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chips

We LOVE chips – gimme them with ketchup, mayo or salt and vinegar. 

And for all the vegans out there, you know how chips are your trusty back-up when restaurants do not cater for us.

Have them skinny or chunky – dip, drench or dunk them, they're just potato perfection. 

That's why we are having none of this new Harvard study.

Supposedly no more than SIX, yes six measly chips, should be eaten at one time, to avoid the negative health consequences associated with over-consumption.

The guideline comes from nutrition scientist, Professor Eric Rimm, and the news just goes from bad to worse.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last year, found that those who consumed fried potato such as chips, crisps or the divine hash brown more than two or three times each week were cutting their life short.

In fact, they doubled their chances of an early death in an eight-year period. 

However, we must point out before you ditch potatoes entirely, that the study DIDN'T include whole, mashed or boiled potato – only deep fried.

The wholefoods don't pose a risk because it doesn't have the same fats as the fried potatoes said the researchers.

These unhealthy fats have been linked to heart disease risk factors and pro-inflammatory processes in your bod – so basically, you need to avoid them.

But the Professor didn't stop there – he introduced the phrase "starch bombs" – which honestly sounds delicious.

Nevertheless, he explained that fried potatoes are made up of processed potato that impacts the blood glucose levels and are combined with artery-damaging processed fats that are heated to extremely high-temperatures many times over – and voila, this is a starch bomb. 

And one of the main issues when it comes to fried potato habit is our growing portion sizes.

The recommended serving of fries is just 15 individual chips – 15?!

If the local chippy gave me that I'd hand it back – and don't get me started if someone dared to serve me 15 chips after a night out.

But the research means we probably have to re-evaluate our addiction to fried potato foods. 

 

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Listen, we don't go to Supermac's to get in our five-a-day.

We go to Supermac's, mostly in the early hours of the morning, to chomp on the deliciousness that is their chunky chips.

However, that could all soon be changing.

Image result for supermacs chips

While speaking to The Capital B, the owner of Supermac's Pat McDonagh, said that the Irish food chain is changing with the times – and that means "healthy" chips.

"Healthy eating has come into the fore and everyone has to adjust, people focused on health food are doing quite well. They're taking up the idea that's come in from the US and ran with it.

"But you'll always have people who want to have a burger, what we've done is gone the fresh route with beef, the fresh route with chicken and we'll be going the fresh route with the chips in the not so distant future".

However, for us Negative Nancies who think there's nothing better than the original, crispy chip, Pat assures us that the side order will, indeed, taste better.

Image result for supermacs chips

"You can't beat anything that's fresh, that's why the chicken sandwich tastes so good, it's because it's a fresh product. Anything that you freeze loses some of its quality.

"Likewise with the fresh meats, there's a better taste, better flavour, it's better quality across the board, and we know this because we're selling more of them".

We think we'll have to taste them for ourselves, Pat…

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Since it started getting in on the likes of sweet potato fries (fancy pants alert), Abrakebabra has evolved from guilty pleasure on a night out… to just straight up pleasure.

Case in point being its most recent announcement: festive fries.

We think of it as Christmas dinner with a chipper twist – pretty much perfect for the discerning Irish palate. 

Boasting Abra fries – natch – the dish is loaded with tidings of turkey and ham, as well as stuffing and a pretty perfect gravy garland. 

Launching tomorrow, suffice to say we're sold!

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There's notions – and then there's notions that we're actually rather fond of.

Case in point being the launch of SWEET potato fries at Abrakebabra – a menu addition that here in SHEmazing! Towers we are actually ALL sorts of excited about. 

Of course, the eatery has long been a fail-safe soakage option at the end of a long night out: taco fries, quarter pounder, and a meat feast kebab ftw, after all. 

However, lately the much-loved establishment has been getting seriously fancy… a move which has only made us love it even more. 

Step forward the likes of crunchy falafel kebabs, chicken club burgers – and now sweet potato fries, which – as everyone knows – are totally healthy and therefore not something to feel remotely guilty about scoffing large quantities of.

The Irish-owned Abrakebabra also says Naomi Campbell, Colin Farrell, Jimmy Carr and Cheryl Cole are among its mega-fans, and frankly we're very much hoping to see Chezza tuck into a large bowl of sweet potato fries very soon. 

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It's the best thing ever when you're on a long journey and out of the blue, a Supermac's pops up along the motorway. 

