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Get your chops around some chips

With all that sinful salt and forbidden fat, chips are the ultimate guilty pleasure. Celebrity chef Ed Baines shows us how chips, cooked the right way, needn't be number one on the dieter's hit list

• Chocolate chips
• Mediterranean skin on chips
• Classic chips with spicy salsa rosso

Chocolate chips

Unusual food combinations are all the rage at the moment, so much so that chefs like Heston Blumenthal are dedicating an entire restaurant's menu to quirky recipes such as bacon and egg ice-cream. The quirkiest of combinations can make for a surprisingly tasty meal. So cast your inhibitions aside and try this recipe for chips with dipping chocolate.

Serves four

• 1 kg of Maris Piper potatoes

For the sauce:

• 4 oz bitter chocolate
• 2 oz butter
• 1 unwaxed lemon
• ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
• Pinch of salt

To make the chips:

1. Peel potatoes and cut into slinky chips
2. Bring a large pan of water to a gentle boil
3. Add ½ teaspoon salt and cook potatoes for 3 minutes
4. Strain and pour onto a tray and allow to cool to room temperature
5. Preheat chip pan to 180C and fry chips for 2 minutes until crisp
6. Lift and shake off excess oil and serve with sauce

To make the sauce:

1. Mix butter with the zest and juice of the lemon, salt and chilli
2. Gently melt chocolate by placing it in a bowl over a pan of hot water
3. Remove melted chocolate from the pan, add butter mixture and fold in
4. Drizzle over hot, slinky chips

Mediterranean skin on chips

Everyone loves a hearty bowl of wedges, and this recipe doesn't use much oil so you needn't feel too guilty scoffing them all up. Cumin and coriander add a nice and spicy bite to this recipe. Try serving as an accompaniment to fish.

Serves four

• 1 kilo Maris Piper potatoes (even-sized)
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 pinch celery salt

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Cut each potato into 8 wedges, leaving the skin on, and blanch in boiling water for 4 minutes
3. Drain through a colander and allow to cool
4. Put the spices into a large bowl, add the potatoes and toss in the spices to coat evenly
5. Add the oil and coat the potatoes evenly
6. Place on an oven tray and cook for 50 minutes
7. Serve hot from the oven

Tip: If you are short of time you can skip the blanching stage

Classic chips with spicy salsa rosso

Add a bit of a kick to your chips with this hot recipe. A delicious dish to share, or great as an accompaniment to lamb.

Serves four

• 1 kilo Maris Piper potatoes
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil

For the salsa rosso:

• 5 red peppers
• 1 red chilli
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 anchovy fillets (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

To make the chips:

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Scrub the potatoes and cut into thick, chunky chips
3. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and coat in the sunflower oil
4. Place in the oven for 45 minutes, turning at least once

To make the salsa rosso:

1. Peel and de-seed peppers and chilli and place on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and salt then roast for 10 minutes
2. Remove from the oven, turn peppers over and add finely chopped tomatoes and garlic, sprinkle with sugar and cover with the finely chopped anchovies
3. Place back in oven for a further 10 minutes. Remove and place peppers, chilli and juices in a bowl and cover with cling film to steam for 5 minutes
4. Combine all the ingredients; add vinegar and juices from the roasting tray. Stir well, season and pour over your chips

Recipes provided by www.lovechips.co.uk

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