefer Bee’s chips, but Dinesh(who else but hubby dear) would definitely lap up all those crisps of Jai’s in no time at all…
yeah, I’d need that wine too after all that in the kitchen….I like your chips with all the spices Bee. Very nice with some salsa I bet.
You guys are too much wonly..
I am sorry, Bee, but the Challenger has won the Iron Chef here this time.
How did u manage that building block pic of chips? Good one!
frito lays paid us to teach them. you’ll have to pay as well. - bee
And hey, I vote for ur dish
“frito lays paid us to teach them. you’ll have to pay as well. - bee”
The currency of turnip and taro crips will do, bee ?
:))
yeah, send them.
Bee wins! Bee wins! There is no way she can not win. If there are suggestions that the crisps needed spice - then you *know* it has to be Bee! Besides, see how effortlessly she made her yummy, spicy chips. Totally relaxed. I am sure she didn’t have as much of a clean-up to do either.
Dunno what all this Jai-Jai business is. In the garden, yes! In the sweet potato department, it’s Bee.
I must admit that the crisps and the chips thing led me to believe that we were in for something similar to how chips in the US are crisps in Europe. And what chips are in Britain are fries here. But this was even more fun.
You go, Bee!
…heading over to the garden department now to praise Jai…
Bee and Jai, I prefer Jai’s version. From the replies looks like Bee lost the battle;-).
I would sip wine and enjoy you guys battling it out. So when is the next iron chef battle? :D:D
Who wrote the post
moi. - b.
its realy nice to have a husband who cooks and its fun when two people make the food together.mine is a director and he does the same at the table too.he.he..
i luv the chips and the crisps..but for me it should be little bit on the spicy side..anyways,thanks for the recipe and keep on cooking!!
Having cooked sweet potatoes both of these ways, I have to come down on the side of Bee’s chips. But both are fine uses of a sweet potato.
I loved both versions - chips and crisps..
Hats off to Jai’s tactics to keep u away, Bee:)
Bee,
One entertaing yummy post,not only you are a good cook you make an excellent story teller.you go girl
also thanks for your comments on my blog
Sreelu
http://sreelus.blogspot.com
Musical: Who wrote the post
Bee: moi. - b.
Do we need any more debates on who’s the winner :))
Hugs bee, your writing style rocks
Sorry Jai, rihwat didn’t help
[...] photographed these sweet potato crisps on a white [...]
Dear Jai.
It is very interesting to read your post, husband and wife sharing one sweet potato and the kitchen to make two different delicacies .Both the pictures looked very tempting. But I tried ut Jai’s version of chips . I folloed the recipe step wise but my chips did not become crisps ,remained soft and if i kept little longer they got burnt. What should I do get the chips as crisp as yours ?
Vipul,
Sorry to hear that it didnt turn out the way they should. Microwaves are notoriously different based on brand, size, turntable etc…and I guess one needs to experiment a bit with them. However, one thing that will improve the result is if you are able to keep the slices on a plate with holes. The reason that get soft is because some moisture gets trapped on the underside of the chip. Try turning them every to often. for e.g. if you put it on for 2 minutes then turn every 30 seconds. also the microwave may have hotspots causing some chips to burn quickly. the tricky part is that the time between completely done and getting burnt is very short. so you have to watch like a hawk.
the other alternative is to lightly coat a baking tray and bake these at 425 to 450 F. time will vary on the thickness of your slice.
Jai
Jai,
In the latest comment you mentioned plate with holes - do we get anything like that which is microwave safe?
plastic steamer racks that you get in rice cookers.
[...] We do that with root veggies - potatoes, sweet potatoes, [...]
[...] Sweet Potato Crisps [...]