Sweet Potato Parmesan Chips

I have been addicted to these microwave sweet potato chips recently! Why? Because they taste great (obviously), AND they are sooo easy to make!  I’ve been keeping a peeled sweet potato in the refrigerator. When I want to have some fresh chips at lunch time, I just slice thin rounds with my mandolin, place on a parchment lined plate, season with parmesan and onion powder, and zap in the oven for three to four minutes.  How easy is that?

I was inspired by this recipe for sour cream chips.  I couldn’t find powdered buttermilk, so I just omitted it.  I also omitted the salt, which I found unnecessary.  I was dubious at first – -I have always made chips in the oven.  But invariably they would burn on the edges.  I thought microwaving these would produce soggy chips — and they did, the first time.  The trick is to slice them REALLY thin, and you need a mandolin to do this.

Now, I keep a peeled portion of sweet potato in the fridge, and whenever I want fresh chips, I just make them.  It’s so much easier than having to preheat an oven and attempting to bake them that way.  For some reason, the microwave ones may brown — watch closely at the end of cooking– but not much.  And it still tastes good — I actually prefer a bit of browning.  It is a very different flavor than the brown/black edges I would end up with baking traditionally.  Hope you try these! 🙂

Microwave Sweet Potato Parmesan Chips

1 sweet potato (I peel mine, but you don’t have to!)

1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese

Pinch or two of onion powder

Non-stick olive oil spray

1. Line a plate with parchment paper. Spray with non-stick spray.
2. Slice some thin rounds of sweet potato with a mandolin.
3. Arrange in one layer on parchment. Spray with non-stick spray.
4. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and onion powder.
5. Microwave on high for about four minutes checking to see if they are getting too brown at about three minutes.
6. Remove and eat! If you want to make a bigger batch and save in an air tight container for later, just repeat the process until you finish slicing the sweet potato.

Peanut Miso Kale Chips – A New Favorite!

A couple of years back, I did a post on these Kale Chips, but I’m here to tell you today that I’ve vastly improved them! These are the most delectable Kale Chips ever, and if they were sold in a bag, I’m sure they would fetch the usual $5.00 or so price tag for just a mere handful! The flavor is as wonderful as ever, but I discovered that using Tuscan Kale, removing every single hint of stem, and a new cooking method takes these chips to a higher level.

Tuscan Kale is the kind of kale with flat leaves, unlike their curly leafed cousin.

I trim each leaf with kitchen shears, and save the stems. I cut the stems into short pieces, or process in a food processor and steam for later usage.

Kale stems in steamer — steam for about 10-12 minutes depending on how chewy you like it.

I mix together the sauce ingredients in a bowl:

Then coat the kale leaves completely. It is OK if there is just a hint of the sauce on the leaves — it packs a flavorful punch and a little goes a long way!

Spread kale out in a single layer on lined baking sheets. Put in a preheated 375 F degree oven. Turn off oven and let sit for 30-60 minutes, checking after 20 minutes.

The chips are perfectly crisp with no brown edges!

If you want an even faster recipe, just make the kale chips without the sauce. Cooking time is 20 minutes. I like to spray with olive oil and season with kosher salt.

Look how thin it is!

These chips keep in an air tight container for about two days, and they stay crisp! I have also tried them with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast (parmesan would probably taste better, but if you want to go vegan…) and taco seasoning.

My favorite is the peanut miso flavor though! 🙂 Have a try and let me know what you think. Which do you like best?

Peanut Butter and Miso Glazed Kale Chips

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 teaspoon miso paste

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon mirin (or rice wine vinegar if you don’t have it)

2 teaspoons water

A large bunch of Tuscan Kale

non-stick spray

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment or foil. Spray foil with non-stick spray. Set aside.

2.  Wash kale leaves and pat dry. Then cut away each side of the stem per leaf, reserving leaf parts. Save stems for later use (I like to chop mine and steam them).

3.  In a large bowl whisk together peanut butter, miso paste, soy sauce, and mirin with a whisk. Add water and whisk until smooth. Throw in kale leaves and coat and massage with clean hands to get the sauce on all of the leaves. Spread leaves in a single layer on lined baking sheets. Spray with non-stick spray. You will have extra. You can save these to bake for another time. Turn off oven.

4.  Place baking sheets in oven and let sit for one hour. Halfway through baking, stir the leaves and turn over.

5.  When chips are crisp, transfer to a plate and let cool completely.

Plain Kale Chips

1 bunch Tuscan Kale

non-stick spray

kosher salt to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment or foil. Spray foil with non-stick spray. Set aside.

2.  Wash kale leaves and pat dry. Then cut away each side of the stem per leaf, reserving leaf parts. Save stems for later use (I like to chop mine and steam them).

