Potatoes are an extremely versatile vegetable and they can be cooked in almost any way. The waxy new varieties are best boiled or steamed and hold their shape when cooked. The floury main crop varieties make great mash, chips, roasted and baked potatoes as the floury texture breaks down giving a fluffy finished product, leave the skins on a baked potato and it will crisp up nicely. Most of the good vitamins and minerals are stored just below the surface of the potato skin and are lost when we peel the skins away, so if possible eat the skins.
You will need 1-2 medium potatoes per person, more if you plan to mash them or you want to cook extra to use for something else afterwards
Preparing your potatoes for cooking
If possible it is best to prepare and use them straight away, if not then leave your prepared potatoes in water otherwise they will go brown very quickly. How you prepare them will really depend upon what you plan to do with them but it is essentially a 3 step process;
- Wash them – even if they have been washed already they will have become mucky in handling and storage.
- Decide whether to remove the skins, peel/scrape, or not. If peeling, a potato peeler will remove less of the tuber than using a knife. If scraping then a knife is the tool to use.
- Cut them to equal sized chunks, remember potatoes vary quite a lot in size and you want the whole batch to be ready at the same time. The smaller the chunk the quicker it will cook through, cut too small and they may disintegrate altogether. I say chunk as they can be sliced, diced, cubed, crinkle cut and wedged amongst other things
Potato skins can go in the compost, they will not grow new plants unless you have been seriously generous and peeled off most of the potato as well as the skin.
Cooking potatoes
Steam – this is the best method to use if you plan to serve the potatoes plain. Bring the steamer up to boiling, cut the potatoes to approx the size of a large hens egg and they will take 15 mins to cook through, test them by pushing a sharp knife into one of the larger chunks and it should slide in without much resistance, if they are still a little hard then leave a few minutes longer. Smaller chunks and small new potatoes may cook in 10 mins so test a bit earlier.
Boil – this is the best method to use if making mash and was the way to cook them before steamers became popular. Cut the potatoes to approx the size of a large hens egg and put them in a pan, just cover with cold water. Bring your water up to boil and cook for 15 – 20 mins testing with a sharp knife as above.
Bake – There is nothing better than a potatoe that has been baked or roasted. Main crop floury potatoes bake well as the middle of the potato cooks to a soft fluffy texture, new and waxy varieties hold their shape and can appear uncooked even when they aren’t. If making baked potatoes in their skins preheat the oven to 200c. Using potatoes about the size of 2 cricket balls, wash the potatoes and prick the skins all over with a fork, important if you want to avoid cleaning potato off the inside of your oven. Put your potatoes in the oven and leave for 1 – 1.5 hours. To test for doneness, using an oven glove or clean tea towel, remove the potato from the oven and give it a gentle squeeze, if the skin gives way it is done if it resists then it needs a little longer. Remember a larger potato will take longer than a small one so if cooking several try to get them a similar size.
Grill – you can grill potatoes however it is best if they have been part boiled or cooked first and are cut to smaller chunks or sliced, the grill will then be warming them through and browning the outside rather than cooking the potato in it’s entirety
Fry – chips, yummy! Either cook once or twice depending upon whether you are a fan of the crispy chip, deep fry in hot oil for 15 - 20 mins. Potatoes shallow fry as well but benefit from being grated first so they cook through quicker – hash browns for example
Raw – my brother used to love eating raw potatoes, I am happy to leave them alone. They go brown rapidly once peeled and cut up so if you want to eat them raw do so as you cut them. The best use for a raw potato is to slice it in half and cut out a pretty stamp for children to use with paint.
Happy eating!
If you fancy doing something more inventive with your potatoes then why not try one of our recipes.
If you have a favourite potato recipe then let me know, we would love to hear from you.