No more starvation, no more travelling (for a while), and you can just indulge on a burger and chips. Yum.

Well, you're going to be spotting a lot more of the fast food outlet across Ireland as it is planning to open six new stops along various motorways. 

The company's founder, Pat McDonagh told the Sunday Business Post that the rise of the economy means he's making expansion plans for the next year or two.

"There’s increased employment out there and there’s a bit of confidence coming back into the market again,” he said.

The first to see its doors open is a new outlet on the Galway Plaza on the M6 in Febuary which will create between 70 to 100 new jobs. Sweet. 

That will be followed by four more restaurants along motorways in the next few years.

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Hey, we've all been there: a serious case of the late-night munchies when you feel you could consume half the chipper menu and STILL have room for a round of buttered toast when you get home. 

But even we are feeling somewhat overwhelmed by one offering from Aarons takeaway, in Kilsheelan Co Tipperary. 

Spanning a metre in length and filled with chicken, chips, kebab meat, sausages and salad, a total of NINE white wraps were needed to complete the monstrosity. 

Sharing a snap on its Facebook page over the weekend, the eatery revealed that it had whipped up the feast for a hungry local customer, Jamie Cornin, who parted with €30 for the privilege. 

The same takeaway gained notoriety on Friday evening when it created an unreasonably GIANT burger.

Consisting of 850g of fresh beef mince and 125g of chicken topped with cheese and salad, (we're frankly pretty horrified by the size of it) it costs €14.

The burger is also in the market for a name, with the winner being gifted with a €25 voucher for Aarons (that's almost enough for a giant wrap!).

Meanwhile, there is sadly no word yet on whether Jamie managed to polish off his personal, meat-filled banquet. If he did – we just hope he's OK. 

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Move over Twisty Fries… there's a new addition to the McDonald's menu and we already know it's going to be a favourite.

The fast food giant has confirmed it is testing sweet potato fries in a number of its outlets, with the hope of making them a mainstream menu option.

Just look at them there, all golden and crunchy:

Currently the new fries are only on offer in certain McDonald's Create Your Taste restaurants in Texas, but given the widespread appeal of sweet potato chips, we can't see why they wouldn't roll them out across the globe soon enough.

A couple of months back the chain revealed a new 'gourmet breakfast' menu in Australian branches, offering sourdough bread, wilted spinach and smashed avocado alongside your bog-standard Egg McMuffin.

Other gourmet brekkie options included avocado toast with feta cheese and waffles with berries and cream.

The chain has been trying to introduce a more health-conscious ethos for years now, and if sweet potato fries are the next step in that project, well… go for it, we say.

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There’s no doubt that Ireland was once pretty readily associated with potatoes.

In fact, plenty of our parents would have sat down to meat-and-two-veg (aka meat-and-spuds-two-ways) meals most days of the week.

These days we reckon – phew! – our own taste buds come along somewhat. Still, there’s no denying (nor is there any shame in) our nation’s great love for one particular category of potato: namely, the humble chip.

Skinny or chunky; crispy or supple; heavily salted or just plain – chips are king.

Our personal favourite is a fresh bag from the chipper, eaten on the walk home.

Your mouth is sensitive from the first few hot slivers of potato; warm vinegar trickles down your arm while your fingers accumulate ever more delicious residue. Perfection.

But it’s come to our attention that other nationalities don’t seem to have quite the same affection for the food.

Indeed, in Ireland chips accompany meals they never ordinarily would anywhere else.

Here, SHEmazing! rounds up the five best – and most bizarre – feasts you’ll find with a side a fries…

 

1) Lasagne:

Already a deliciously carb-heavy concoction of pasta, meat and creamy sauce – it regularly comes accompanied by chips.

Admittedly, alternatives for health-conscious types includes rice or, if you’re really sticking to the diet, a salad – but those are, thankfully, but rare choices for the average Irishman and woman.

 

2) Curry:

Sure, from the outset it seems strange – but there is something so deliciously right about chips with your curry.

The rice side is still requisite (half-and-half for the win)… but so is all that crispy potato goodness to soak up some of the spicy sauce.

3) Chinese:

Technically speaking, they probably don’t feature too often in traditional Chinese cuisine, but no Chinese take-away would dare set up shop on these shores without offering a chips stable.

And, of course, the three-in-one concoction of fried rice, curry sauce and chips is practically a national dish at this stage.

