Cook the Book
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Use this basic tortilla chip recipe as a base for frying up your own chips to use in recipes from our Cook the Book column this week: Lee Frank and Rachel Anderson's Ultimate Nachos. While the recipe is written for a single tortilla, you can fry many, many more chips in this manner. If you're using a large skillet, or frying more than a couple of tortillas, you will want to increase the amount of oil used. A depth of 1/4 inch of oil is plenty for these slender chips.

Reprinted with permission from Ultimate Nachos: From Nachos and Guacamole to Salsas and Cocktails by Lee Frank and Rachel Anderson, copyright 2013. Published by St. Martin's Griffin. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.

About This Recipe

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 chips
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 corn tortilla
  • Salt
  • Cayenne pepper (optional)

Procedures

  1. In a skillet over medium heat, heat the oil to 350º. You'll know the oil is ready when you add a small piece of tortilla to the skillet and it floats and bubbles.

  2. Cut round tortilla into triangle shapes of any size you want, then add the triangles to the oil.

  3. When one side becomes golden brown, about 1 minute, flip them over and fry the opposite sides until golden brown.

  4. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chips from the oil and transfer to paper towels to drain.

  5. Toss the chips with salt and the cayenne, if using.