Root Vegetable Chips with a Soup -- Des chips de légumes-racines avec une soupe

Curried Green Asparagus Soup
Curried Green Asparagus Soup
"J'ai fait des chips," I told my mum on the phone. She went silent, and then I heard her laugh. I laughed too. "Des chips ? Ah ben, t'es franchement drôle !" (You are really funny!) I knew we were both thinking about the same thing. We were thinking about my dad and his chips de pomme de terre -- homemade potato chips -- those very ones that made him look incroyable in my brother's and my eyes when we were kids. Let me start by saying that my dad is not much of a cook. In fact, he really rarely cooks at all. But when I think about the few times when he cooked a dish for us, I remember his potato chips which he would make every single time my mum was away on training for her work. He was proud of his potato chips and for good reasons: they were perfect with a yellow color that shone like sparkling gold, and they tasted incredibly crispy. We would have them for dinner accompanied with a green salad and slices of jambon blanc -- boiled ham -- purchased at the village's butcher. My dad's cooking was simple and rustic, and we loved it this way. In fact, we craved his chips so much that every time my mum informed us of an upcoming training, both my brother and I rejoiced. For us, it meant homemade potato chips. I don't know what made me think about this but I woke up this morning with the irresistible desire to make root vegetable chips. With a fridge filled with many types of vegetables purchased yesterday -- including lovely parsley root, looking like parsnip but quite different in taste -- I decided that I was going to make chips too.
Parsley Root
Parsley Root
Now, you might find the whole deep frying project messy, and hard, but it really isn't. Not only making chips is easy, but it requires next to nothing -- and this is coming from someone who does not do it often. You need a pot deep enough to fry (of course, a deep fryer is always good to have, but not necessary), frying oil, and a good Chef's knife (or a mandoline, or a turning vegetable slicer). The rest is just fun, especially the eating part as you go along. Impossible to resist nibbling on chips while you are making them. I chose root vegetables like carrot, beet, potato and parsley root -- one vegetable of each per person, but other great options would be parsnip, sweet or blue potatoes as well. Then, I preferred to use my turning vegetable slicer to slice the vegetables as thinly as possible -- and have extra crispiness -- and only five minutes later, I had beautiful root vegetable chips. With a bowl of curried green asparagus soup quickly improvised the night before, a mâche salad and dressed-up hard-boiled eggs (which I will tell you about soon, hint hint...Easter is on the way), lunch was quite memorable, really. Almost as sweet as the memory of my dad's homemade potato chips.
Root Vegetable Chips
Root Vegetable Chips
Curried Green Asparagus Soup
(For 4 people)
Ingredients:
  • 12.5 oz green asparagus
  • 1 zucchini (5.5 oz), diced
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground yellow curry
  • 4 parsley stems
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • Chervil
  • 2 cups homemade vegetable broth
  • Salt and pepper
  • Heavy cream (or coconut milk)
Steps:
  • Wash the asparagus and cut the tips. Slice the stems into small sticks.
  • Cook the tips in salted boiling water for 1 min, then rinse them under cold water; set aside.
  • In a large pot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and add the shallot and curry powder. Cook for 1 min without browning, then add the asparagus sticks and the zucchini, and cook for 2 to 3 min.
  • Then add the broth with the parsley, and bring to a gentle boil. Cover and cook the soup for 10 min. Season with salt and pepper, and mix the soup with a blender.
  • Serve the soup with chervil, cream and the asparagus tips.
Root Vegetable Chips
(For 2 people)
Ingredients:
  • 2 small red beets (or 1 large), peeled and sliced finely
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced finely
  • 2 small potatos, peeled and sliced finely
  • 2 root parsleys, peeled and sliced finely
  • Salt
  • Canola oil*
* Once you have used the oil once, store it -- once cooled -- in a bottle for future uses. Steps:
  • In a pot, pour sufficient canola oil to deep fry your vegetables (not too full as the oil will rise during cooking). Bring the oil to a temperature of 325 F.
  • Pat the vegetables dry and fry them in small batches, each vegetable at a time (the cooking time varies from one vegetable to another.)
  • Cook for about 2 to 3 min, or until the vegetables are golden in color, and crisps. Drain them on paper towels to remove the excess of oil.
  • Serve the chips with salt if you like. Homemade crisps cannot be beaten in taste: they are the best.
Le coin français
Curried Green Asparagus Soup
(Pour 4 personnes)
Ingrédients:
  • 350 g d'asperges vertes
  • 1 courgette (150 g)
  • 1 échalote, hachée
  • 1 càc de poudre de curry jaune
  • Quelques brins de persil plat
  • 1 càs d'huile d'olive
  • Cerfeuil
  • 500 ml de bouillon de légumes maison
  • Sel et poivre
  • Crème liquide (ou lait de coco)
Étapes :
  • Lavez les asperges et coupez les pointes. Coupez le reste en petits bâtonnets.
  • Faites blanchir les pointes pendant 1 min dans un grand volume d'eau bouillante salée et rinsez-les sous l'eau froide. Mettez-les de côté.
  • Dans une cocotte, faites chauffer 1 càs d'huile d'olive et faites suer l'échalote avec le curry pendant 1 min, sans brunir. Ajoutez ensuite le courgette et les bâtonnets d'asperges et poursuivez la cuisson pendant 2 à 3 min.
  • Versez alors le bouillon et ajoutez le persil; amenez à petite ébulition. Couvrez et laissez mijoter pendant 10 minutes. Salez et poivrez et mixez la soupe.
  • Servez la soupe avec le cerfeuil, la crème et les pointes d'asperges.
Chips de légumes-racines
(Pour 2 personnes)
Ingrédients:
  • 2 petites betteraves rouges (ou 1 grosse), pelées et coupées en tranches fines
  • 2 carottes, pelées et coupées en tranches fines
  • 2 petites pommes de terre, pelées et coupées en tranches fines
  • 2 racines de persil tubéreux, pelées et coupées en tranches fines
  • Sel
  • Huile de colza*
    • * Une fois que vous avez utilisé l'huile, stockez-la dans une bouteille pour d'autres fois -- une fois refroidie.
Étapes :
  • Dans une casserole à bord haut, versez suffisamment d'huile pour faire frire vos légumes. N'en mettez pas de trop non plus car le niveau monte en cours de cuisson. Faites chauffer l'huile à 160 C.
  • Séchez bien tous les légumes sur du papier absorbant et cuisez vos chips par étape et en petite quantité, chaque légume après l'autre car le temps de cuisson varie d'un légume à l'autre.
  • Faites frire les chips pendant 2 à 3 min de chaque côté, ou jusqu'à ce que les légumes soient dorés et croustillants en texture. Mettez-les sur du papier absorbant pour enlever l'excédent d'huile.
  • Servez avec du sel si vous le souhaitez. Les chips maison sont franchement les meilleures. Imbattables.

