Chip Queen

My year of exploring is going really well so far, especially in the kitchen. A present I received from DH2U for the holidays has become my new favorite snack maker.

Considering how likely I am to spill blood in the kitchen, I must admit I was quite scared of my new mandolin at first. That has ebbed a bit, but I will NEVER use it without the safety, and I will always have deep respect for the sharpness of the blade(s).

What I’ve been making are the most fabulous, delicious chips. Not the fried variety or even baked. The mandolin has dramatically increased the amount of usage my dehydrator is seeing. So far I’ve made beet chips, apple chips, and most recently zucchini chips.

For the savory chips, I add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a seasoning. For beets, I chose garlic salt. For zucchinis, I was so pleased with how salt and basil tasted.

With the apples, all I did was sprinkle a cinnamon/allspice/nutmeg mixture over the top of them.

Because all the water has been removed, all the chips are crunchy and have an intense flavor.

The biggest learning curve with recipe development was figuring out how thick the chips should be. A lot is dependent on the density of the starting product – beets can be sliced thinner than zucchini and still hold their integrity.

Here are the zucchini chips before dehydrating:

And after:

The disassembly to clean and the reassembly to put away really hurt my brain. I love jigsaw puzzles, but three-dimensional puzzles are not a strength of mine. Although I’ve gotten a little faster at putting it back together, there is still at least a moderate amount of cursing each time.

Has anyone else gotten into the veggie chip wagon? Or Three-D Puzzles: Fun or pure torture?