I interviewed BBC Radio Wales’ iconic gay radio presenter, Chris Needs, a week ago (for Real Port Talbot) and he has converted me. I can now
stand up and say, proudly: my name is Lynne Rees and I am an Actifryer.
Chris has a clutch of homes in different parts of the world
and is so attached to the Tefal Actifry he has one in each of them. I quizzed
him about the chips. C’mon, are they really that good? Are they as good as
deep-fried home-cooked chips? Can you make enough chips in one of those things?
Yes. Yes. And yes.
The secret to getting them crispy is to make sure all the
starch is rinsed from the raw chips and they’re completely dry when you put
them in.
I made 500gr of chips (about 2 decent sized, but not
enormous, jacket-type potatoes) and used 7.5 ml of olive oil. Definitely enough
for two people. Or one greedy one.
You can make up to a kilo adding a maximum of 14 ml of any
oil you like. Even as I pressed the ON button, and heard the appliance blow
into action and slowly start paddling the chips, I was imagining garlic and
herb oils, or chilli infused oil, sweet potatoes, chopped potatoes, skinny
fries.
It had a lot to live up to. And it delivered.
And listen to this. A 250 gr portion of these chips is about 230
calories. Your classic, deep-fried, home-made chips slap you, or your hips,
with about 475. But my uncontainable delight wasn’t about the calorie intake. It was
about the texture and the taste. Crisp, fluffy. Like the best, well-drained,
deep-fried chip you’ve ever tasted.
If you get fed-up of the chips (as if!) you can make potatoes:
Or if you get fed up with potatoes entirely you can try this:
Stir-fry? Definitely going to try that. It’d be like having
your own slave standing at the stove stirring your vegetables for you, but
without the struggle with your conscience and the worries about the minimum
hourly wage and compulsory health benefits.
Can there possibly be any writing prompts to be extracted
from today’s post? You bet. But have a chip before you start.
Hungry writing
prompts
- Write about being converted.
- Write a list of things you would say a loud ‘yes’ to.
- Write about rawness.
- Write about something, or someone, who delivers what they promised.
- Write about what pricks your conscience
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