I don’t know how to tell you about this recipe because it’s so astonishing. Sort of like free money, high-temperature superconductors or perpetual motion, fat free potato chips sound like some sort of scam or pie in the sky. I tried the fat free variety of chips made with olestra that were so popular when they were first introduced. Maybe you did, too. I don’t know how you feel about them, but they didn’t really agree with me. At least I didn’t overdo it like this guy. I hope you didn’t either.

I’m not a potato chip addict, even though I love potatoes. You would never find me creating a whole blog about chips, which I wouldn’t do anyway because someone already has one; it’s called the chippie. I must be spending too much time reading other people’s food blogs, because I keep finding all sorts of posts that make me run to the kitchen and try new recipes. I was fearing that I’d be like Jennifer the Domestic Goddess or Mimi of French Kitchen in America and you’d soon be reading about my new diet. Those fears have been squelched though now that I found a recipe for fat free potato chips made in the microwave.

You know that I love you, dear mother, because as soon as we finished eating the first batch, I called you first to tell you about them. I don’t think you believed me, though, because you obviously haven’t made them yet. If you had, you would have called me back to rave about them. I also called my best friend, my sister, my younger brother and told everyone at work who wanted to listen. This is easy, it works and you have crispy chips with no fat in about 10 minutes.

I want to make sure I give proper attribution, so I’ll tell you that I first read about this recipe at Slashfood. As far as I know, the original is Uncle Bill’s Microwave Potato Chips. If you want to make these yourself, you could run out right now and buy a
micro chip maker at the As Seen on TV store or get one on-line. The Japanese version comes with a mini slicer, but I can’t seem to find a place to buy one on-line. Or you can just do like I do, and use parchment paper. The only thing is, this leads to flat chips, and more than any other kind of chip, I love the ones that are folded. I’m going to work on it, maybe by folding some of my potato slices in half? In any case, I can’t keep this one to myself any longer, so I’ll fiddle with the recipe and you can, too.

Fat free microwave potato chips

• 2 potatoes (Russet or Yukon gold), scrubbed and dried but not peeled
• Salt to taste
• Parchment paper
• Optional flavorings: paprika, Cajun spices, garlic powder, black pepper, use your imagination

Cut the potatoes into slices about 1/16 of an inch thick using a mandoline, a food processor or a sharp knife. Line a microwave oven with parchment paper and place potato slices evenly over the paper. Top the slices with another layer of parchment paper. Microwave on high for about 6 minutes. Check on them after about 5 minutes. If they aren’t done, keep on cooking them and check on them at 30 second intervals. Be very careful, because they can burn very quickly and stink up your house, don’t ask me how I know this.

Repeat with remaining potato slices using the same pieces of parchment paper. I’m sure you could also rig up something so that you could stack them several layers high and cook the chips all at one time, but like I said, I’ve not worked out the details yet. These were so startlingly good, I had to get the recipe posted right away.

Erik gobbled these up, but said he missed the fat. If you miss the taste of the fat like he did, you can spray them with a little cooking spray and not add many calories. I did try this, and they were great, but I think I’ll keep on cooking them without the fat.