Use any pototoes, other than floury varieties as they will disintigrate. Leave the skins on or peel if you prefer. Wash and then dry on kitchen paper or tea towel. Heat up some flavourless oil like sunflower or grapeseed until it's hot, but not hot enough to fry. Cook the potatoes in it, so that they are cooked through, but not browned. You can cook all of them, as at this stage it doesn't matter if they are crowded. Remove from pan. They can now be left until later if you wish. When ready to serve, heat up the oil until it is hot enough to fry the chips. Return chips to pan, but as they shouldn't now be crowded you may need to do this in two or three batches. Fry until they reach whatever shade you're fond of - this only takes a few minutes. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Serve in the usual way.
It may seem odd, but this way of cooking ensures that the chips actually contain less fat, as the second frying forces it out of the potatoes. The outside is also more crispy.
I made some on 7th June 2006 and used large unpeeled new potatoes. A little salt and some lemon juice sprinkled on them, and they were absolutely yummy.
Avrilo http://www.blog.co.uk/user/avrilo/ has informed me of a refinement that has come her way via FatalAttraction http://www.blog.co.uk/user/fatalattraction/ - add a clove of garlic to the oil. Apparently Fatal discovered this culinary delight by accident, when a clove of garlic fell into the chip pan. I haven't tried it myself yet, but it sounds tasty. I think I would only keep the garlic in for the first frying though as it might get burnt when the oil is very hot and thus impart a bitter flavour to the oil. Avrilo saves the oil for another time, which is a good idea, although I never use oil more than twice as it's supposed to be unhealthy.
