“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.” -A.A Milne
The king of frugal, the potato is a fantastic staple food. It is so starch-rich that a potato with a tiny amount of butter on could provide all of the energy requirements for a human. No wonder that they’ve become the staple carbohydrate in most western diets! But eating them so often can cause them to become boring- meat and three veg never looks so unappetizing when partnered with boiled potatoes! What’s the secret to making sure they’re fun and flavoursome?
Read on for 10 of the best ways to cook potatoes!
- Roasted.
You can’t beat the roasted potato for flavour. Choose fluffy potatoes for large roasties, or waxy potatoes for really crispy smaller ones.
Peel if desired, chop into similar-sized chunks, and par-boil in salted water for 10-15 minutes. Drain, and allow to steam in the sink until they are dry. Gently bash by shaking the colander, and place in a hot roasting tray with goose fat (for taste) or vegetable oil (for healthiness). Roast for an hour to an hour and a half in a hot oven, regularly basting but not turning too often.
2. Sauteed.
Sauteed potatoes are my personal favourite. With the flavour of a chip but the look of a far more sophisticated potato, these are the perfect accompaniment to grilled meats, and are fantastic for soaking up gravy or sauce!
Do not peel, but chop into 1cm-squared chunks (or thereabouts- sometimes I make mine much bigger if I’m feeling lazy, but they take longer to cook and don’t crisp up quite the same!). Par-boil in salted water for 5-10 minutes, or until tender, and drain. Allow to steam in the colander to reduce their water content- the less water they have, the crispier they get! Fry in vegetable oil until browned on all sides. This requires quite a lot of stirring and watching- this recipe is the one I’m most likely to set the smoke alarm off with! When they are cooked, toss them in sea salt. They can be left in a hot oven until the rest of the food is ready, or served straight away.
For a different potato dish, try serving tossed in chopped herbs, or fry onions with them.
3. Baked.
The perfect lunch on a cold winter’s day, the baked potato also serves as a great accompaniment to many of my favourite dishes. It is a healthier alternative to those that are fried in fat. In addition, it is one of the easiest ways to cook potatoes, and with the use of a microwave, doesn’t have to take forever!
Find a nice, big potato, and prick it all over with a fork. Cover the skin in olive oil and salt- this will help it to crisp properly- and bake. In a microwave, a large potato takes around 10 minutes. Give it 5 minutes on one side, then flip it over and give it another 5. In an oven, a potato can take between 1hr30 and 2 hours, although in my mum’s stove they’ve been known to sit for a number of hours without coming to any harm. Personally, my favourite is to microwave it for 5 minutes to get it started, then bake for half an hour to an hour. The oven gets a far crispier skin than the microwave!
For a nice lunch, try scooping out the inside of the potato and mashing it with a little milk or cream, some seasoning and some cheese, then restuffing it. You can then sprinkle a little cheese back on top and put it back in the oven for 10minutes- heaven!
4. Barbequed
What? Yes. Barbequed potatoes. Hear me out!
This is one of my favourite ways to cook a potato, and every time I serve them I get ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’.
Use small salad potatoes, whole, with the skin on. You could par-boil for a few minutes if you’re running short on time, but I don’t usually bother. Cover the skins in olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, then push a kebab stick through four or five of them- usually a portion’s worth! They’ll take a little while on the barbeque- usually at least 45 minutes- so be prepared for that, but the flavour is an awesome combination of baked potato and smokey barbeque.
If you don’t have the weather for the barbeque, try putting these in the oven in vegetable oil, and ‘sautee-roasting’ them. We call it ‘sausting’, and it’s roasting them in enough oil that you might be frying them, and they come out just as fluffy and delicious, if a little less healthy!
5. Mashed
Mashed potatoes don’t have to be boring!! Think not of the stodgy wallpaper-paste of your childhood, but instead of the creamy luxury of the gourmet mash. Not the kind that sticks your tongue to the roof of your mouth but instead the kind that slips down your throat like a puree.
I always use the fluffiest potatoes in my pantry, but often they’re just the cheapest I could find- I’m not too worried! Skin them, and boil for 15mins in salted water. You should be able to push a fork through them very easily! Drain, and place back into the saucepan. Add a knob of butter and a glug of cream (or milk), then mash as usual. Adding more milk/cream will loosen the consistency- continue until it is the consistency you want!. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, and thyme, garlic or horseradish for special flavouring.
Living Frugal 