I’m a  chip fanatic from way back. The idea of a perfect lunch for me as a kid was a chip sandwich, made with crinkle cut chicken chips. Forget fancy Kettle or Red Rock chips, we didn’t have those growing up. Nor do I remember Thins, which I’ve never really gone for (they’re just too… thin?). Crinkle Cut Chicken chips were my weapons of choice. And because my mother rationed me on chips, pouring a small amount out of a large bag I’d eat them crinkle by crinkle slowly until every last piece was gone. And you can bet that as a kid I ran my finger along the bottom of the bowl to catch any stray flavour flakes.

I still love crinkle cut chips but more recently I like the thickness or Kettle or Red Rock deli chips. They’re said to be just like home made so when I was munching a packet of salt and vinegar chips (not my favourite flavour but I was hungry) I wondered why hadn’t someone made Salt and Pepper flavoured chips? There’s Salt and Pepper Squid and Salt and Pepper Tofu and they’re both delicious. How about some Salt and Pepper potato chips?

I took out my V slicer and sliced them on the second setting – I don’t like my chips too thin as they aren’t as earth shatteringly crunchy, and drizzled a couple of tablespoons of oil on top and then baked them. After baking them, I sprinkled the salt and pepper mixture on top and tasted them. They were wonderful indeed and very Kettle Chip/Red Rock like too. And somehow I felt more virtuous that these were baked rather than deep fried. And yes I did put these in a sandwich-white bread with butter which is the only way really to eat these in a sandwich.

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No need to rub your eyes, you aren’t seeing things although you’d certainly be forgiven for believing that you were hallucinating at the title of this story. I first read about Himalayan Salted Butter Tea (Po Cha) on Hoglet K’s blog where she discussed having a frothy, butter flavoured tea at a restaurant. The part that got me was when she said ” It was as if you’d taken a bite of buttered toast followed by a mouthful of milky tea”. I dare you to not make it after hearing this. It is considered to be the staple drink of Tibet indeed with some Tibetans drinking up to 40 cups of the stuff a day. These are usually served in wooden bowls, a larger one for the husband and a smaller one for the wife.

Made with yak butter and salt, a common accompaniment is tsampa which are dumpling shaped goodies made of roasted barley flour and is said to be the most widely eaten food in Tibet. For the cold weather in Tibet the addition of creamy butter is an energy sustaining effort as well as a practical one as the butter helps to prevent chapped lips. And let’s be honest, it’s really no stranger than adding whipped cream to the top of Hot Chocolate.

I first made this at home and gave it to my husband who remarked how blissful it would be in the dead of Winter. I then served this to M and her boys and  Adrienne. Adrienne is a self described “chicken” when it comes to food having eschewed the rabbit offered to her but I thought it was good step forward that she tried the foamy Salted Butter tea. Her facial expression changed from puzzled and after a few sips she gradually warmed to it. M and her boys were completely different. From her first sip M declared “I love it” and the boys were clamouring for more cups and when M offered to make it for their breakfast they eagerly agreed saying that it reminded them of custard.

My version uses sugar although the traditional recipe does not necessarily include it. Of course Earl Grey is not the tea that they use (although many use Lipton black tea nowadays) and I’m almost positive that they don’t use Girgar Unsalted Danish butter but they happened to be what I had to hand. The traditional way of making it is with rancid butter but as you could imagine, I was clean out of rancid butter and didn’t know how to make any.

In some exciting news, LookandTaste.com has featured a profile of me on their site. I’m very flattered to be chosen and if you would like to read it, please click here!

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My husband was sick with the flu this week and as anyone knows, men are a downright drama when it comes to being sick. They, or at least my husband is, the worst patient in the world. They turn from agreeable, pleasant, dependable creatures to babies who can’t do anything except for what they want to do. No matter how many times I told him to put the laptop away he wouldn’t. No matter how many times I told him that he had to eat something, he wouldn’t. I even bought him a gift to cheer him up (a set of boats as he is a keen sailor) and he pushed it away sulkily and asked if I could return it to the store. I felt like I had suddenly adopted a 5 year old in the midst of a 5 day long tantrum.

The rejected gift

So in the midst of this, I tried to cook him some soup to aid him in his recovery, which in turn would help preserve our marriage and allow me to keep a modicum of sanity. I had some spinach leftover from the Daring Bakers Spinach lasgane escapade, some chorizo in the freezer and some cannellini beans in the cupboard so I was pretty much there and done. I threw in some other vegetables that I thought would go well with it and and some garlic which would help with his flu and voila, I finally had a soup that would be fit for my Little King.

Did he like it? Perhaps it was the guilt from rejecting the gift, perhaps he was getting better but he loved it and ate is greedily. His appetite returned for this sustaining and healthy soup and before I knew it, he had eaten more than he had within the last few days combined. The soup somehow had a creamy texture from the white beans and the spinach and the addition of the chorizo gave it a spicy punctuation (but of course you could make this totally low fat and vegetarian by omitting the chorizo). And in return he was much less cranky and that certainly saved my sanity and subsequently, our marriage.

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