Chip the light fantastic

EATING IN:From 1,400 words on healthy chips, to the end result. This recipe is worth sticking to, for the proof is in the eating

THERE'S A FANTASTICALLY"nerdy" food magazine in the US called Cook's Illustrated, to which I subscribe. Actually I am probably being unnecessarily critical, as it's pretty fantastic, but it is a text-heavy and picture-light magazine, full of long diatribes about testing the world's favourite recipes.

It's aimed at all cooks – from the mildly curious. to the very annoying (like me) who want to know, as they say in their intro, why "bad things happen to good recipes". It almost sounds like some sort of CSIculinary whodunnit, but it is full of interesting facts and observations.

For example, they will take a small little foodie conundrum, such as “how to get chewy brownies” and turn this simple question into a four-page rant about the different types of saturated and non-saturated fats that can be used in different ratios to achieve the perfect result.

This question about “chew” probably doesn’t enter the head of most cooks, but if you’re a bit of a geek, I heartily recommend a subscription. Needless to say, I’ve begun trialling their test recipes for brownies and will report back once I have definitive results, courtesy of a 12-year-old chocoholic.

The inner workings of my brain adores the books from food scientists such as Harold McGee and Hervé This. The former's book, On Science and Cooking, is a classic and had a huge impact on Heston Blumenthal, which was further enhanced by scientist, Hervé This, and his work on molecular gastronomy.

But in Cook's Illustrated, the science is broken down into very basic layman's terms, so have no fear. In true US style, some of the magazine's rants focus rather heavily on the health factor, which we tend to snigger at – us being European and all – which is why their 1,400-word long methodology about oven chips has been whittled down to a few lines in the recipe below.

These were a joy to eat, but, for once I would urge you to follow the recipe to the letter. The devil really is in the detail.

The home-made horseradish ketchup was oozing with flavour. And, although I am a loyal Heinz ketchup girl, I have to say that chips this good deserve something a little posher. I am sure this ketchup recipe would be much nicer made with super ripe, red and juicy tomatoes in the height of summer, but the reason I’m happy to stick it in here was because I used fairly grim tomatoes I had forgotten about and it worked out really well, regardless.

Ultimate oven fries

Serves four. You’ll need a heavy baking sheet and some tin foil.

3 big Rooster spuds

100ml olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees/gas seven and put the shelf as low as you can, without resting it on the oven floor. Don’t bother peeling the spuds, but cut them into thin finger-width sticks. Soak them in a bowl full of hot tap water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat them dry on kitchen paper until they are very dry. In a bowl, toss them with the olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper.

Lay them out on the baking sheet in one single layer. Cover with tin foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Take the fries out, remove the tin foil and carefully turn them over. They should be starting to go a lovely golden brown on the bottom. Bake them for a further seven to 10 minutes. They should be crisp, golden brown and soft and delicious inside. Season well and serve with the ketchup.

Spicy tomato and horseradish ketchup

Makes approx 700ml

2kg slightly over-ripe tomatoes

2 small white onions

1 large cooking apple

Big knob fresh horseradish, peeled

Big knob ginger, peeled

Few cloves garlic, peeled

1 tbsp tomato puree

6 cloves

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp celery seeds

1 tbsp flaky sea salt or a small tsp fine sea salt

Few splashes Tabasco sauce

250ml white wine vinegar

250g light brown sugar

Roughly chop the tomatoes and put them into a large, heavy-based saucepan. Peel the onion and apples, finely dice and add to the tomatoes. Finely chop the peeled horseradish and ginger, and add to the tomatoes along with the garlic and all the other ingredients, but only half the vinegar and none of the sugar just yet.

Simmer slowly for an hour. Stir occasionally and mush up.

Pass through a sieve, into a clean saucepan, discard the debris and add the rest of the vinegar and the sugar. Cook gently for another 30-40 minutes until the ketchup is thick. Season and allow to cool. Refrigerate and keep for up to a month in a jar in the fridge.