Piccadilly Chips

It has come to my attention recently, that the majority of the world doesn’t know what a piccadilly chip is. Yeah. Crazy, I know. If you are from/have ever visited Sanpete county, Utah, then your jaw is probably on the floor right now. I guess sometimes you take the good things in life for granted!

Sanpete is a small county located in the heart of Utah. {No, literally, the center of Utah is really in Sanpete county.} It houses a handful of towns ranging from Chester, where we see if we can hold our breath through the entire town {known as the ‘Chester Challenge’} to Ephraim, the largest town with a whopping population of 6,000 peeps. {Which is where I happened to grow up.} The two biggest things that Sanpete is known for are:

1. Snow College. {What a blessed place.} and
2. The Norbest turkey plant.

You know you’re in Sanpete when you can smell that wonderful aroma of turkey poop coming from all the turkey farms. Makes your eyes water some days. We won’t get into that a whole lot right now though. The reason I bring all of this up, is every year there’s a ‘Scandinavian Days’ celebration in Ephraim where a bunch of peeps line the roads with booths of random knick knacks, jewelry/art, and food. Lots and lots of food. My favorite food booth is the infamous turkey/piccadilly booth. Best turkey you will ever have in your life {Check out the famous marinade recipe here!} and my ever so favorite piccadilly chips. So, what is a piccadilly chip?? Zachary teases and says they’re no different than fries, but I have a serious argument to make about that.

Piccadilly Chips

Ingredients:

Note: I’m not going to give specific amounts on the ingredients because it really is dependent on how many you are cooking for and how big/small of a pot you are using. If it helps, 2 potatoes were just great for Zachary and me to split.

• Russet potatoes
• Frying oil {Word on the street is, peanut oil works best. We use Canola, so it really is up to you.}
• Salt

Directions:

• Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/2-1 inch cubes.
• Place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water and let them soak for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour enough oil into your pan until it comes up about a third of the way up. {A little less is okay, but more isn’t. This would cause a risk of the oil boiling over.}
• Heat the oil to about 375°F.
• Drain and dry your potatoes, place in a frying basket, and lower them into the oil slowly. {Or if you’re ghetto like us, you can use a metal spoon and place scoops of potatoes into the oil.}
• When the potatoes are covered and the bubbling has slowed down, cover the pan and cook them for about 6 minutes. {This is to cook them – they shouldn’t be brown when you take them out.}
• Now, take the potatoes out of the pan and allow the oil to heat back up to around 390°F.
• Put the potatoes back in the pan and cook until brown. {Around 5-7 minutes.}
• Remove them and place on papers towels to let the excess oil drain. {Pat dry if necessary.}
• Salt generously and serve warm.

There you have it! A little taste of Sanpete right in your own home. If you ever find yourself in the area, promise me that you will try these babies. {Because I know you all make it a point to go on vacation to little farm towns in the middle of nowhere. ;)} I hope you love these just as much as all of us Sanpetians do! If not, I don’t want to hear about it.