There’s chilli. There’s cheese. There’re fries. And then there’s these smoked chili cheese fries: large thick-cut twice cooked Yukon gold potatoes basted in melted butter, chili made with smoked chorizo sausage, sour cream, fresh chopped cilantro and all the cheese. In this recipe, the simple potato is transformed into a mouth-watering, amped up carnival classic.
Related: Smoked Lamb Shepherd’s Pie Takes Comfort Food to a New Level
ingredients
directions
This recipe requires a smoker.
Set smoker to 300°F and bring a large pot of water to a boil.
To prep potatoes, cut off the skin on all sides of the potato, making sure to turn it as you go to shape it into an even brick. Clean off any extra skin by cutting it off and cut off the ends. Place in the pot of boiling water and add salt. Allow to cook until fork tender.
Meanwhile, remove the sausage from their casings into a large cast iron pan. Add the passata, chili powder, Mexican hot sauce and light beer. Mix to combine well. Place in the smoker for 20 minutes, then give it a check and a stir then put back in the smoker.
Prepare pico de gallo by finely chopping tomato, red onion and cilantro, add to a bowl and season with 1 Tbsp oil, salt, stir. Set aside.
Once potatoes are tender, remove from the water and add to the plancha, drizzle with 1 Tbsp canola oil. Allow to cook and the bottom to brown. Flip onto the next side and drizzle with butter. Keep flipping the potatoes and basting with butter, until each side is nicely browned and crispy and the inside is cooked, about 40-45 minutes.
As the potatoes cook, check on sausage again at the 40-minute mark. Remove from the smoker and add ½ a cup of pico and ¼ cup shredded cheese, mix and place back into the smoker for another 20 minutes.
Spread a dollop of sour cream on plate. Add the rest of the shredded cheese directly to the plancha and allow to melt a bit, place potatoes on top of the cheese, rolling over the end potato to get covered in cheese, if possible. Remove from the plancha and place on top of the sour cream. Remove the sausage from the smoker, the cheese should be melted, and add on top of the potatoes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and dig in!
