Bringing The Holiday Home: Greek Chips

It’s always the way isn’t it – sometimes the holiday just goes too darn quickly; before you’ve fully unpacked and finally start getting used to your new surroundings, it’s time to go home again.

My family and I recently enjoyed a few days in Cyprus for a friend’s wedding, and now that my bestie has made a permanent move there I’m hoping that this was only the first of many trips there *mwahahahahaha* Having checked into our hotel, the holiday began with a visit to a Greek Bistro that my friend assured me was one of the best places to eat.

I’ve always loved Greek food, and as we enjoyed pork souvlaki with a huge bowl of fresh salad and mountains of pitta bread, I was already thinking of ways that I could try and recreate our holiday feast at home (my daughter ate EVERYTHING, and if she was happy to tuck into fresh veggies and salad I wanted to keep the momentum going!)

Pork souvlaki? Yes please!

However, the star of the show for me – like a typical Brit abroad – were the chips. But don’t be fooled – I’m not talking just your usual sticks of fried potato, these chips had been treated with love and care, and when my friend told me how they did it I was astounded by how two simple ingredients could bring so much life to the humble spud. We loved them so much that I tried to recreate them as soon as we got home, so if you fancy brining some Cyprus sparkle to your supper then keep reading! (unless of course you are Cypriot, in which case you know this stuff already and are probably way more qualified than I am…)

Greek Style Chips

Prep time: 10-15mins

Cooking time: 45-50mins, depending on how crispy you like your chips

There are two ways of Greek-ing up your chippies – the from scratch way or the shortcut. I’ll be showing you the from scratch way BUT you will receive no judgement from me should you choose the shortcut – kids take up lots of time right? You will need:

Potatoes: the choice of spud is completely up to you – I love Maris Pipers, but go with what feels right. I used nearly one half of a 2kg bag, and this fed 3 of us comfortably with some left over for hubby’s lunch. For the shortcut method, use whichever frozen chips you prefer – this would work really well with sweet potato fries too
Olive oil (if doing from scratch): I know “a good glug” is not very helpful in terms of quantity, but as we’re going to be baking our chips we need plenty so that they will crisp nicely. I’d estimate anything between 2-5tbsp is about right
Lemons: quantity depends on how much lemon you love! The Ronchi house loooves lemon on pretty much everything so I used the juice of two, but feel free to go with one
Cyprus oregano: don’t panic, there is no need to book a ticket just to go and get some dried herbs (unless you want to of course). Normal oregano from the supermarket will work too, but the Cyprus one is slightly finer in texture so you can get away with using more, and I do find the flavour more subtle. If you want the authenticity though, try popping into a mediterranean food shop and having a look for some there
Optional: Feta cheese. My daughter isn’t keen on it, so I added feta to my plate after dishing up

Method – for the shortcut method go straight to step 6

Cut your potatoes into chips. Try and keep them roughly the same size so that they will cook evenly
I need a bigger chopping board!
Parboil for 10mins or until the chips begin to soften. You want them to be soft but not breaking apart
While the potatoes are boiling, preheat your oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and heat some olive oil in an oven dish (I used around 5 tbsp as I had lots of potatoes)
Once the potatoes are boiled, drain them and leave them in the colander – you want them to be as dry as possible. I took some kitchen towel and gave them a pat to help speed things up
Check out that manicure 😀
Take the oil dish out of the oven and add the chips. BE CAREFUL HERE! That oil will BURN if it splashes (trust me) so I’d use a spoon and add a few chips at a time. Stir the chips around the dish so that all of them have a nice coating
Now to add the Greek to our chips! If using the shortcut method simply empty your chips into an oven dish. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the chips (you’ll want to set the other half aside for when they come out of the oven) and one tsp of oregano. Toss the chips around to make sure every one is coated
easy peasy lemon-squeezy
Turn the oven up to 200/gas mark 6. Bake in the oven for 45/50mins turning regularly, until they are golden and crisp.Feel free to add a little more oil if you think the potatoes need it. Once cooked, finish off with another squeeze of lemon and another sprinkle of oregano, plus some lovely feta crumbled on top if you fancy it
These should have had some extra time, but my daughter’s rumbling tummy dictated otherwise!

And that’s it! I teamed my Greek style chips with a breaded chicken breast, feta and some tomato and rocket salad. It’s not quite the same as sitting in a bistro next to the sea, but it’s lovely to bring an element of our holiday home. These chips would go with anything you have laying around in your fridge – be as creative as you like! What are your most memorable holiday dishes? Let us know in the comments below!