Home-baked Chips

So for my new start I thought I'd start with an old simple recipe. In fact this the oldest recipe in my internet life and was the basis of my very first post. 

I thought I would bring it back as both a good luck charm and a reminder that there is nothing better than really good chips.  

Home-baked chips:

1. Cut two-three large potatoes into sticks about 1/2cm thick and boil for 3-4 minutes. 
2. Drain the water off the potatoes and add a knob of butter, cajun spice mix (mine was shop bought, not made this time), salt and pepper to the pan with the potatoes and toss till well coated. 
3. Pop them out onto an oven tray and bake on 190C for approx 25 minutes or until golden brown (tossing every 10 minutes). 
4. When they are done sprinkle liberally with salt and serve.

Guacamole:

1. Put in a bowl: a large avocado, half teaspoon of chilli flakes, a (small) tablespoon of lemon juice, a generous pinch of ground cumin and a pinch of salt. (Adjust depending on your tastes.)
2. Mush with a fork to a consistency you like, I like mine quite chunky, and serve. 

This should all serve two people with generous helpings of chips. (p.s. fried eggs go really well with this and make it a bit more of a 'meal' as apparently I'm strange for considering a bowl of chips  dinner.)

Now, if any of you have read my old post, you may notice the difference in the guacamole recipe. I can only put this down to three more guacamole making years of experience. The recipe has become more avocado centric with the key being to get a perfectly ripe avocado. This can be quite tricky but I have picked up a couple of tricks along the way which I will happily share with you(assuming you don't know these already). 

Firstly, if you squeeze the avocado gently there should be a bit of give. Secondly, once you have found one that feels right pull out that tiny little stalk looking bit out of the top - it will give you a colour guide as to ripeness: 

• Completely green - not ripe enough
• Green going brown - ripe (good for slicing and salads) 
• Light brown - very ripe (good for guacamole)
• Brown/furry - Over ripe

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

xxx