The Mick Jagger Of Snacks.

Lord, have mercy.  Ever since discovering this phenomenal salad, John and I have since learned that we have a little problem.  A bacon problem.  As in, I'm coming home from class needing a snack and tossing bacon into the frying pan.  It is a real problem, because bacon is not a snack food.  I repeat:  bacon is not a snack food.  Or a refreshment.  Or a suit.

On the drive back from our Labor Day retreat in the mountains, John looked over at me with a soft look in his eye and said, "Annie, I think we need to stop buying bacon."  All I could do was stare at my shoes and nod.  He was right.  We were abusing bacon privileges.

The obvious thing to do at this point was purchase a vegetable instead.  And as fall is creeping upon us, I decided to get into the spirit and buy some sweet potatoes.  Sounds innocent enough, doesn't it?  A big orange vegetable?  With this rationalization at hand, the sweet potato chip has now entered into our repertoire of delicious, unapologetically bad snacks.  For some reason, my subconscious was unwilling to yield to hacking up these potatoes, frying them in canola oil until crispy and then tossing them all in their greasy glory with crumbled blue cheese.  

 

I can't tell you how good these are.  Honest, I can't.  Because there are no words to describe their deliciousness. I can, however, tell you how bad they are.  Readers, they are baaad.  And yet, I declare, you will make them and love them anyway because they are good/bad.  Perhaps the Mick Jagger of snacks?   The Bill Clinton of Presidential chips?  A little sleazy, a little greasy, yet lovable?   Anyway, careful not to fall in love and get your heart broken.  Also be careful not to wear anything resembling a sweet potato suit.  These chips have some kind of crazy-making potential.  You've been warned.

Mick's Sweet Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Crumbles

-1 medium sweet potato (good for 2 people) sliced lengthwise (can be performed with a mandolin, we use a swissmar peeler)
-blue cheese crumbles
-canola oil, as needed
-(*if you're feeling fancy, you can also top with chives)

In a medium sized bottom heavy saucepan, heat 1/2 a cup of canola oil on high heat until slightly smoking.  Add sliced potatoes and cook until the edges begin to curl slightly.  Using tongs, pull out potato and dry on paper towels, they will crisp as they cool. When the batch of potatoes is cooked, add to a bowl and toss with blue cheese crumbles and/or chopped fresh chives.  Enjoy!