The Great Potato Cookbook: 250 Sensational Recipes for the World's Favourite Vegetable

Product Information

A long, thin potato with a knobbly, pinkish skin. Normally boiled in its skin and allowed to cool for use in a salad. With new potatoes, look for firm potatoes that are free from blemishes and sunburn (a green discolouration under the skin). Some amount of skinned surface is normal, but potatoes with large skinned and discoloured areas are undesirable. For general-purpose and baking potatoes, look for reasonably smooth, firm potatoes free from blemishes, sunburn, and decay. Avoid potatoes with large cuts, green spots, bruises, decay, sprouting, or shrivelling. Potato storage facilities need to be carefully considered to keep the potatoes alive and slow the natural process of decomposition, which involves the breakdown of starch. It is crucial that the storage area is dark, well ventilated and, for long-term storage, maintained at temperatures near 4 °C (39 °F). For short-term storage before cooking, temperatures of about 7 °C (45 °F) to 10 °C (50 °F) are preferred. Temperatures below 4 °C convert potatoes' starch into sugar, which alters their taste and cooking qualities and leads to higher acrylamide levels in the cooked product, especially in deep-fried dishes.

Rinse the potatoes under cold running water to extract their starch. It is essential that you then squeeze the potato shards very dry. If you can, use a muslin cloth to squeeze out all the excess moisture.Perforate the skin with a fork in many places to prevent the potato from exploding. It is important to protect the potatoes from drying by covering them with a damp paper towel or coating them in oil. A low power setting may be a good idea, but you wouldn't be using the microwave if you didn't want fast cooking! Now, add the potato mixture to DRY (yes, really) frying pan and spread out evenly. Cook on a medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, resisting the temptation to turn or flip the potatoes. After this time, take a spatula and flip the entire potato pancake over. It should be a lovely golden colour and not burned. Fry the pancake for another 5 minutes on its other side, and then the Roesti is ready to eat. Simply slide it from the frying pan, onto a plate. Serve the potato as hot as you can stand it. Fillings can include butter, grated cheese (something strong like cheddar or red Leicester), baked beans, pesto—you name it. Eat the skin—it really is good for you. N.B.: Traditionally, Roesti either have butter or fat mixed into the grated potato before frying, or are fried in fat or oil. Roast potatoes are a good and traditional accompaniment to roast meat. Prepare the potatoes as for boiling, and parboil them for just a few minutes. Then put in the roasting dish around the meat, and baste them with the juices as cooking goes on.

On a cold day, few things are nicer than a baked potato. Use a large potato, with its skin on. It is important to stab the potatoes with a knife or fork in several places so they will not explode. Preheat the oven to moderately hot ( gas mark 5, about 375°F or 191°C) and put in the potatoes for about an hour. Especially when using an electric oven, it is important to protect the potatoes from drying by covering them with foil or coating them in oil. A lid over the whole batch will do, saving on foil and oil. You may put a metal skewer through the potato to help distribute heat evenly. There are a variety of approaches to a baked potato and some cooks will prefer a low heat (c. 300 °F (149°C)) for an hour, uncovered so that the steam can exit the potato. Make sure to cut it open as soon as it's out of the oven to let off steam and keep the skin from getting soggy and separated. Another way of sautéing potatoes is to produce a Roesti ( Rösti), a dish which originates in Switzerland. Instead of chopping the potatoes into cubes, grate the potato using the coarse setting on a three-sided grater. A large, all purpose potato. Normally used as an old potato, and traditionally served roast as part of a formal Sunday dinner (with roast beef).

The all-purpose types of potatoes are ideal for pan-frying, roasting and stewing. Under this type we have the Yukon gold, Red gold, Red Norland, Purple majesty and All blue potatoes. Stewing is a great way to take care of left over potatoes. Potato stew goes well with sausages, meatballs, or smoked, salted or gravad fish. To make stewed potatoes, peel and dice the cold, already boiled potatoes. Make the cubes about 1 centimeter (0.39in) to 2 centimeters (0.79in) across. Mix flour with milk and butter in a saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil, add the potatoes, and boil gently for 5 min. Add salt, pepper and dill to taste. The term baking potato means a potato grown specifically for baking quality. Both variety and farm location are important factors affecting baking quality. A long variety with fine, scaly netting on the skin, such as the Russet Burbank from Idaho, is commonly used for baking.