28 Comments

  • Miss Diane ·

    Un beau petit repas plein de couleurs et de vitamines!

  • Skrockodile (Sabra) ·

    love the saturated colors - beautiful, especially the first image

  • katy ·

    i've never fried anything at home, but i do oven-baked potato chips all the time! i've often wondered whether people reuse their frying oil, so thanks for clearing that up!

  • MyKitchhenInHalfCups ·

    A lovely dad story Béa and I so agree with you on the home made chips. I did them once years ago and goodness how incredible. But all I did were potatoes. Now I'll be dreaming of carrots and parsnips and parsley root!!

  • Susan from Food Blogga ·

    That's a lovely presentation, bea. I feel as if I'm going to sit down at an elegant French restaurant.

  • Peter G ·

    I love the recipe for the curried gren asparagus soup. Very different.

  • Anticiplate ·

    I love root veggie chips! I have never had or seen a parsley root but they look very similar to parsnips. I will have to find one so I can taste it, though.

  • shawn cornell ·

    i love everyone's reaction to homemade chips. i use sweet potato and have never tried with parsley root, but obviously that will be on the menu soon. as always, thanks for the inspiration.

  • Julie O'Hara ·

    I am jealous of your parsley roots...they're very New England-y. I want some! They chips are beautiful, but I like the soup recipe just as much.

  • Kitt ·

    Delectable! However, I would eat them all in about 5 minutes.

  • Liska ·

    I can't stop reading your blog :) It's so beautiful that always when I come here I cannot find proper words to say: it's amazing. Thank you for the inspiration :)

  • valérie-jeanne ·

    I like the new angle you used in your photos. From above? They tell a lovely story themselves. My husband loves potatoes, he could live on them. He likes to slice them into thin matchstick slices on our mandoline and then fry them in olive oil. With a sprinkling of sea salt, delicious!

  • Anali ·

    The root vegetable chips are a great idea! Maybe I have found a way that I can enjoy beets! :D

  • Aran ·

    oh... homemade chips... how wonderful! I haven't made them in a long time. I tend to bake them just to avoid the deep frying but you have inspired me to stop being lazy and do it. beautiful photos once again!

  • Rosa ·

    Those veggie chips look very tempting! Paired with this wonderful soup, it can only be delicious! Cheers, Rosa

  • YOYO Cooking ·

    yummy!

  • Christina ·

    Hmm ... your pictures look different this time. I like them -- a lot. Straight forward. Bolder, perhaps. Very nice.

  • suzy ·

    When I saw the little cakes tied up with raffia on the front page of the Globe's food section, I immediately recognized them as yours! Your food as a signature look. cheers.

  • andreea ·

    i have to venture out and try vegetable chips as well. they sound wonderfully delicious. and they look great. almost calorie free :)

  • MariannaF ·

    I really enjoyed reading your story about your Dad's chips, and all this accompanied with delicious recipes and gorgeous photos! Lovely!

  • chocolat ·

    I have lot of carrots in my fridge , I'm going to fry them ! What about fennel ? May I fry it too ? Chocolat of Cookinginrome

  • Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) ·

    I do love buying Terra Chips, as much for the color as anything, but your curlicues of vegetables are so much more interesting! And asparagus soup is one of my favorites; I made tons of it when the asparagus are in season, and freeze the base to use throughout the summer.

  • Suzana ·

    Asparagus soup with a hint of curry sounds great to me!

  • Sha ·

    Me voilà après avoir passé un moment à parler "gastronomy" en anglais, je poursuis ici en lecture, et je me régale !

  • Vegeyum ·

    Your photos are so good, so delicious. The chips sound wonderful.

  • jennie ·

    I've made beet, potato and parsnip chips all in the MICROWAVE for a much healthier but still very tasty snack. Here's the method, if you're curious: http://straightfromthefarm.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/parsnip-chips/

  • Sam ·

    This Vegetable Soup looks Spectacular! www.recipebuddys.com

  • Fred Bloggs ·

    Beware of reheating oil to often as it converts with heat to the unhealthy sort of fat...I remember hearing somewhere. The more often re-heated the greater the proportion bad stuff. Thanx for the method tho...