Baked Sweet Potato and Apple Chips

This is what I like to call a pseudo-success, and don't let that deter you from reading because I know how to fix what I goofed.  I often equate a lot of my kitchen ventures to that of a mad scientist.  I like to know if things work in a more convenient manner.  So this has a lot of lessons laced into it, as well as some pretty darn tasty chips.

Lesson #1: You will do as I say, and go to amazon.com and buy a mandoline slicer. If you want a cheapie but goodie, you will buy the one I have http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-HGT-11-Folding-Mandoline/dp/B001F5RSEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352597434&sr=8-1&keywords=mandoline+slicer.  And then, after you add that to your cart you will buy these Kevlar gloves http://www.amazon.com/1607M-Resistant-100-Percent-Kevlar-Textured/dp/B003TV40YE/ref=pd_sim_k_2.

Why am I telling you to buy things? First, if you make au gratin potatoes from scratch, this mandoline will be your best friend.  Second, if you have a mandoline and value your fingers, these gloves will be your best friend.  You can have more than one best friend you know.  I usually don't (except maybe a girl BF and a boy BF sometimes) but that is because I have a very stringent quality over quantity approach to life, and I don't count family best friends in the same category.  Regardless, I had by mandoline blade set on super thin, and even though I felt the blade hit the gloves a few times, my darling pinky was spared.

My best friend was not so lucky with the mandoline I got her, and she sliced her thumb right before her wedding.  Her mom cut herself the same night, and my mom slightly knicked herself when she got hers.

First off, I told people to get these gloves.  YOU need to really consider these babies.  Even though it has a hand guard on it, you will have to WASH  and CHANGE the blades.  Get the gloves.

 I cut up one smallish sweet potato and one golden delicious apple.  That was my first experiment: can these be cooked at the same time?

Answer: yes, but you have to pay attention.

The sweet potatoes are excellent, and did not stick to my cookie sheet.  I did grease it a little with EVOO, because I don't bother buying Pam anymore.  However, I apparently did not grease it enough to keep most of the apples from sticking.

Lesson #2: Slick it or stick it.  For real, spray it down good, or oil it up more.  The apples don't play nice.

I mixed a tiny container of cinnamon/sugar, ginger, and a hint of nutmet.  I used a teeny tiny bit of that and sprinkled it over my cuts.

 I put my oven on about 225 and let these go through the preheat as well.  I tend to do that a lot for whatever reason.

I baked them for about 55 minutes and took them out to flip.  Which brings me to my next lessons.

Lesson #3: See the dark cake pan in the back? This and my Rachel Ray pan are essentially nonstick and I love them.  Also, baking the chips in these pans effectively creates a convection or similar effect and they cook faster.  When I took these out, the apple chips were basically done.  It was amazing.  The super thin was perfect for the sweet potatoes, I might next time just go thin on the apple chips.  I liked these though.

I flipped over the sweet potato chips and popped the tray back in to cook another 30 minutes.  After that, I turned the oven off and let them just sit in there for the next 20 minutes while I finished editting a paper. 

 You noticed I did not say I flipped the apple chips?  Correct...

Lesson #4:  If you choose to ignore lesson 2 or if you discover you did not put a solid enough slickness down, run scalding hot water over your cookie sheet and scrape it with a spatula or similar.  The junk will come off.

Putting a dusting of sugar and similar and putting the seasoned side down MIGHT help them to not stick, but I am not sure. 

I should have used butter.  I use it for everything else anyway.

 Now this isn't going to win a magazine award for beautiful photography, but these were some of my finished yummies.

The cinnamon spice mix for the apples was perfect. 

Believe it or not, I would put sea salt on the sweet potato chips if I was going to make them again.  The sweet mix just did not really do them as much justice as I had hoped.

The sweet potatoes however WOULD make a great base for delicious dessert nachos or dip. Yummy.

The apples are paper thin but they have a positively amazing taste.  If you make yours thicker keep in mind you may have to bake them longer, or flip them throughout.  I would say if you make them thicker and put them on a cookie sheet you may need about 2 rounds of 45-50 minute baking.

Now seriously, look how delicious this guy looks. I just really wish he was salty.  Next time, SALT.

The sweet potatoes have a texture like kettle chips.  I love the stronger crunch of a kettle chip, so that is positively amazing as far as I am concerned.

There are a lot of recipes online that bake higher and faster.  The reason I opted for low and slow is because traditionally stuff like this is made in a dehydrater.  That is the epitome of slow.  Also, I would imagine that since dehydration was more typical, the more moisture you can draw out the longer they would last.

Which I think is aided by low and slow in this scenario due to the fact that steaks are cooked on flaming hot grills to create an instant sear and lock in the juices, but I could be wrong.  All I know, is they are fantastic.

Yes, I rationale chip baking temperatures based on steak.  Look, everything in life is relatable to something else, you just have to reason it out.

For one potato and an apple, this made a LOT of chips.  Well, would have if two thirds of my apple ones had not stuck.  But you get the point.  It made a lot of slices at least...

And no, I am not taking my ghostie towels down for a while still.  I like them, they are super cute.