Home Made Tortilla Chips with Cumin Salt

So, I've determined to 'follow my bliss', as Dharma used to say. For me, this means giving up trying to work in the IT industry, and going back to school for a culinary degree.  For the cost of the program, the Culinary Arts department at Grossmont College is very good, and very popular. As a first semester student, my odds of getting the baseline classes for savory and pastry were slim and none. I did get into an elective course, Wines of the World. It's a fun class. Chef Dave is funny, knowledgeable, and passionate.

We, the students, are encouraged to bring foods to pair with the wines. Last week we did a test tasting, and I brought some nice persian cucumbers from my CSA. This week, Chef Dave rrecommended chips as a good accompaniment to what we are drinking. Tonight is Champagnes of the World.

My Original thought was to make sweet potato, or even mixed root vegetable chips. But then I remembered the left over corn tortillas from the other night's soft tacos. No reason to let those go to waste. We bought a kilo, and barely reduced the pile by a noticible amount.

So, I pulled out the deep fryer, and topped off the oil. Got it heated to it's hottest setting, 375 degrees. This is really important; when deep frying use a high temperture oil, like canola, peanut, or grapeseed, and have it as hot as possible without smoking That will help ensure that foods will not be greasy. I cut the tortillas into 16ths, and fried them in small batches, making sure not to crowd the basket.

I mixed a tablespoon of cumin into a 1/4 cup of salt, and sprinkled the chips with it while they were draining on a paper towel. I think they are very tasty. Hopefully my classmates will agree.