Celery Root and Beetroot Chips

This past Sunday, I finally got my ass up early and managed to hit the farmers market before 9:30 am, which I shouldn't have to say it, was an amazing accomplishment for me… I mean, I hate doing stuff on a Sunday, let alone a Sunday morning, but this was worth it.

I came back home with a bounty that included pickles, different types of olives, freshly baked cornbread, freshly baked chorizo bread, beautiful onions and the stars of the week some gorgeous Beets and Celery Root, I was not sure what to make with them but I had to get them, they were there, being beautiful, looking at me. So I got them. And I was back, 10:30 am on a Sunday, not sleepy anymore after the ginormous cup of coffee I had to help me wake up and nothing to do.

So, I got to thinking what to do with this bastards, then it hit me, lets make some fucking chips to watch movies later on.  So, here is my recipe for Beetroot and Celeriac Chips.

Before we even begin, get a brush and your root vegetables and get to cleaning the dirt off them. Nice and cold water in a constant stream while stroking them with the brush will do the trick. Take the beetroot leaves off and reserve (We will use them later for an amazing Frittata, recipe here), remove the Celery stalks coming out of the bulb (they are pretty stringy and strongly flavoured, I don’t usually use them).

You will need:

• Beetroot: One or two, after washing them peel them.
• Celery Root: Also known as celeriac, one should be enough. Remove the stalks and little roots, after washing, peel it.
• Olive Oil: Any oil will do the trick, but I like the taste of Olive Oil.
• Salt: Totally up to you.
• Cumin Seeds: They go very well with this.

1. Slice the roots as thinly as possible and try to get them to have the same thickness, the best way to do it here is by using a mandolin, however I don’t have one, here is where my Japanese Usuba knife comes in handy. It is a very sharp knife designed for thin and precise cuts in vegetables, it needs a little bit of practice to get the slices as you want them, but is in no way a hard task.
2. Place the slices in separate bowls (we don't want the beets to stain the immaculate celery roots) and coat them with olive oil. Season well with salt, pepper and cumin.
3. Line them up in parchment paper, be careful not to overlap them, this way they will cook and crisp properly. If necessary, work in batches so you don’t over crowd the grill.
4. Bake them at 180ºC for about 10-12 minutes or  until golden and crispy. Here is where the consistency of thickness will come into play, if they are not the same thickness, the thinnest parts will cook, crisp and maybe burn while the thickest parts will still not be ready.
5. Once they are perfectly golden and crispy, take them out into kitchen paper to drain extra fat and serve.
6. ENJOY THE FUCKERS!
7. These chips go great with hummus. Just in case you needed a suggestion.

Slice the suckers, dont let them mix, unless you want your crisp white Celeriac to be pinkish...

Give them space.