Posted on 02/28/2021 5:08:01 PM PST by Jamestown1630
In honor of Mr. Potato Head’s ‘transitioning’ - (from what-to-what I’m not exactly sure, as I’ve always understood potatoes to be, in Nature, self-pollinating and containing both sexes in one plant anyway) - I thought we’d do a thread on SPUDS this month.
I like potatoes done certain ways, and despise them other ways. I like baked potatoes (with plenty of butter and sour cream), and home-made potato salad, mashed potatoes, scalloped, etc. I do NOT like potatoes cut up into soups, or store-bought potato salad (in the latter, the potatoes are always undercooked, and the salad is always strangely sweet.)
This video from America’s Test Kitchen presents a way of making baked potatoes that interests me; it involves brining them a little, and I’m anxious to try it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr-o01qiRYI
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My favorite recipe for potato salad, which my Grandmother made the best and one of my co-workers does a close second, is really a sort of ‘dump’ recipe:
Boil a few pounds of thin-skinned potatoes until easily pierced with a sharp knife, but not TOO soft; and then peel them (I usually use red potatoes, and leave about a third of the skin on. )
Cut them into ½ to 1 inch pieces. Make a mixture of about 2/3 Mayonnaise and 1/3 prepared Mustard, a few tablespoons of finely chopped onion and finely chopped celery; salt and pepper, with a little cayenne thrown in. Add more mayo/mustard as may be needed for your quantity of potatoes, taste for seasoning, and then pour all of this over the potatoes. Mix well, taste again for seasoning, and chill. (If you like throwing in pickle relish, you can do so; but that is verboten in my house, just as any ‘sweetness’ is disallowed in a deviled egg, here ;-)
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I’ve only had the French cold potato soup – Vichyssoise – once, in a fancy French restaurant in Virginia; but it was excellent. Here, from the website ‘Mother Would Know’, is Julia Child’s recipe for that soup. (You can eat this warm or chilled, though I think chilled is classic in the so-called 'haute cuisine'):
http://motherwouldknow.com/julia-childs-vichyssoise-html/
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When Rush Limbaugh died, by husband had a birthday coming up in a few weeks.
I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and he said that he wanted the Rush Revere series of books by Mr. Limbaugh.
I said that I thought those were books for kids; and husband said, “Yes; and I want them”.
So, I ordered; and they are really beautiful books. Very well-bound and high-quality production, with lots of illustrations (including some reproductions of historical paintings) and lots of supplemental information.
The history is told in a very engaging, modern ‘story’ way which incites one to seek out more information on the issues presented.
I would suggest that people order this collection, whether there are young people in their network, or not. Even adults will enjoy them very much and find many references that they would like to follow up further. And the more we order, the more they will have to print – and the more will be in circulation for young people to find in the future.
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(The picture at the top of this post is of the flower of a potato plant; it is taken from the USDA website of John Bamberg, plant geneticist and devotee of The Potato, q.v.)
I’m sorry - I posted ‘how do you do it?’ to you, when I meant it to go to someone else.
Regarding good books on Conservative values, I suspect that the next gift my husband will want is our own Larry Schweikart’s book ‘A Patriot’s History’.
I wonder if the red potatoes have a different cooking time than the Russets? I just found this Instant pot recipe and it uses 3 lbs of Russets but a 4 min cooking time. I give this one because it tells how to use pickle juice instead of vinegar and the use of a 4th egg to slice on top of the salad:
https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-potato-salad-in-the-pressure-cooker/
Jonrick46, that’s how I make my potato salad, except I cook the eggs with the potatoes. They’re always perfectly done when the potatoes are. Then, I do add sweet relish, and I always add celery seed. It’s just not potato salad without celery seed, to me.
When I make homemade fries, I also start with cold oil, but I rinse the potatoes in cold water a few times, then pat dry, before cooking, to reduce the starch, so they won’t stick together. I cook on medium til they start to get light golden on edges, then turn the heat up to high til crispy and golden brown. Always crisp and yummy. I make my own season salt to salt them -— equal parts celery salt, onion salt, garlic salt and table salt.
Oh, and yellow mustard. For 2 lbs potatoes, a couple of teaspoons.
I used to rinse my potatoes in cold water. You are right to do it because it removes the starch that causes the potatoes to stick together. Some will soak them in water overnight—then, all you need to do is drain them good and dry them off well with paper towels. That added moisture, if not removed with the paper towels, goes pop when the oil get up to temperature.
I skip rinsing them and save on paper towels. I think the added starch makes them crispier. A method given by “Cook’s Illustrated” says to use Yukon Gold because they are less starchy. Using those allows you to skip the water rinse. I am a little daring and skip the water rinse even with Russets.
One way I keep them from sticking together is I layer them with each layer 90 degrees to the one below. That seems to work best, but when in a hurry, I will also skip that step and lay them all going the same direction. I will make sure all the potatoes are separated and coated with the cold oil first by moving them around carefully in the oil with tongs. Then, I use a butter knife to keep the mass moving as the oil heats up. This action keeps the oil moving between the slices. The butter knife works well to work those few apart that stick together. Once they are apart the hot oil gets between them and they will stay apart through the cooking process.
Use the butter knife or tongs to keep the fries moving around until they are past the sticky phase. Be careful, the fries are very fragile. Once the potatoes are past the sticky phase it is just letting them cook until golden brown.
