#carrots

Catch the carrot!

(viaTeisTom)

For once, I’m going to tell you not to make this unless you really, really want to. Actually, unless you really really want to and own a mandolin. I spent a considerable amount of time sitting in front of my laptop twirling three ginormous carrots in my hand, contemplating whether or not I should make this. You see the thing is, I have this compulsion to do things that should not be done with food (need I remind you of the feta frosting? That’s what I thought). This recipe was meant for potatoes, thinly sliced by mandolins and painted with butter before stacked on top of another with a delicate herb sandwiched in between. I have potatoes in the fridge, yes I do, but I wanted to see if it would work just as well with carrots.

Never mind that I really don’t have time for this, never mind that I don’t have all the necessary tools (parchment paper? pfft, haven’t seen that in this kitchen in almost a month), never mind that it could’ve ended up in disaster with me eating limp carrot chips for the remainder of the week while crying over revision books. Suck it, I thought. Studying always gives me the munchies and unfortunately, despite how much I wanted to I can’t just dive head first, mouth-open at that bag of yogurt & herb salt flavored chips, just sitting there enticing me with its evils. Those salt and MSG man, they mess with your brain (a bit hypocritical coming from a self-proclaimed instant noodle enthusiast, I know. I KNOW) and I need all the brain cells I can get to get through this period of solemnity (read: hell) a.k.a USMLE prep. That in itself was worth the risk so I marched into the kitchen and armed myself with a vegetable peeler, a piece of aluminum foil and the promises of failure. 

Only it wasn’t. It actually worked, against all odds. It did leave me very slightly tired but the end results? It was magnificent. Crisp, lemony and sweet. Slightly chewy in the middle parts. Was it worth the work? Probably not. But as I always say at the end of my culinary experiments - at least now I know it can be done.

LAMINATED CARROT CHIPS (recipe slightly adapted from the ever fabulous, ever angry, Mandy Lee):

[ 3 large carrots + 3 tablespoons butter, melted + 1 tablespoon olive oil +  salt & black pepper + dried thyme, in my case, or any fresh delicate herbs you like]

Disclaimer:I’m going to write this as if I own a mandolin; it’ll be easier for all of us and will save me the trouble of telling the part of the story where I accidentally shaved a piece of skin off my left index knuckle with the vegetable peeler. Oh. Oops.

I’m also not going to write how I used aluminum foil instead of parchment paper, for the sake of not being a bad influence (dear, oh dear).

Preheat the oven on 300ºF/150ºC. Take two baking sheets of the same size and preheat it in the oven as well.

Fill a shallow pan with a big pinch of salt and water, stir to let the salt dissolve. Peel the carrots and cut across in half. Cut each of the halves in half again, lengthwise. Use a mandolin and attach the carrots to the hand guard (safety first), cut side facing the mandolin blade. Cut the carrots to long, paper thin slices.

Keep the slices in the correct order/sequence so they’ll match in shape/size later. Every time you finish shaving a small stack, carefully move the stack into the salt-water pan to submerge.  Repeat until the whole carrot is shaved. 

Melt the unsalted butter in a small pot over medium-high heat until very slightly browned. Take it off from the heat and combine with the olive oil.  Set aside. Wash whatever herbs you’re using and dry thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel. I used some dried wild thyme here which has a very nice lemony-scent to it. Set aside.  Keep another clean, dry kitchen towel by the carrot-slices for easy drying.

Lay a piece of parchment paper that’s the size of the baking-sheet you’re using on the counter, and brush very lightly with the melted butter. Starting with the very first stack of carrot-slices, lay one slice flat on the kitchen towel and gently press the other side of the towel on top to dab it dry. Then lay the slice on top of the parchment paper, and place 1 small leaf of whatever herbs you’re using in the center.  Dab/dry another potato-slice and place it right on top of the other (they should match in shape/size).  Use your finger to gently push out as much air-pockets in between the slices as you can. Brush the top very lightly with melted butter. Repeat with the rest of the slices and leave about 1″ (2.5 cm) of space in between each.

Lay another piece of same-sized parchment paper on top and press gently to eliminate air. Place the entire thing on the preheated baking-sheet.  Press the other baking-sheet on top to keep it flat. Bake in the oven for 15 ~ 20  min, checking every 10 minutes or so, until the chips are golden browned.  If the chips aren't browned yet, remove the top sheet and bake for another 5 min.

Enjoy!

07.06.2020

Last four days of school lunch. Today was a very fatty pork dish with Hawaiian salad (aka, cucumbers and pineapple). Then there was beans and hijiki. Finally, white rice.

06.29.2020

I’m overjoyed with this meal. Kibinago, silver-striped round herring, is one of my favourite lunches. It’s one of the things where I had never expected I’d like whole fish. But it’s so good.

Then an egg soup, cucumber salad and rice.

06.28.2020

Pretty nice lunch overall. A slice of melon for dessert. A pumpkin and bacon soup with fried rice. Finally there was a wilted cabbage salad.