Whipped Taro Root And Taro Chips Food

TARO CHIPS

Steps:

• Peel 2 medium taro roots and slice 1/8 inch thick with a mandoline. (You want them to be thin but sturdy.) Arrange in a single layer on 2 foil-lined baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees F until browned in spots and crispy, 15 to 25 minutes. Season with salt. Let cool.

PAHOLE (FERN) SALAD WITH TARO

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the pahole fern in water for 3 1/2 minutes. Remove and drain. Cool pahole fern down in an ice bath and drain. Dice tomatoes, cut pahole fern into 3/4-inch long pieces, and slice onions.
• In a bowl mix all sauce ingredients together Add tomatoes, pahole, onions, and taro toss to coat.

CRISP DUCK WITH WHIPPED TARO ROOT AND TARO CHIPS

Steps:

• Separate legs from the breast by cutting where the breast and carcass end and legs begin, or have your butcher cut it for you. Using a sharp boning knife, follow right along the breast bone on either side and remove both breasts. Trim fat along outside of the breast allowing approximately one third of an inch of fat overlap. Score fat on breast by making a diagonal cut, making sure not to cut the breast meat. About four strokes is sufficient.
• In a food processor, dice unpeeled ginger and garlic until coarsely chopped. Place in a stainless steel bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Place the two whole duck legs and the four duck breasts in the marinade. Remove the duck breasts after one hour. The legs should continue to marinate for an additional half an hour, and then be removed.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using the carcasses of the duck, place the duck legs on the duck carcass. Place legs and carcasses in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours. Check periodically to make sure the ducks are not getting too dark. They are ready when the leg wiggles freely to your touch, and they are a nice deep amber color. The skin should look crisp and rendered of fat. Cool. Once cooled, take your boning knife and cut through the skin right in the middle of the legs. Using your hands, separate duck legs. (Use your thumb to get under the oyster and gently pull leg from the bones.) Gently use your fingers to pull out the thigh bone. Trim legs a little to keep a nice triangular shape.
• For the breasts:
• Heat a large, 12 inch sautepan to medium high. (You can cook two duck breasts in one pan or cook one at a time in a smaller, 10 inch pan.) Add two breasts, skin side down to start rendering the fat. Cook over medium high heat for a couple of minutes. (You will need to remove the rendered fat as you go. Hold duck breast still with a pair of tongs and pour fat into a stainless bowl or other container. Return to heat). After the first couple of minutes on medium high heat, turn burner down to medium, so not to burn the duck. The duck should be a rich amber color. Continue cooking until the fat is almost completely rendered. You can check this by looking at the incisions of the fat. When there is only a thin, crisp skin, the duck is ready to be flipped. Turn duck over. Shut heat off and leave the breast to sit in the pan for about three to four minutes. Remove from pan and allow to rest for five minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the duck legs in a medium to medium small saute pan, skin side down and pan covered to heat and finish any additional rendering of fat, approximately five minutes.
• Slice duck breast into fairly thing slices, keeping the nice shape of the breast. With a spatula, pick up breast and fan it out onto the plate. Place duck legs on an angle near the top of the slices. Serve with Whipped Taro Root, Taro Chips, lots of julienned scallions and a little Duck Jus.
• Peel taro root. First, for the chips, take your peeler and peel approximately one cup of long taro shreds. Reserve for frying.
• Take the remaining taro and cut it up into rough 2 inch chunks. Place in a sauce pan, covering with cold water. Boil root until tender. Strain into a colander, reserving cup of the liquid. In a food processor, pulse taro, adding little dabs of butter as you go, along with some of the cooking liquid to make a smooth consistency. Remove and season with salt and pepper.
• For the chips:
• Heat a couple of cups of peanut or grapeseed oil to 350 degrees. Drops shreds into oil in small batches. Remove when crisp (the chips should still be light in color) and salt.
• In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat oil. Add chopped duck body, leek, celery and carrot pieces and cook until vegetables are golden. Add white wine and chicken stock and reduce by half. Add soy marinade, cooking an additional few minutes. Skim off any fat and strain.

GRILLED SHRIMP ON TARO CHIP

Steps:

• For Shrimp: Preheat a grill to high.
• In a large bowl, combine garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, green onions, white wine, and lime juice to make a marinade. Place shrimp in the marinade and marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove shrimp from marinade and thread onto skewers. See Cook's Note*
• Place shrimp on a hot grill for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they turn pink. Do not overcook. Remove from the grill and remove the shrimp from the skewers.
• For Taro chip: Place a 10-inch straight-sided saute pan over medium high heat. Add the oil and heat until it reaches a temperature of 350 degrees F. Slice taro root thinly, a little thicker than a potato chip. It is easiest to do this on a mandoline. Once oil is up to temperature, fry the sliced taro root until lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain on a paper towel, salt, and set them side.
• For Salsa: Combine tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and lemon juice in a bowl. Gently fold together. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• To assemble, place 1 shrimp on top of a taro chip and garnish with 1/4 teaspoon of salsa. Arrange on a platter.

TARO AND CASSAVA CHIPS WITH EGGPLANT DIP

Steps:

• For the chips.
• Peel the root vegetable and slice very thinly using a mandoline or food processor.
• Heat the oil until it just starts to smoke.
• Place the dried chips in a wire basket and in batches of about a handful, plunge into the hot oil and cook for about 90 seconds until crisp and golden.
• The timing will depend on the temperature of the oil and the thickness of the chips.
• Before beginning the second and subsequent batches, bring the temperature up again, as cool oil does not allow the chips to become crisp and light.
• Drain well and sprinkle with a little salt.
• For the eggplant dip.
• Bake the eggplant at 180°C until very tender.
• This should take about 40 minutes, depending on the size.
• Finely chop the onion and cook in a frying pan with the oil until the onion is soft and golden.
• Near the end of the cooking process add the finely chopped garlic and chilli.
• Take the cooked eggplant and scoop out all the flesh, discarding the skin and stem.
• Place the eggplant flesh in a bowl and gently stir to break it up.
• Add the onion mixture and lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Stir through the fresh coriander and pile into a serving bowl.
• Serve with taro, cassava or potato chips.

TARO CHIPS (LIKE POTATO CHIPS)

Steps:

• Place oil in a deep fryer and heat to 350°F.
• Slice Taro Roots thinly (perhaps a bit thicker than a potato chip).
• Fry the sliced Taro in small batches until lightly golden (about 2 minutes).
• Drain on paper towels and salt lightly.
• Eat as they are or use as dippers.