interesting potato recipes wanted.

Subject: interesting potato recipes wanted.
Newsgroup: rec.food.cooking

From: jmonson at chch.planet.org.nz (Jason Monson)
Date: 13 Nov 1995 02:42:53 GMT
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OK, every time I attempt to boil potatoes I end up with tasteless, boring, potatoes. The only way to eat them is with heaps of Tomato sauce.

I would like to know if there is anything you can do to boiled potatoes to make them interesting...

I mean can you for instance throw herbs and/or spices into the boiling water which may spice up the potatoes while boiling.

Or something similar?
help

From: aveller at vnet3.vub.ac.be (A. Veller)
Date: 14 Nov 1995 17:29:35 +0100
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I boil my potatoes with a large onion sliced in two, and a bayleaf or two. After they have been boiled and drained you can add some white pepper, ground nutmeg and butter. (Also works well for mashed potatoes).

What also tastes good and provides some colour is to make mashed potatoes with steamed carrots, broccoli or other vegetables. In Belgium this procedure is called "stoemp" or "stomp" and it refers to the procedure of mashing the potatoes with the vegetables. Mixing some chopped parsly with the potatoes also gives an interesting and different taste.

From: Mary f (Pud) (frye at sdd.comsat.com)
Date: 15 Nov 1995 19:02:00 GMT
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hmmmmm, with tomato sauce? I guess it's kinda like gnocci. :-).

Okay peel 'em, quarter 'em and boil 'em until tender. Throw in a stick of butter (the real stuff), and a TBS of chopped parsley, and a TBS of chopped chives, salt and pepper, and then mash the potatoes with all the ingredients. Now you have an american standard.

For even better, roast a head of garlic, squeeze the garlic out of its skins, mash it with some salt and mix it in about 1/3 cup of cream. Mix this with your plain old mashed potatoes above (but don't use the salt in the original recipe).

How many potatoes? 3 or 4.

From: bvk at chelsea.ios.com (Brett Kuehner)
Date: 18 Nov 1995 04:52:51 GMT
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One very good recipe I've recently made is one for potato fritters with smoked mozzerella cheese (from the Fields of Greens cookbook).

Basically, boil some potatoes until tender but not mushy, grate them, and mix them with some grated smoked mozzerella cheese (other cheeses would be good too, but this adds a very nice smoky flavor), some chopped scallions, ground pepper, and enough egg to bind everything together, then shape into patties and pan-fry in a little oil. Very tasty, and easy (once you finish burning your fingers while grating the potatoes because you can't wait for them to cool, that is).

From: M. Counides (beefalo at primenet.com)
Date: 19 Nov 1995 22:07:07 GMT
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Try Schufnoodle (german and probably misspelled)

Rice the potatoes, mix in eggs, flour, nutmeg, pepper and salt. Roll in your hands to make little thumb size sausages. Poach in salted water for a few minutes. Eat right away or hold by keeping warm in a big fry pan with a little butter.

This for some reason was the wash day meal when my mother was growing up in south Germany.

From: Kathy Czopek (kcopek at icon-stl.net)
Date: 20 Nov 1995 03:49:19 GMT
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Oh, and if you're boiling them, how about chopping them up, adding mayo, mustard, celery, & pickle relish, and enjoy a nice potato salad?
OR --
while you're boiling them, throw in some frozen peas or broccoli. Then slice the potatoes when they've cooked, & stir all into a white/cheese sauce. Mmmm!

From: gillett at rhoda.fordham.edu
Date: 21 Nov 1995 11:26:08 EDT
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You might trying steaming them OVER water instead of in or microwaving them instead. You don't lose all the nutrients this way as you do in boiling. Also, I read in BH & G about a cook who saves the boiling water, adds powdered milk and uses it to mix with the mashed potatoes. Sounds just frugal enough to work.

From: mrswordwvr at aol.com (Mrs Beth Wordwvr)
Date: 22 Nov 1995 15:05:56 -0500
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How about not boiling at all? Do you have access to an oven? Try baking 'em or quartering them (leave the skins on) and roasting them on a cookie sheet. If you spray them with a little vegetable spray you can get creative with herbs and the flavor will stay on the spuds. I like salt, corse ground red pepper and garlic powder. Oregano and basil would give them an Italian flavor.

Boiling is always my last resort unless you want to add lots of salt, pepper and butter which I'm trying to avoid.

From: zimm at hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu (Peanut)
Date: 27 Nov 1995 19:51:36 GMT
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> Do you have access to an oven?

If you do, try slicing them thinly but not all the way through. Drizzle melted butter over the potato, between the slices, etc. Sprinkle some nutmeg over it, then bake until the slices are crunchy on the top.

From: the_bat at ix.netcom.com (Ken Kemski)
Subject: Re: Interesting potato recipies wanted. (Here's One!)
Date: 17 Nov 1995 00:22:09 GMT
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I have a rather interesting recipe that was gleaned from an aunt of mine many years ago . . . She called them "Goofballs," and they are as different from any potato you've eaten as fries are different from mashed which are different from potato pancakes . . . Unique . . .

Grate up several potatoes on the finest grater you can obtain (my hand grater has small 1/8" or so "stars" that produce a stringless mush). Potatoes that are starchy with a good water content work best. Take a handful of the grated potato and place into a towel, and proceed to squeeze out the water until you have a paste, capable of being rolled into small (3/4" or so) balls.

The amount of water you remove is *critical*. If you remove too much, the resultant balls will have a hard, dry center. It you do not remove enough water, the balls will dissolve during the boiling phase. My aunt used to think these balls could be made only at certain times of year, with certain potatoes, but I've determined the water squeeze to be the most important factor.

Dice up and fry several onions in a little oil. When they are translucent and starting to brown, set them aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil, and add your first batch of squeezed & rolled balls. When they float, they are done, remove them and set aside. If they did not dissolve, cut one open and look for the white center, indicating you squeezed too hard. Use this first test to determine how much you will squeeze the remaining batches. (If they dissolved, you did not squeeze them enough).

When you have squeezed, rolled, and boiled all the goofballs, take some of the starchy water you created and dump in the diced & fried onions. Cook it down a bit, and replace the cooked balls in this liquid for serving. They should be served with this starchy onion "gravy" spooned over them.

The texture is like no other potato I've ever eaten. Properly done balls will be near transparent, with a "gooey" feel to them. Some salt & pepper, and this one should be a prize-winner . . .

Enjoy, tell us about your "Squeezing" experience.

From: Timothy.Moss (Timothy.Moss at ncl.ac.uk)
Date: 8 Dec 1995 12:04:50 GMT
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I recently discovered this recipe, have had it twice in a week. It is superb.

You need:

5 medium potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into very thin slices (use the side of a mandoline or a processor blade)
6 tbs oil
4 cloves of garlic, halved lengthways
1 tsp cumin seeds
5 dried red chillies
5 curry leaves
1 tsp salt

Simply fry the cumin seeds, curry leaves, chillies and garlic until the garlic is golden brown, then add the potatoes and salt. Stir briefly, then leave the pan on very low with a lid on for 15 mins. If the potato is sliced finely enough.

You won't need to add water, but do so if the slices are quite thick. in my stainless steel frying pan, the base of the potato goes all dark brown, crunchy and delicious. It really is the best potato recipe I have tried.