 

4) Garlic bread:

Scrumptious garlic goodness on heavily-buttered toast – all straight from the oven. So simple; so good.

It’s hardly like you need a carb side with your carb-heavy snack, but garlic bread is somehow rarely complete without chips. All of the stodge? Yes please.

5) Pizza:

In Ireland, pizza comes two ways: fancy-pants, gourmet style – and the version we all grew up on: heavy dough topped with lashings upon lashings of cheese. Pepperoni optional. And it is the latter category which needs a side of fries to make it complete.

At the core of countless children’s birthday parties during our youth, our taste-buds evidently still have a weakness for this glorious pairing today. 

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We all have our ultimate, so-wrong-it's-right, pure indulgence food: no, it's not pretty and no, you're not proud of it… but needs must.

For example, a chicken burger mashed into a baguette, topped with chips, sealed with mayo and finished off in the George Foreman sounds horrific – but then, who are we to judge?

Still when SHEmazing! spotted a new fast-food-cum-pizza trend online, we felt a line had been crossed. In fact, even we were oh-so horrified by the concept.

The meal involves a pizza base, tomato sauce, mountains of shredded mozzarella – and your favourite items from the menu at McDonalds.

Here, we take you through it all… prepare to be disgusted (or possibly very intrigued):

 

Get your ingredients together: McDonalds fries, chicken McNuggets, and a couple of cheese burgers, as well as plenty of grated cheese, a pizza base and tomato sauce:

 

Top the base with sauce to taste, and then setlle your fast-food items on top:

 

Continue piling high until all the McDonalds menu of your choosing is arranged on the base:

 

Next, you'll need to smoother the whole thing in LOTS of cheese:

 

Then pop in a pre-heated oven for around 25 minutes – 190C should do it:

 

Remove and eat immediately – pretending to be horrified but all the while feeling strangely satisfied:

 

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You can tuck into starchy foods such as cereal, bread and chips – and counteract some of the negative effects by drinking green tea at the same time.

That’s because an extract from the tea has now been found to reduce the amount of carbs that you absorb during digestion.

Hurrah! Starch is the most common carbohydrate we consume, and the likes of potatoes, rice, bread and pasta all contain large amounts.

Led by Jaroslaw Walkowiak of Poznan University in Poland, the researchers found the dose of green tea extract decreased starch digestion and absorption compared to a placebo group.

“This plant extract is widely available, inexpensive, and well tolerated, so it has potential utility for weight control and the treatment of diabetes,” researchers said afterwards.

They added that it was important to have several cups a day in order for the process to prove effective.

And plenty of A-listers are already in on the act too: Lady Gaga is said to be drinking up in the run-up to her forthcoming wedding, while Kendall Jenner said last year she was downing "like 12 cups a day".

Several years ago, Victoria Beckham was among the first wave of celebs who was reportedly staying slim by regularly consuming green tea.

 

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When we think about chips, we instantly think ‘unhealthy’. But if we go back to the base of a chip, that is, the potato, surely there is nothing wrong with a potato?

By stripping away the oil, salt and deep-fat frying elements of chips, is it possible to make them healthy? Of course it is! But will they be just as crispy and tasty? Most definitely.

The trick with these chips is to get rid of the starch before baking, leaving a crispy, dry outside and a fluffy, soft inside to the chip.

Here is a simple recipe for crispy, clean chips you can eat every night of the week:

What you’ll need:

  • 1-2 potatoes
  • 1 tsp. Smoked paprika
  • Salt and pepper

What you’ll need to do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. If you wish to peel the potato, do so now. If not, simply chop into chip shapes.
  3. In a bowl, pour water and add some ice cubes (unless you have iced water on hand)
  4. Tip the chips into the iced water and leave for ten minutes.
  5. Change the water and leave for a further ten minutes.
  6. Drain the water from the chips and pour the chips onto a tea towel laid out onto a counter.
  7. Dry the chips, individually if you must – we swear it’s worth it!
  8. Place the chips back into the bowl, season and add the smoked paprika, mixing to coat evenly.
  9. Put the chips into the hot oven and bake until golden brown and soft on the inside when a fork is inserted. 
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According to the video us Irish love a bit of champ (potatoes mashed with scallions and chives). I’m not sure where you’d find that after stumbling out of a club at 5am…sounds good though. Let’s start a petition!

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