Yesterday we were in need of something a little fun to cheer us up since we had to put on our winter jackets again to go for a walk. Last week we had a heatwave and now we are cold again.
I just felt like having a big old bag of chips and eating the whole thing like I used to. I felt like having something fried and dipped. I have been pretty good most of the time. I try to limit oil and deep fried food. Sometimes I have oil free days and ideally it would be good if I had the will to avoid oil completely. I try to at least avoid ever eating something from a deep fryer with the exception of the restaurants that we went to in Asia this winter. I couldn't pass up some of the awesome vegan foods that we found.
When I worked in restaurants I had to clean the fryers and this made me realize that the food being cooked in there is absolute toxic waste and people are eating it. It was also being used over and over. Even the new oil is toxic. It's toxic just coming from the factory. Once it's heated it becomes even worse. Than the food that goes into it becomes a sponge that soaks it up and we eat it. We would never dream of dipping a spoon into the oil and eat it but our food becomes the spoon.
When I cleaned those fryers there was sediment that was burned over and over. It was always a kick in the pants when I saw it and next time I grabbed a french fry I changed my mind.
Yesterday I made tofu and chips. I did use oil but only brushed on. First the potatoes were sliced with a knife as thin as possible. I no longer have a mandolin or a good chef knife so I use the best knife in this house which is a steak knife. The only chef knife is from the dollar store and it's dull and worse.
Since they were cut more like home fries, and the only part of the oven that works is the upper element for broiling, I decided to blanched them in boiling water for about three or four minutes.
They were still firm when I drained them but they were hot all the way through. I didn't bother cooling them off, so they could continue softening out of the water. They stayed firm enough.
I put them in a big bowl and put just a tiny bit of olive oil and tossed them in it along with salt and pepper. Then I spread them on a baking tray and put them under the grill watching closely that they didn't burn. When they were golden on one side I took them out and flipped them.
The tofu was very simply done. I often marinate tofu but this time I made some dipping sauces so I kept the tofu plain.
All I did was take firm tofu and cut it into piece then toss it all in cornstarch. You could use regular flour but I was keeping it gluten free.
I just added salt and pepper than in a non stick pan I browned them. I used only enough oil to coat the pan. I brushed the pan with the oil to keep from pouring in too much and to make sure it was spread all over.
I made two dips.
Blend ingredients together except for olive oil. After blending those ingredients slowly add olive oil to it emulsify.
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While the chips were in the oven, I put the tofu that was done, on a tray and in the oven as well to keep warm.
The chips were the perfect alternative to the chips in a bag. They were in between home fries and regular chips in a bag. I realize as I write this that some countries call french fries chips.
It wouldn't have been right if I didn't have a salad with it.