For Thanksgiving we’re going to visit some friends, and I’ve been asked to bring an appetizer. I’ve decided on kale chips and apple chips, both of which sound cheap and sophomoric, but they’re both actually quite delicious. The kale chips were successfully batch-tested last week, and got a thumbs up from the husband who is notorious for hating most edible things green. Their deliciousness factor was boosted by the fact that they were oven fresh, and the warmth added an extra depth, the way warm buttered popcorn is so much tastier than cool or room temperature popcorn. Both great, but better when warm.
Today I hope to batch-test another run of kale and see how it holds up overnight. Probably best not to put it in the fridge, but it only took twelve minutes to make one pan so that can always be made the morning of. I’ll also need to find a container large enough to hold both appetizers, as there should be enough for ten people.
The apple chips are from this glorious recipe, crafted by my talented friend Denice, whom you should prepare to hate. My first batch came out nothing like her batch, beautifully brown and professional looking. My first batch came out looking like perfectly even little slices of charcoal, and I don’t know what her oven runs on (besides magic) but cooking those bad boys for half an hour at three-fitty was definitely not the best approach for what I did.
Note: I had to use tinfoil, as I was out of non-stick spray.
Next batch: took a dozen slightly larger slices, re-seasoned (sea salt, cinnamon sugar, nutmeg) and sprinkled liberally but evenly, and put them in for ten minutes at 350.
That batch came out better – there was an interesting texture, similar to the bags of dried apple slices you can buy, but they were still mostly stuck to the tinfoil.
So I’m off to buy more apples and kale and non-stick spray and donate books and get an eye exam and also maybe hopefully new glasses and ship a Super Secret Package, and tonight I’ll test more stuff. I should also be making a list of stuff to test in the (new!!!) crock pot, as *that* in itself will be an adventure, because I’ve never used one.
Notes for the next batch of apples:
– slice thicker
– less salt
– nonstick spray
– flip half the batch at 6 minutes
Please let it come out looking mostly like this:
Retention 