Dripping chips

Method

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until almost fully cooked. Peel, cut the chips to desired size.

2. Heat dripping to 160°C, make sure the deep-fry has plenty of dripping.

3. Cook the chips in batches until golden, drain well.

4. Note: (do not overload the basket, otherwise the temperature of the oil will be lowered, consequently the chips will be greasy rather than crisp. Shake the pan once or twice, to separate the chips while cooking).

5. To Serve:

6. Heat the oil to 190°C and fry once more until crisp and a deep golden colour.

7. Shake the basket, drain well, toss onto kitchen paper, sprinkle with a little salt, turn onto a hot serving dish and serve immediately.

8. How to make beef dripping

9. The best beef dripping is made from the fat that encases the beef kidney. Try to buy organic if available. Remove any traces of blood or plumbing. Chop the fat into small pieces.

10. Put into a roasting tin and cook in a very low oven at 150°C/Gas Mark 2 for about an hour or until the fat has rendered out of the suet. Pour off the liquid fat into a stainless-steel or enamel bowl at regular intervals. Beef dripping solidifies and will keep for months in a fridge. It can be diced and used to make a delicious old-fashioned cake.

11. To melt beef fat, simply warm it gently. The fat will liquefy and can be used for roast potatoes or for deep-frying. Myrtle Allen always believed that the best chips were those cooked in beef dripping, and I agree. It is rich in Vitamin D and, in my opinion, is far preferable both in flavour and health terms to the cheap and low-grade oil that is frequently used to deep-fry.

12. It’s important to strain the beef fat through a fine tin sieve after each use, otherwise the little particles of food will burn when the oil is reheated. Beef dripping can be heated to 230°C/Gas Mark 8 provided the oil is strained and does not burn. One can use it up to five times.

13. (My mother and Myrtle Allen always made roasties and chips from dripping, the rendered fat from around the beef kidney, delicious and super nutritious… If you’re time poor, or would rather not make your own dripping. Look out for innovative and creative, James Whelan's beef dripping from his butcher shop in Clonmel and various locations nationwide, jameswhelanbutchers.com)