Make Your Own Sweet Potato Chips

All it takes is a little muscle on the mandoline and some oil to fry up your very own batch of sweet potato chips. As good as they are from the store, these bite-size homemade crisps are on a whole new level of crispy delicious. Experiment with seasonings (a little chili powder and cayenne for spice, or cinnamon and brown sugar for extra sweet!) and serve with or without a dip for an unexpected appetizer. Here’s how to do it:

Ingredients
Sweet potatoes
1 quart vegetable oil

Tools
Kitchen peeler
Mandoline
Candy and Deep Fry Thermometer

How To
1. Peel sweet potatoes using kitchen peeler.
2. Thinly slice peeled potatoes on mandoline.
3. Heat 1 quart vegetable oil to 340 degrees F. Fry sweet potato slices in batches, a few at a time, until they are golden.
4. Remove from oil and drain in layers of paper towel. Season with salt.
Chips can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Love this savory fall recipe? Make something sweet next!
> Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes

Santa Monica Food Truck Tuesday

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I discovered that there’s more to great dining than the traditional restaurant scene. In fact, some of the best food I’ve eaten recently was prepared in a kitchen on four wheels.

 

Halsey Farms

I’ve always been enamored by this time of year, when the cooler end of the summer backs into the bright, crisp autumn. As a chef, it’s one of the most bountiful periods of the season that offers a host of amazing produce.

On my culinary journeys, I always make regular trips to Halsey Farms on Deerfield Road in Watermill. Dot Halsey offers the sweetest heirloom, cherry, and grape tomatoes, tiny and tender white and red new potatoes, succulant egglants in all varieties, baby green beans and yellow wax beans, squash, and late summer flowers.

Halsey’s selectuon of herbs include: mint, lemon thyme, rosemary, sage, flat leaf parsley, and lavendar–to name a few. I love using them to brighten up any dish.

And if you’re hanging in the city these days and can’t make it out to the farm, don’t worry; just drop by your local farmers market.

Be sure to stay tuned to my blog for a host of recipes that feature some of this seasons best eating!

Apple Hand Pies with Salted Caramel Filling

I just finished these tasty treats for my client RF Binder. They are mini apple pies with a salted caramel filling. All made by hand, to be eaten by hand, these bite size wonders were warmed, individually wrapped and packed in crates to be dropped off as gift. The boxes and packing are as wondrous as the pies themselves!

Kitchen Tip: Five-Minute Garden Tomato Sauce

Everyone’s pressed for time every now and then, especially when it comes to dinner.

Here’s a quick tip to make the perfect fresh tomato sauce using garden–or market–fresh cherry or grape tomatoes:

1) Take one or two pints of fresh cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. In a sauté pan, add two tablespoons olive oil and heat.

2) Add 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes, 1/2 red onion thinly sliced and 1 tablespoon mince garlic. Cook til soft, but be careful not to burn garlic.

3) Add tomatoes, 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until tomatoes break down. Add a little warm water or pasta water and thin out sauce.

4) Toss with your favorite pasta, or zucchini noodles.

Anthony Leberto: Summer 2014 Newsletter

Check out my Summer 2014 newsletter here>> http://bit.ly/1qeQfL3

If you’d like to subscribe to my quarterly newsletter, email me at anthony@anthonyleberto.com to be added to the list.

Late Summer Lunch in Watermill

Late-summer sunlight floods this buffet of the Thai Lettuce Wraps filled with spicy shrimp and chicken; miso-sesame summer green beans; tomato, watermelon and feta salad; quinoa salad and farm stand credit.

Band-Aid Isaac Mizrahi Cocktail Party

Here’s a behind-the-scenes looks at a few of the hors d’oeuvres I created recently for the press roll-out of Isaac Mizhari-designed Band-Aid bandages.

The morsels included: Shrimp and Mango Summer Rolls with Ponzu Dipping Sauce; Mini Caprese Skewers; Maytag Blue Cheese-Stuffed Mission Figs with Prosciutto and Mint; Smoked Salmon Canapes and Double Chocolate Meringue Brownies.

Zucchini Pasta

Try thinly slicing zucchini with a vegetable peeler and then cutting those strips into pasta like ribbons the size of fettuccini. Add a garden fresh tomato sauce, grilled shrimp and soon you’ll have a guilt free pasta that’s delicious and guilt free.

Handcrafted Pies

Here’s one of my latest projects created for Truvia Brown Sugar Blend for the p r firm, RF Binder.

These bite sized apple pies are filled with apples, caramel and cinnamon, baked and finally served warm with a drizzle of caramel.