3.  Spread leaves in a single layer on lined baking sheets. Spray with non-stick spray. You will have extra. You can save these to bake for another time. Season with kosher salt. Turn off oven.

4.  Place baking sheets in oven and let sit for 20 minutes, checking after 12 minutes.

5.  When chips are crisp, transfer to a plate and let cool completely.

Parsnip Chips

First off, thank you all for your support and voting for me in the Skillshare Valentine Challenge !  It turned out that my card and wrapping paper design was one of the two first place winners, which was decided in secret by the instructors, Faye Brown and Majo Bautista.  The voting was for 2nd and 3rd…but I had no idea beforehand where I stood!  So many friends voted for me–I’m pretty overwhelmed by the support and vote of confidence in me.  Thank you so much again!!!  To see the other winners and their designs, go here.

I’m immensely busy still, involved in many projects.  I’m working on my book dummy for a picture book and in the middle of creating artwork for a mini one.  I still have all my Skillshare classes (!) and I am participating in the Making Art That Sells Bootcamp.  This class was designed by Lilla Rogers Studio and Beth Kempton of Do What You Love.   It’s been an amazing experience.  For one, it’s so inspiring to see everyone else’s work — there are so many talented artists in the class — over 400!  Also, people are so generous and helpful with advice and support.  I’ve made a lot of new friends there and reconnected with old ones!  Our first assignment was to design a cell phone case that had to do with cuckoo clocks.  I can honestly say I had never drawn so many cuckoo clocks in my life!

One of many sketches

The clocks weren’t really calling to me, so I decided to focus on the cuckoo birds. Also because I can never seem to get away from food, I ended up with two designs having to do with eating and drinking. ha ha.  Which one do you like the best?

!st two are the same design with a different color treatment and placement of coffee and clock icons.  Click to enlarge.

I decided to go with the girl one because it had more of a response on the class forum, and because I had way more fun creating it!  I figured out a different way of working, and I’m really excited about that and plan to do my book illustrations this way.  It even got me to get off my tush and start building a place to sell some artwork once and for all.  I have been dragging my heels at the overwhelming thought of it.  I only have two things available at the moment (lol) but it will grow!  Check it out here: Society 6  I will also upload different sizes so the designs can be used on different things.  Stay tuned!

All of these extra activities are great in that I’m creating double the work I normally would and learning lots of new ways of working and thinking about art making!  But it curtails my ability to cook or bake anything that takes more than 30-40 minutes….  (An exception will be next week when I will bake a German Chocolate Cake for Denis’ birthday!)

The other day I saw a bunch of parsnips for sale, so I grabbed them and made chips.  I was craving something crunchy by healthy, and these fit the bill.  You could probably make these out of other root vegetables, like carrots, yams, etc. but I haven’t tried it yet.  I like the flavor of parsnips — they are a tad sweet, similar to sweet potatoes.  While I was making them, Jamie and his friend thought I was baking cookies!  Imagine their disappointment when I told them it was vegetables.  They tasted the parsnip chips, though, and they liked them. 🙂

You need a mandoline or a box grater with a slicer on the side to cut thin slices of the parsnip.  I have one something like this.  Then you just lay the slices on a foil lined baking sheet and pop in the oven.  My friend, Alexandra, mentioned that she makes chips by putting them in a cold oven and then turning the oven on.   The method works well because you don’t burn any chips, which are delicate when thinly sliced!  Cooking them this way makes it easier to do this.  Turn the oven on to 250 degrees F, set your timer for 30 minutes and walk away.   Check them after 30 minutes.  I remove the tan, crispy ones, and return the pan to the oven and for another 10-15 minutes or so.  Easy, no?  I think the chips are best eaten right away, which isn’t hard to do! If you save them and they lose their crunch, you could probably pop them in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes and let cool a bit to crisp them up.

Parsnip Chips

Several parsnips, washed and trimmed and peeled

Non stick spray

kosher salt to taste

1.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

2.  Slice thin rounds of parsnips with a mandoline or other slicer and lay slices in one layer on prepared baking sheet.

3.  Place in oven and turn onto 250 degrees F.

4.  After 30 minutes or so, check parsnips.  Sprinkle with kosher salt if you like.   Remove tan, crisp chips to a plate.  Return baking sheet to oven.  Check chips after about 10-15 minutes.  They should all be crisp now.  If not, let cook a bit longer.  Remove to a plate and eat!

Dual Faith Cake and Homemade Gum Paste

Yesterday we were invited to a “baking play date” by my friend who lives near a wonderful charitable organization in Park Slope, Brooklyn, called CHIPS.  She had the great idea of having our boys bake a cake to donate (her family made pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving) for the holidays.

