Do you miss potato chips and all the other crispy, delicious, carb-filled things? I do. I don't actually miss those things, but sometimes I would kill for crunchy food. Crispy, crunchy deliciousness to eat with sour cream dip, guacamole, or chicken liver pâté.
Pork crackling is an appropriately crunchy snack, but it's not everyone's cup of tea, and not always easy to source or make. Bacon is usually a staple in keto houses and chicken skins are relatively easy to get hold of. Each time I make chicken soup, I remove the skins before using the chicken. They can both be turned into crunchy bite sized chips.
You will need:
- bacon, the fattier the better
- chicken skin
- 2 baking trays, preferably one large one and one smaller one
- baking paper
- a heavy oven safe pot
- kitchen scissors
- salt, pepper & any other spice of choice
Chicken Skin Chips
You can ask your local butcher for chicken skins. I cut them off of chicken pieces before I cook them in soups or stews. Boiled chicken skin is disgusting, so it would just be wasted.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F
Cut the chicken skin to size with a sharp pair of kitchen scissors. Place the skins on a sheet of baking paper on a large baking tray. You can put them close together, but not touching. They shrink a lot during cooking.
Spice the skins with whatever you choose. I usually stick to plain salt. Paprika, magic spice, or BBQ spice would all work well.
Cover the baking tray with another layer of baking paper, put the second, smaller tray on top of it with a heavy pot on top of it.
Bake for 40 minutes or until crispy. Check them at the halfway point to ensure they aren't burning.
Bacon Chips
Preheat oven to 180C/350F
Cut the bacon to size with a sharp pair of kitchen scissors. Place the bacon pieces on a sheet of baking paper on a large baking tray.
Spice the bacon pieces with plain salt, or the spice of your choice.
Cover the baking tray with another layer of baking paper, put the second, smaller, tray on top of it with a heavy pot on top of it.
Bake for 40 minutes. Bacon will not crisp up in the same way as chicken skins. If you feel it needs more after 40 minutes, remove the second baking tray and baking paper and place under the grill. Do not leave while this is happening; it will burn the minute you turn your back. I grill them for 5 minutes.
Serve with a low carb dip and other crunchy vegetables (red pepper/cucumber/celery).
