T is for Potato
@owlwings (43897)
Cambridge, England
December 22, 2015 6:19am CST
Spuds, tatties ... whatever you like to call them, they are as much a part of Christmas dinner as the turkey.
We usually have them roast, boiled and mashed - all three at once - because all have their particular uses. Roast potatoes are crisp and imbued with the flavour of the juices and fat from the meat; boiled potatoes hold together well and are useful for gathering a variety of meat, vegetables and sauces into one mouthful while delicious, creamy mashed potato is good for soaking up the gravy and for making peas stick to the fork.
A potato is a potato (or a spud or a tattie) isn't it?
NO! There are hundreds of different varieties (and colours and shapes and flavours) and some are good for boiling and for salads, others are good for roasting and mashing (not to mention making chips, crisps and all the other ways there are of cooking them).
For roasting, mashing and baking in their jackets you need a floury potato, while for boiled potatoes, and for potatoes in a stew or in a cold salad, you need one which will hold its shape and not fall apart when cooked.
This Christmas I shall have to look carefully at the variety (which these days is usually printed in small letters on the pack) and choose King Edwards or Desiree for roasting and mashing and save the pack of Nectar (a new variety which I haven't tried yet) for boiling.
How do you like to cook your potatoes and how do you know which variety is good for what? Do you peel your spuds before mashing them or do you leave the skins on? I think the skins are actually the best bit!
14 people like this
18 responses
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
22 Dec 15
It depends on what we are having as the entree But my favorite that I could eat all the time is mashed.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
22 Dec 15
I think that mashed potato is probably my favourite as well, especially when done with plenty of butter, some milk (or cream, if I want real luxury) and freshly ground black pepper. If it is to accompany roast beef, I often add some horseradish, otherwise I generally add my 'secret ingredient' - a little powdered fenugreek. People always ask for 'seconds' when I do that!
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
22 Dec 15
@owlwings What is 'fenugreek'? Do you like your mashed lumpy or smooth?
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
22 Dec 15
@AbbyGreenhill I like mashed potatoes smooth and creamy. Fenugreek is the seed of a vetch or clover like plant which has a rather subtle sweetish and earthy taste. The Hindi name is 'methi'.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
30 Dec 15
I need to do more with mashed cauliflower, see if I cant imitate a good mashed tater
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@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
30 Dec 15
I've never tried mashed cauliflower. I have seen recipes where finely chopped cauliflower can be used as a substitute for rice and have not yet tried that either, though I think that it would be good.
Mashed potato has a high GI because the mashing process breaks down the starch cells and makes the starch more quickly available to the digestive system, so I can see why an alternative would be useful.
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@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
30 Dec 15
@owlwings I feel better when I limit my carb intake, so Im always looking for places I can make a healthy swap
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 Dec 15
I remember when my brother's friend went to farming college just after leaving school. He used to bring different potatoes to our house every week, often in a variety of colours. I am certain that many of these must have been experimental to some degree because I never see such a bizarre selection in the stores.
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@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
22 Dec 15
I recently found some for sale (at an English Heritage site) which were black or very dark purple on the outside and as purple as a beetroot all the way through. They were sold as 'salad potatoes' but I looked them up and they were said to be too floury for a salad potato but good for mashing (which I did). In spite of the rather odd colour mash they made, they were just like any other potato in flavour.
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@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
23 Dec 15
One of my favourite dishes is saag aloo, which is spinach and potato in a spiced sauce. It is usually served as a 'side' here but, with some dhal and bread or rice, I think it's a complete meal.
@vickyrose (2236)
• Cooma, Australia
23 Dec 15
I boil them with skin on so it's easier to remove the skin once they are boilt. So, we have a skinless mashed potato
Merry Christmas to you!
1 person likes this
@Traceyjayne (11265)
• United Kingdom
22 Dec 15
I like Charlotte pots for salad. I find that potatoes easily break up these days when being boiled. I like roasties best.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
22 Dec 15
Charlottes and Firapple are both delicious for salads and as boiled potatoes.
The ones that break up when boiled are very likely Maris Piper, which are better for roasting and mashing. You should look for Desiree, Epicure or Harmony - to name but a few - for good waxy boiled potatoes.
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
22 Dec 15
I used to peel potatoes when I was going to mash them but I have found that the skins get well pulverised in the mashing and add a nutty flavour as well as preserving all the goodness in the potato (90% of which is in the layer just under the skin).
Roast potatoes are probably better peeled but it's easier to slip the skin alone off after they have been parboiled (as I always do when roasting).
@Marilynda1225 (91035)
• United States
22 Dec 15
I love mashed potatoes but always peel them beforehand. I do love a good baked potato and enjoy the skin on that. But, I really haven't met a potato I didn't like and it's probably the one food I'd have trouble living without
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
22 Dec 15
No Sunday/Christmas dinner is complete without a choice of both mashed and roasted spuds. Yum.
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@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
22 Dec 15
We have potatoes for almost every meal. I cook them a number of ways depending on what kind of meat we are having. I love fried potatoes with onions.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
23 Dec 15
We only have one potato dish at dinner for the holidays. I am wracking my brain and I can't think of a time that we had two or three varieties at once. As for the potatoes I prefer, Russet (or baking) potato and white potato are my choices. Red potatoes have too much of a "bite" to them.
One way of making them that I really enjoy is boiling them and then adding a "rue" to them. The roux is of course flour and water. It is something my great grandmother taught my grandmother (her daughter in law) and one I absolutely enjoy on a cold, dreadful day.
Whoops! I have told a fib. Whilst scanning your discussion, I remembered potato salad. We do sometimes have potato salad and mashed potatoes as only few prefer the potato salad.
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
23 Dec 15
I didn't know there was a difference in potatoes except for size. I like the larger ones for baking. I like to keep the skins on when mashing, my son prefers them off. I also think the skins is the best part.