The day before, Jamie and I made gum paste.  It’s similar to fondant (see a homemade version here), but less pliable, and when it dries it becomes very hard and can break easily.  An analogy might be:  Playdoh is to fondant as (baked) Filo is to gum paste.  🙂

You can buy ready made gum paste, but I couldn’t find any nearby and didn’t have time to go into Manhattan to look for it.  Almost every recipe I searched for online called for Tylose or Gum Tragacanth, neither of which I had nor could get a hold of immediately.  I finally happened to find one recipe that just required gelatin, corn syrup, and sugar.  I quartered it since I didn’t know how it would turn out, and 1 lb. of sugar seemed a bit much.  It worked out well though.  We colored half of our paste blue and green.  The other half we saved for later.

The gum paste hardens much faster than fondant. Be sure to keep it wrapped up immediately after making it.   It is more of a challenge to knead in the food coloring as well.  I actually slightly injured my right thumb from kneading too vigorously!  You can store it tightly wrapped in saran and tucked in a ziploc bag, but I found later that it is better to use immediately.

We rolled out the gum paste to about a 1/8-inch thickness then cut shapes out with cookie cutters.  I was planning on making Christmas trees to put on the cake, but Jamie thought we should have blue dreidls as well.  I agreed it was a great idea, especially since Hannukah and Christmas overlap this year.

After cutting out the shapes, I inserted some (clean) thin wire into their centers.  I saved some extra mini gingerbread men for the boys to enjoy.

The next day, at our friends’ lovely home, we got to making the cake.  First up was the frosting.

This is the easiest chocolate cream frosting in the world.  Basically you just put chocolate chips in a bowl and heat heavy cream on the stove.  When it comes to a boil, you pour it over the chips, add corn syrup and wait a few minutes.  Then you add vanilla and whisk it all together until it is smooth and glossy.  You chill and stir every 15 minutes until it is thickened.  How easy is that!?

Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of Jamie’s friend, Lucas, stirring the frosting and reciting a portion of the Macbeth witches’ spell that they learned in class earlier in the year:

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.

Tapping the cake pans to get rid of air bubbles.

The cake recipe we used is from the Moosewood Cookbook.  I also use this recipe for Vegan Lego Mini Cupcakes.  The only difference here is that I increased the ingredient amounts.

This is the finished cake. Jamie wrote the Hebrew letters with a food coloring pen. Note broken dreidl in background — hardened gum paste is quite brittle!

We brought Lucas and Jamie to CHIPS to drop off the cake at the kitchen.  They were really into the holiday display there–the cake (seen in the background) a distant memory.

I hope everyone a happy and healthy holiday season — whether you celebrate Christmas or Chanukah — or both!  🙂

Gum Paste (small batch)

5.5 ounces of confectioner’s sugar (about 1 and 1/3 cup)
4 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 teaspoon corn syrup

gel food coloring (optional)

1. Pour sugar into a medium sized bowl.  Set aside.

2. Put water in a small saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin over the water. Let gelatin sit for about 5 minutes, until it starts to look foamy. Add corn syrup.

3.  Heat mixture over low heat, stirring slowly, until gelatin has dissolved and mixture is clear.

4.  Pour over confectioners’ sugar in bowl. Mix together and try to incorporate sugar as much as possible.  Dump mix out onto confectioners’ sugar dusted work surface (counter top, tabletop, etc). Knead until the mix no longer sticks to your hands.  Cover with saran and store in a ziploc bag until ready to use.

5.  To color gum paste, put a drop of gel coloring onto a piece and knead until color is evenly dispersed into paste and there are no streaks.  This can take quite some time!  If you want to avoid staining your fingers, use disposable gloves.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

¾ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons corn syrup

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.  Bring heavy cream to a boil in a pan on the stove.  Remove from heat and pour over chocolate.  Add corn syrup and let sit for 3 minutes.  Whisk until smooth and glossy.  Add extract and stir to incorporate.
2. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until frosting is thickened.

Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½  teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½  cups sugar

¾  cup vegetable oil

1 ½  cups water

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

Frosting and toppings of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare two cake pans with parchment paper liners.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the oil, water, and vanilla.  Pour into the large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until the batter is smooth.
4. Quickly add the cider vinegar.  It will get fizzy as the vinegar and baking soda react.  Stir just until the fizzy, paler part of the batter is incorporated into the rest of the batter.
5. Spoon into cake pans.  Tap pans to get rid of air bubbles.  Bake for about 25-30 minutes, watching closely.  Test with a toothpick.  Layers are ready when it comes out clean.
6. Cool on racks.  When they are completely cool, you can assemble cake with frosting and toppings.  Place one layer on a plate.  Cover with about 1/4 of the frosting.  Place the second layer on top.  Frost the top with a thin coat of frosting.  Frost the sides with a thin coat.  Chill for about 20 minutes (this is a cook trick for keeping the crumbs from getting all mixed into the frosting as you are frosting it!)  Then frost the top and sides of the cake again with the rest of the frosting.