My daughter got an assignment to bring a lunch to a trip to Ye Olde Schoolhouse. One of the conditions of the lunch was that it be carried in authentic containers from the 19th century, like a burlap sack or such. The other more pertinent condition was that all lunches had to be made from foods that were available back then. No juice boxes (which is OK since I never give my kids juice; it is liquid candy), no zip lock bags, no single-serving packs of snacks. Fine, I said. I’m going to bake a loaf of bread for a sandwich, make ginger bread cookies, and add a piece of fruit. But what about the crunch? I felt like I needed to have something to go crunch. Of all the problems of leading a carb-free or low carb life, having crunchy things is at the top of the list.
So I thought, “Sweet Potato Chips!” Clearly something they had back in the old days. I read a lot of food sites about the historical eating habits of 19th century Americans and I must tell you that it was all very upsetting. Stuff about mutton heads was enough for me to get back to what I had in my kitchen.
I finally found a recipe I liked— at the Minimalist Baker. Really, all the recipes said the same thing, but that was the best version of it that I found. There were a lot of recipes out there that advocated adding paprika, parsley, garlic, etc, but I think the sweet potato oil and salt, when crispy, is so good it doesn’t need anything else.
Ingredients:
- 1 Sweet Potato
- 2 Tbs Olive Oil
- Kosher Salt
Directions
As directed, I sliced the sweet potato as thin as I could, which is not to say papery-thin so it couldn’t be held up as a slice, but more like a thin radish slice (only bigger and a lot more orange). Make sure all slices are covered in oil and salted.
Lay on a baking sheet (I used foil) and bake for 2.5 hours at 250 degrees. Let sit for about 30 minutes. The longer it sits after baking the crispier they get. So don’t worry if they’re not all crispy when you take them out of the oven.
Master of Low Arts 