NuJoi's Kitchen Diary: Blue Chip

Monday, March 3, 2008

Blue Chip

Morton's is one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. We tend head over after work at least once a week. They have $5 appetizers. Order three and you have a steakhouse meal for $15. One of my three is always the blue cheese fries.

Last week, we switched it up a little and went to a different spot, Sullivan's. When I saw the blue cheese potato chips on the menu, I was a little disappointed because I am not a fan of potato chips. Since I was familiar with the concept of fries and blue cheese, I decided to give these a shot. Oh my damn. Who knew??! These were excellent!! Creamy blue cheese (I'm still trying to figure out the creamy part.) The chips were thick-cut and some were just slightly soggy from the cheese. Oh man.

I had to see if I could recreate these at the house. Here's the attempt:

Get a baking potato. Scrub it well (I leave the skin on.) Slice using a mandoline. You can use a V-slicer or your knife if you like. I wanted thin, even slices. My knife skills aren't that good. I sliced mine thicker than wafer-thin Lay's, but still relatively thin.

I put the sliced potato to ice water. I let it hang out there for about 30 minutes. I pulled the potatoes from the ice water, rinsed them and patted them dry.

I let the canola oil heat to 325 in a cast iron skillet. I fried the rounds in batches. Each batch fried for two minutes. Drain on paper towels. The easiest way to do this is to use a strainer or a spider.

I know these look woefully underdone. Never fear -- we're going for round two!

After your last batch, crank up the heat and get the oil to 375. Fry again, in batches, until you have the desired crispness and color.

Here's the magic. As each batch comes out, drain the chips on paper towels and salt immediately. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with blue cheese. Repeat until all the chips are done. Try not to drool into the bowl as you layer. You can stash these in a warm oven, about 200 degrees, as you wait for the next batch.

These didn't make it to join their brothers. (I had to taste test my frying skills.)

Now that all are done, sprinkle your last cheese on top. The cheese on the first layer should have melted by now. Give the cheese on the top layer time to melt, or sit the dish in the oven for a moment. Wow.