The cold oil method is the best method because, according to experts, you use less oil. That means, less oil is absorbed into the fries.
CREAMY RASPBERRY ITALIAN SODA
ING: Club Soda, raspberry-flavored syrup (s/f Torani is good---
or make your own), HnH, Whipped cream, and ice.
METHOD fill cup partway with ice. Add club soda, leaving several inches on top.
Add oz flavored syrup- you can always add more; stir in syrup.
Then add a splash of HnH. Top with whipped cream rosette.
Potatoes are a health food for me. They’re a major source of potassium, they’re easy to grow, and they’re one of the few things I can eat when my stomach is acting up.
For anyone here who keeps a stash of “survival seeds”, I recommend getting a few packets of true potato seed.
True potato seed, or TPS, looks a lot like tomato seeds, and can be grown the same way. Unlike seed potatoes, TPS can be stored for years with only a slight decrease in germination rates. TPS is harder to find than seed potatoes, but Jungs has started carrying one variety of it. And Cultivariable.com has dozens of them, along with lots of information on growing them, and how to select which ones to save.
Potatoes grown from seed tend to have smaller crops the first year, and the size, color, texture, flavor, bug resistance, disease resistance, and any other trait you can think of, will be unpredictable. TPS isn’t really intended as a source of main-crop potatoes. But, if anything happens to your seed potatoes and you can’t get more, TPS gives you a way to rebuild your supply. Taste a spud from each plant, and save seed potatoes for planting from the ones you like best.
If you want to save your own TPS, watch for those little green potato-berries that sometimes form after the potato flowers. They usually fall off while still green, that’s ok. Just set the berries somewhere they can continue ripening, and let them dry naturally.
I love potato soup. I keep mine really simple, just potatoes, bouillon or chicken broth, and a can of cream of chicken soup.
Or beef stew, with whatever proportions look “right” of beef, potatoes, carrots, peas, and tomatoes.
I sometimes make “smashed potato”, which is just a potato cooked in the microwave and mashed with a fork. It satisfies the craving for mashed potatoes, but with less work and fewer dishes than making them the standard way. Add milk, butter, and salt if you like. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I usually top it with cream of chicken soup, or whatever gravy I can find. It’s a simple too-tired-to-cook meal.
My family sometimes eats a dish we call “breakfast stir-fry”. Diced potatoes, finely chopped carrots, whatever breakfast meat is handy, all fried in butter together. Then when it’s all cooked but not quite browned, add eggs and continue frying until the eggs are cooked.
Just an FYI. Eleven days now since the thaw in TX, the grocery shelves are just starting to get re-stocked. Dairy products are still hit and miss. Cheese and eggs were stocked last night but there is still no cream for coffee. There are limits on many products (still/always this past year but more currently). There were shortages weeks before the freeze. I was unable to get cream and eggs in my last order weeks before the big freeze.
Just because a product is shown online doesn’t mean it’s really on the shelf.
All in all, count on two full weeks to get shelves stocked if something similar happens in the future.
I like ‘em all :-)
All the more reason to keep a good stash.
I just ordered a big, sloppy burger.
I’ll get back to the keto-thing....soon....
Goya Arroz con Leche – Spanish Rice Pudding
ING cup GOYA® Medium Grain Rice ¼ tsp salt 4 cups whole milk 2 GOYA®
Cinnamon sticks tsp. freshly grated lemon or orange zest ¾ cup GOYA®
Sweetened Condensed Milk tsp vanilla Ground cinnamon garnish
METHOD Bring 2 c water to boil. Stir in rice/salt. Return to boil. Reset to low. Cook, covered (water is absorbed and rice is tender) 20 min. Stir in milk, cinnamon sticks and lemon or orange zest. On med-high; bring milk to boil. Cook, on low uncovered, stirring to prevent sticking and scorching, til thick and creamy, 25 min. Stir in condensed milk and vanilla. Cook/stir 5 min. Pour rice pudding into servers.
SERVE serve warm or chilled sprinkled with cinnamon.
Thanks Liz
BTW, you can get Dukes on line at walmart for $8.63 a GALLON. I’ve ordered Hellman’s there for around $8 a gallon in the past, but I see they’ve raised the price to $14 now. I can’t tell a great deal of difference between Hellman’s, Dukes, and Blue Plate. Kraft mayonnaise, however, is gross. My husband likes miracle whip type dressing, of any brand, but I decided since about the only difference is the sugar and a little more vinegar, I’d just sprinkle a little sweetener on real mayo on his sandwiches. He can’t tell the difference. I did tell him, but he’s forgotten. He gobbles it up, same as he would miracle whip.
I love that Goya rice pudding recipe above all others.
The addition of condensed milk is inspired and lends the finished dessert a creaminess other recipes do not have.
Do you let the rice cool before adding milk... or just add mil as soon as the rice is finished cooking - and still warm?
Add at the same time.
Lemon Pudding Cakes / cake w/ sauce on bottom.
Whisk 1/3 c flour, 1/2 tsp b/pwder, 1/4 tsp salt. Whisk 1/2 c sugar, 3 yolks, 1/4 c l/juice, tsp salt, 2 tbl melted butter
1 1/4 c milk. add dry ing, then fold in whites in soft peaks. Bake in bain in buttered ramekins 30 min 325 deg.
Serve sprinkled w/ conf. Can do 2 days ahead--reheat to serve.
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