Jalapeño Potato Chips

With Summer coming to a end and Fall around the corner, my little garden is exploding with Jalapeños. I grow them every year as I like to eat a lot of spicy food and they can get expensive during the winter months. Part of the crop I will freeze while the rest I will dehydrate to create a Jalapeño based spices for cooking rubs and seasonings. With the Jalapeño spice one of my favorite to make snacks is Jalapeño Potato Chips especially with potatoes that I've grown or gotten from the local Farmer's Market. Freshly made potato chips taste far better than the bag kind in my opinion. Probably also a healthier option as it doesn't have preservatives.

Ingredients:

• Jalapeños
• Potatoes
• Cooking Oil
• Salt

Additional requirements:

• Food Dehydrator
• Blender
• Mandoline (prefered) or a Knife.
• Paper towels.
• Skillet
• Slotted spoon
• 1 small container (for the spice)
• 1 large container (for the chips)
• Large bowl

Step 1: Jalapeño Spice Prep

1. Wash, dry and slice Jalapeños into halves. Remove seeds.
2. Place into food dehydrator and power on. Dehydration times will vary from machine to machine and the number of Jalapeños you will dehydrate.
3. Once peppers are dried, place into a blender to grind up.
4. Place ground up Jalapeño into a small container. Store in a cool dry place until needed.

Step 2: Cooking Potato Chips

1. Cut potatoes into very thin slices. A mandolin is recommended.
   
2. Place in a large bowl; add cold water. Soak for up to 30 minutes. Depending on how many potatoes used, you may need to change the water a few times as the starch being pulled out will make the water murky.
   
3. Drain potatoes; place on paper towels and pat dry.
   
4. Wash and dry bowl. Pour part of Jalapeño spice into the bowl. Add a few dashes of salt and mix with the Jalapeño.
   
5. In a skillet, heat 1-1/2 in. of oil to 375°. Fry potatoes in batches for 3-6 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Note: done chips will stop (or near close to stop) bubbling in the oil.
   
6. Remove with a slotted spoon and drop into bowl with Jalapeño spice. Shake bowl to cover chips with spice. Store in an airtight container once cooled.